# Geckos and glass **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983 "2004-04-20T05:22:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/1 "2004-04-20T05:22:47Z")
I was watching the gecko on the window eating bugs and I realized just how dirty the window was. I cleaned the inside but I’ll have to get a pole or something to do the outside of one of the panes. It occured to me, will that make it harder or easier for him to climb around the glass? Will I be harming his little gecko habitat? [Go-go-gecko!](http://www.padeye.net/gecko.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/2 "2004-04-20T05:36:28Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > It occured to me, will that make it harder or easier for him to climb around the glass? I’d say easier, but not noticably so. [Geckos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecko) can climb on glass because they have setae on their feet which utilize the [Van der Waals force](http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/van%20der%20Waals%20force) to adhere to surfaces. Here’s an interesting link dealing with “[gecko tape](http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993785)”. ---
**Author:** ![Aragowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@Aragowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aragowyn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/3 "2004-04-20T16:43:56Z")
Ah, but if your window is so full of gunky brownish dirt that it provides the lil’ gecko with a habitat from which he is camouflaged from predating birds, then in the big picture, your cleaning the glass may be in fact altering its habitat for the worse. Though probably not. I just like to argue 😃 . ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/4 "2004-04-20T16:59:01Z")
Geckos are cool! [This one](http://www.bluechameleon.org/Photo%20&%20Image%20Stockpile%20-%20BCV/Giant%20day%20gecko%20eating%20white%20roach.jpg) was a big hit among the ladies at work, one day when we had a roach come visiting, bui my favourite might be [this](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/12/17/tech/main321615.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![Aragowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@Aragowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aragowyn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/5 "2004-04-20T18:58:59Z")
> [@rjk](#): > > [This one](http://www.bluechameleon.org/Photo%20&%20Image%20Stockpile%20-%20BCV/Giant%20day%20gecko%20eating%20white%20roach.jpg) was a big hit Oh dear. That one is a chameleon, of the Family Chamaeleonidae. Not a gecko, of the Family Geckonidae. Just picking nits. Still a completely cool animal though. And the one curled up on a dime, how cool is that that biologists are still discovering interesting new species! (must’ve needed some big glasses to spot him in the sand!) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/6 "2004-04-20T19:09:10Z")
> [@stevenalice](#): > > Oh dear. That one is a chameleon, of the Family Chamaeleonidae. Not a gecko, of the Family Geckonidae. Just picking nits. Still a completely cool animal though. And the one curled up on a dime, how cool is that that biologists are still discovering interesting new species! (must’ve needed some big glasses to spot him in the sand!) Negatory. That’s a Day Gecko in the genus Phelsuma, which are indeed in the Gekkonidae. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Aragowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@Aragowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aragowyn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/7 "2004-04-21T00:16:43Z")
Tamerlane, right you are! I should’ve paid more attention to the pic than the words in the link. :o I humbly thank you for the correction. (Thank Gaia I’m typing this, I wouldn’t be able to vocalize it what with this foot in my mouth). ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/8 "2004-04-21T00:29:18Z")
No matter which family, they still fall under the heading of “cat toy”. Now to find out how the hell they are getting into my house; I am tired of finding tails and itty bitty bodies all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/9 "2004-04-21T00:53:25Z")
> [@stevenalice](#): > > Tamerlane, right you are! I should’ve paid more attention to the pic than the words in the link. :o I humbly thank you for the correction. > (Thank Gaia I’m typing this, I wouldn’t be able to vocalize it what with this foot in my mouth). Well, they certainly don’t look like your average gecko :). It just so happens I used to have a couple of Gold Dust Day Geckos as pets, so it clicked right away. > [@screech-owl](#): > > No matter which family, they still fall under the heading of “cat toy”. Now to find out how the hell they are getting into my house; I am tired of finding tails and itty bitty bodies all over the place. Are you in Hawaii? Last time I was on the Big Island they were _everywhere_ ( in the house, outside the house, on every other leaf on every other tree… ). And hey, at least it saves on buying new cat-nip mice every week :p. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/10 "2004-04-22T00:15:35Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > …Are you in Hawaii?.. Don’t I wish! > [@](#): > > …Last time I was on the Big Island they were _everywhere_ ( in the house, outside the house, on every other leaf on every other tree… )… Nope, Florida. Quite a few geckos\*\*, but more in the way of anoles - the green ones are native to Florida, but the brown ones were (accidentally?) imported into Florida from Cuba, and very quickly are pushing the green ones out of their ecological niche. \*\* Those suckers can run FAST!!! They have a weird, almost hypnotic lateral undulation as they run, and they leave all sorts of footie prints on the windows, the walls, the computer monitor. Almost as bad as the frog that got into my house and left a trail of cat-caused destruction in her quest to ‘getthefroggetthefroggetthefrog’, as well as all the frog footie prints on the windows, the walls, and the computer monitor. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/11 "2004-04-22T03:05:20Z")
> [@Joe Random](#): > > I’d say easier, but not noticably so. [Geckos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecko) can climb on glass because they have setae on their feet which utilize the [Van der Waals force](http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/van%20der%20Waals%20force) to adhere to surfaces. [Spiders too!](http://www.PHYSICSWEB.ORG/article/news/8/4/9) > [@](#): > > Spiders can walk upside-down across almost any type of surface because they exploit electrostatic, van der Waals forces, according to a team of German and Swiss scientists. The team has also calculated that these forces are strong enough to allow the animal to carry more than 170 times its own body weight ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/12 "2004-04-24T06:31:01Z")
> [@screech-owl](#): > > Don’t I wish! > > Nope, Florida. Quite a few geckos\*\*, but more in the way of anoles - the green ones are native to Florida, but the brown ones were (accidentally?) imported into Florida from Cuba, and very quickly are pushing the green ones out of their ecological niche. I just had to ask - is there actually two different types of anole? You _are_ aware that the little Carolina Anoles common in petstores are usually a dark brown during the day but turn bright green while asleep? Yep, that was a day gecko. We’ve got one at work. Fast little begger! ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geckos-and-glass/240983/13 "2004-04-24T10:09:29Z")
According to _A Birder’s Guide to Florida_ by Bill Pranty (American Briding Association, 1996), “Other Faunal Lists for Florida”, page 354: Green Anole (_Anolis carolinensis_) - Woodlands throughout Brown Anole (_Anolis sagrei_) - Exotic, native to the west Indies. Spreading throughout Jamaican Giant Anole (_Anolis garmani_) - Exotic, native to Jamaica. Miami area Crested Anole (_Anolis cristatellus_) - Exotic, native to Puerto Rico. Miami area Large-headed Anole (_Anolis cybotes_) - Exotic, native to the West Indies. Fort Lauderdale and Miami Bark Anole (_Anolis distichus_) - Exotic, native to the Bahamas. Southeast coast and Keys Knight Anole (_Anolis equestris_) - Exotic, native to Cuba. Fort Lauderdale and Miami In addition, there are nine (listed) species of geckos [only the Florida Reef Gecko (_Sphaerodactylus notatus_) is native to Florida], one basilisk [Brown Basilisk (_Basiliscus vittatus_ - native to Tropical America, found in Miami canals], two iguanas [both are exotics], ten lizards, two racerunners, one whiptail, and seven skinks. Gawd knows how many are escaped pets, and what other pets are not yet escaped into the environment. (Plus, the author is working on another update - I cannot right now find my 2000 edition, so had to rely on my 1996 edition.) No wonder my cat is hyper. This is the natural equivalent of “Pet Toys Are Us!!!”.