# I just learned what a detached gecko tail looks like **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 3, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635 "2024-11-03T22:42:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/1 "2024-11-03T22:42:32Z")
And it is kind of freaking me out. I don’t think I ever actually gave it much thought, but I assumed something of an even break, not a ring of protruding tapered muscle fingers. It looks like attachment docks so that if you held it against the lizard again it could lock back in place. (I wonder if something like that _could_ be made to work, if there was the right evolutionary pressure?) [![](https://i.imgur.com/dft3ltc.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/dft3ltc.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/8QQBg4r.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/8QQBg4r.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/erS4ONb.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/erS4ONb.jpeg) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SdInAHHXDHI/maxresdefault.jpg "Black Night Leopard Gecko Tail Drop 😮😮😮") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdInAHHXDHI) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KXbV3x4PgXc/maxresdefault.jpg "Leopard Gecko Tail Regeneration Time Lapse "Slideshow"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXbV3x4PgXc) I’ll never look at the Geico spokesbeing the same way again. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/2 "2024-11-03T22:48:18Z")
That’s pretty creepy. I didn’t realize that’s what they look like either. The first time I took my then-eight-year-old son to Hawaii, he wanted to catch a gecko. There was one in the house we were renting, so he spent some time stalking it around the room. He finally managed to grab it by the tail. It dropped its tail and ran away, leaving him holding a squirming tail in his hand. He screamed and dropped it, and lost all interest in catching a gecko after that point. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/3 "2024-11-03T23:05:01Z")
Well, I’m sufficiently shocked, and yes, grossed out the back door. (Note: never grab a lizard tail) ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/4 "2024-11-03T23:05:31Z")
I don’t think it is a true gecko but here in SoCal we have these little lizards that can get into the house sometimes. Once I tried to trap one with a cup and in doing so, cut its tail, which wriggled for a while outside the cup. I got the rest of it up and tossed it outside, off the balcony. Two days later, I looked out on the wall outside the balcony and saw a tailless lizard glaringly at me balefully (or so I imagined as I was a bit high). ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/5 "2024-11-03T23:12:38Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > these little lizards that can get into the house sometimes. Are they green? If so, it’s probably an anole. If it’s sorta translucent, it’s probably a Mediterranean gecko. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/6 "2024-11-03T23:52:43Z")
What’s real fun is when the cat has one in his mouth. Tail wiggling. I’ve pulled them and cat swallows, all that’s left is wiggly tail and cat batting at it. Til they barf. 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/7 "2024-11-07T00:33:39Z")
OK, yup, nightmare fuel. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/8 "2024-11-07T12:49:17Z")
I think it’s pretty cool looking - I’ve never examined one that closely. They are not real easy to catch, and numerous times over the years I’ve been left a gecko tail in my hand. Once a foot came off, but unfortunately they don’t grow back. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-what-a-detached-gecko-tail-looks-like/1009635/9 "2024-11-07T12:56:24Z")
Mmmmm, sushi! Just a little soy sauce and, voila! 😃😈