Gekko crap....Crap!

[Sydjapan]

Not sure where to post this and it may sound trivial, but....I just moved into a place in the hills in the North and can obviously accept tropical living means tropical bugs and critters....Not too bothered....I have open "vents" all along the top of my house - currently not screened. Probably will screen these. I digress...I like gekkos as much as anyone, but they are crapping all over. Mostly I find gekko crap in the morning. I have about 7m high ceilings with cement beams, which is where they obviously are. They don't come out in the day and I haven't seen them. I have noticed the small little hotel gekkos many places in Bali and never ever saw gekko crap. While building, I saw a granddaddy gekko in my house and I'm thinking these /this is the pooper extraordinaire...? To date, no gekko poop on the furniture (minimalist moving in state....), but not looking forward to gekko crap on the furniture or my guests heads....Any suggestions? OK...humorous suggestions and comments welcome - but also any serious answers, please? Not too keen to exterminate and until I screen - can't really keep them out...so do I just get up every morning, put the coffee on and then say CRAP and get out the paper towels?

[sherm]

They are put there to help you by eating things worse than gekko poopy. Screen 'em out, screen out their food source and you'll be gold.

So here's a bizziness idea... gekko diapers (nappies)... problem would be who would change them when soiled?

[sakumabali]

The small gekkos call "chichak" (at least pronounced this way), the big 1s "tokek" (20-30 cm long, if you hear a loud eh-oh you know you have one), the latter you won't see normally, their shit is similar to a mouse. If you see 1 don't try to catch, if they bite your hand you might have problem to remove them...
Just one solution: Mosquito netting, magnetic insect screen / sliding etc....if there's any hole / window the insect will fly inside to be near your lights, the gekkos follow to eat them. So no insects = theoretically no gekkos

[hermit]

I would not bother to try and screen the geckos out of your house,because that might only succeed if you keep your doors and windows shut all day as well.It is a lost battle.You might reduce the poop problem by living on your veranda at night and not light up inside too much,especially the two hours after sunset,when the number of insects is highest.
In my house i have an enormous extended family of Geckos that live on the rafters.They are so tame that even now,at 2 in the afternoon,i can see at least four of them glued to the beams as a sculpture.Each of them is different .Some have orange spots,some have banded tails like a snake.All of them are beautiful.
The cicaks are so small you would not be able to shut them out at all.
My beds have all box-like klambu's,so there is no problem either.(Also practical to keep out bats and rats.)
I admit most of the time i am not the person that sweeps the floor,but when i have to do it,it is no problem.
You better get used to them and enjoy their sound at night.
No tropical night is complete without the sound of the Geckos.
Besides that,Balinese say it brings luck when they want to live in your house.
Good luck.!

[Sydjapan]

Thanks guys....Good idea bout the veranda and I plan to spend more time there once I get lighting and a few more essentials set up. Honestly I really do like them and the sound doesn't bother me at all. I'll screen the top vents and then see how this works out? Perhaps when the bug banquet isn't quite such a feast they may move along, or at least not have enough ruffage for so much poop....

[JohnnyCool]

Besides that, Balinese say it brings luck when they want to live in your house.

Other Balinese say if they poop on your head, it's lucky.

Screening out insects is one thing. Rats and mice chew holes through these pretty quickly.

Like hermit said above: It is a lost battle.
Which is bigger? A war or a battle?

Worrying about some poop on your furniture, etc, is a waste of time. These animals help to maintain an ecological balance, in your ecology (house).
Mess around too much and enjoy the consequences.

For example:
Get rid of all the rats and you'll have more snakes coming around looking for something new to eat. And so on.

There seems to me to be hundreds of thousands of "Laundry services" available in most parts of Bali.
Got too much poop this week? Just hire somebody to clean it up for you (probably less than ten bucks - nego).

How are your frogs and toads? Or centipedes and millipedes?
Wasps, hornets, scorpions, bats, civets, rabid dogs and spiders?

Somebody above warned against ever taking on a toke. I agree. Get too close or piss one off, they bite and hang on!

Other animals to watch out for, depending where you live, are really big lizards (they're called goannas in Australia). Miniature "Komdo dragons", here.
I've had ones more than a metre and a half long in my ceilings. Just don't get in their way, threaten them, or they'll think you're a "tree" and run up you.

Some Balinese like to eat/sell them (if they can find or catch one).

Bali doesn't have any big red kangaroos that can rip your guts out in a single stroke, aggressive koalas, spitting alpacas, nasty wombats, funnel-web spiders, etc, so far, so nothing to fret about there.
And no "punks" in Bali have been sent to Aceh for "re-education". Not even to the mental hospital in Bangli.

I am quite happy with Bali's wildlife (what's left of it).

It's Christmas Eve right now - about to head out - if I'm wearing a Santa suit, do I need a helmet? Are there any chimneys in Bali?

[BKT]

I'm sure if you explained to the police that its your religious attire then you should be fine, just make sure you have your Santa hat on . Also theres only one chimney in Bali and the residents need a weed eater/wacker, I'll Pm you my... I mean the address.

[ronb]

..................... To date, no gekko poop on the furniture (minimalist moving in state....), but not looking forward to gekko crap on the furniture or my guests heads....

Because you are concerned for the furniture, I am just wondering whether you are seeing bat poop rather than gecko poop. I think gecko poop are dry pellets that are easy to sweep up leaving no stains. But bat poop is messy and can easily stain fabrics - the color of the stain depends a bit on what fruit they are eating.

If it is bats, then besides screening, leaving a light on in the 7 metre high part may help.

[sakumabali]

Because you are concerned for the furniture, I am just wondering whether you are seeing bat poop rather than gecko poop. I think gecko poop are dry pellets that are easy to sweep up leaving no stains. But bat poop is messy and can easily stain fabrics - the color of the stain depends a bit on what fruit they are eating.

If it is bats, then besides screening, leaving a light on in the 7 metre high part may help.

Good point! Bat poop IS INDEED annoying, especially when they find a cozy place somewhere above and eat their fruits...they completely ruined a table and 4 chairs in a house I lived in!

[hermit]

Because you are concerned for the furniture, I am just wondering whether you are seeing bat poop rather than gecko poop. I think gecko poop are dry pellets that are easy to sweep up leaving no stains.

There is no way of mistaking Gecko poop.It is black(and sticky)with a small white ball attached to it.