# Mourning Gecko Trapping for Recovery or Removal



## connorology (Oct 6, 2018)

Good Afternoon, 

Recently there was a thread about how to remove mourning geckos from a vivarium since it can be tough to capture them all, or even know how many you have if the colony is actively reproducing. I figured I would share a technique I just came up with - I successfully made a very simple trap to help me recapture two escapees from a temporary holding enclosure, and it worked like a charm. I took a orange juice bottle, inverted the top (see below) and baited it with the Repashy gecko diet they like. It took a couple days, but I have now recovered both of the escapees. Simple but seems effective if you have a jailbreak or want a more effective removal method than hunting around at night with a flashlight.


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## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

Nice, saw this on Instagram. How strong is the scent of that gecko diet?


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## connorology (Oct 6, 2018)

Fahad said:


> Nice, saw this on Instagram. How strong is the scent of that gecko diet?


I don't think it's particularly fragrant - the smell from the OJ bottle may have been the actual attractant.


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## Fahad (Aug 25, 2019)

That's a good point. I was really curious as to what would lead them to investigate in the first place and at what range. How big was the room and was there much air circulation?


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## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

I can remember happy hours making and deploying bottle traps like these to catch newts and great diving beetles when I was a kid. They can be very effective.


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## connorology (Oct 6, 2018)

Fahad said:


> That's a good point. I was really curious as to what would lead them to investigate in the first place and at what range. How big was the room and was there much air circulation?


 Roughly 20' x 12 '. Lots of hiding places so I couldn't just tear it apart looking for her. There's lots of air circulation. The enclosure they escaped from was on a bookcase with lots of items to hide in/behind. I put the trap near where they escaped assuming they'd be near the location they escaped from, or at least somewhat inclined to return to it, particularly since it had so many good hiding spots. I had a dish of water out near the trap too as I didn't want them to get dehydrated.


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## connorology (Oct 6, 2018)

Louis said:


> I can remember happy hours making and deploying bottle traps like these to catch newts and great diving beetles when I was a kid. They can be very effective.


In or out of water?


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## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

connorology said:


> In or out of water?


You can trap all sorts of things using this design either in or out of water. For aquatic things like newts and diving beetles you leave a bubble of air in the enclosed portion of the bottle and have to check them regularly but baited with a bit of meat this is the easiest way to catch the larger and more impressive species of diving beetle like dytiscus marginalis. Best results in shallow water with the open end of the trap pointed downwards at an angle.


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