The Common House Gecko, scientific name Hemidactylus frenatus, is a native of southeastern Asia. It is also known as the Pacific house gecko, the Asian house gecko, or simply, the house lizard. Most geckos are nocturnal, hiding during the day and foraging for insects at night. They can be seen climbing walls of houses and other buildings in search of insects attracted to porch lights, hence their name "House Gecko". Spread around the world by ships, these geckos are now common in the Deep South of the United States, large parts of tropical and sub-tropical Australia, and many other countries in South and Central America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. They grow to a length of between three to six inches (about 7.5–15 cm), and live for about five years. These small geckos are harmless, and are not venomous.
A tropical gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus thrives in warm, humid areas where it can crawl around on rotting wood in search of the insects it eats. The animal is very adaptable and may prey on insects and spiders, displacing other reptiles.
Like many geckos, this species can lose its tail when alarmed. Its call or chirp rather resembles the sound "gecko, gecko". However, this is an interpretation, and the sound may also be described as "tchak tchak tchak" (often sounded three times in sequence). In Asia/South East Asia, notably Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, geckos have local names onomatopoetically derived from the sounds they make: Hemidactylus frenatus is called "chee chak" or "chi chak" (pr: chee chuck), said quickly. Also commonly spelled as "cicak" in Malay dictionaries. In the Philippines they are called "butiki" in Tagalog, or "tiki" in Visayan, and in Thailand "jing-jok" (Thai: จิ้งจก). In India and Pakistan they are called "chhipkali"(Urdu:چہپکلی, Hindi: छिपकली), from chhipkana, to stick. In India they are called "Jhiti piti" in Oriya language, "Gawli" or "Palli" in Malayalam language: ଝିଟିପିଟି). In Bangladesh they are called "tiktiki" (Bangla: টিকটিকি) as they make sound like "tik tik tik".
Read more about Common House Gecko: Description, Distribution, House Geckos in Captivity, Superstition
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