Unexpected House Guests Pt.1: A Gecko in Distress - Da Nang, Viet Nam

Da Nang is a city that is developing fast, with vacant lots and green spaces quickly disappearing to make way for the newest luxury high-rise. Despite this, I find myself consistently confronted with confirmations that Da Nang is still a city at the fringes of nature. Perhaps this is partly due to my location, the Ngu Hanh Son district, which is on the southeast edge of the city. This area still has undeveloped green spaces teeming with fish, birds, reptiles, insects, and who knows what else. That being said, one doesn’t even need to go outside to find some wildlife, you simply need to open a window.

Recently I discovered this little guy chilling in my kitchen sink. When I first saw him down there I had some other things to do so I paid him no mind. When I came back hours later, he was still there.

This is quite strange behavior for the little lizards (Hemidactylus frenatus), which are known as House Geckos or thằn lằn (tunh-lunh) in Vietnamese. They usually don’t stick around any one place for too long, often scurrying about in search of food or a mate. I figured he might be injured or somehow stuck in the sink, so I quickly organized a rescue operation.

A bowl was requisitioned, and lowered into the sink. The gecko climbed aboard to be airlifted to safety. I bring him close to get a good look at him. He seems healthy enough as he adjusts himself securely on the edge of the bowl. His big eyes look back at me with a curiosity that seems to mirror my own. It seems like he is smiling at me, which maybe I am imagining, but I've decided to pretend he is genuinely grateful for me saving him from the sink.

I bring the bowl up to the wall so he can go on his way, I opt against taking him outside, because I actually do want him to stick around. These geckos are very useful for killing mosquitoes, ants, and even cockroaches.

He climbs off of the bowl and onto the wall. He takes a few steps before falling down into my spice rack. Clearly he is still having a problem climbing. He doesn’t seem to have any problem walking, and I watch him investigate around my sink for a few minutes before I needed to go. When I came back later there was no sign of him. I hope he found his strength again, and is climbing around eating mosquitos somewhere, but I haven’t seen him since. This is not to say that I haven’t seen any more geckos around the house, because I have, just not this specific one.

These kinds of geckos can vary in color and size, and its been awhile since I've seen one that would be the right size and same pale hue. I do see some darker brown lizards, particularly at night, scurrying in the shadows while I am watching tv.

While stepping away from writing this post, I came across a small little guy the same color as the one from the sink, but only about the size of my thumb. I like to think this is his son, and he has a nice healthy family protecting my house. I tried to take a picture, but he was very elusive. See if you can spot him in the photo below.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my house geckos.

All photos were taken by me. I hope you have a nice day.