How to Get Rid of Common House Geckos

Co-authored by Wilson Christner

Last Updated: November 11, 2024 Approved

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Do you have tiny, unwanted, gecko guests in your home? One sign is their black/brown droppings with a white tip. An even clearer sign is if you see one crawling up your wall! Although an ally against insects and spiders, geckos can be a pest in their own right, so sometimes steps need to be taken to remind them that they're unwelcome in your home.^{[1]
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Things You Should Know

Geckos can be good for bug control, but sometimes you just need them out of your home. You can use a variety of products you may already have to get rid of them:

If you have eggshells, you can place them around your home to scare off geckos.
If you have mothballs, you can place them around to repel geckos.
If you have coffee and tobacco, you can make a gecko poison.
If you have garlic cloves, you can use them to repel geckos with the odor.
If you have onions, cut some up to keep geckos at bay.
If you have cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce, you can make a homemade pepper spray.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Removing Geckos From Your Home

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1
Place some eggshells. This is a very effective and inexpensive way to scare away geckos: they see eggshells and they think “predator.” Leave two eggshell halves around your home, such as at outdoor entryways, or in the kitchen.
- Do not crush the eggshells, leave them in two halves.
- One two-halves pair at every entrance should be enough: the geckos just need to run into it, then they'll run away from it.
- To keep the eggshells fresh, change them every 3 to 4 weeks.
Plant some mothballs. Mothballs target moths, cockroaches, ants, flies – and geckos! A real household panacea! Leave some under the stove, refrigerator, or sink to repel geckos.

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3
Set sticky traps. Many of the insects that geckos eat are drawn to light, so, oftentimes, geckos will hang out in those areas. Placing some flypaper near light sources will not only catch geckos’ pesky food source, but will likely catch the geckos themselves. Catching animals in this method is often considered extremely inhumane, as the animal will slowly dehydrate to death.
- A good position to place the flypaper is on the inside of the light bulb’s shade/housing.
- You can also set glue boards or sticky cards near windows or other outdoor entryways.
- If you find a live gecko stuck in one of your sticky traps, you can unstick it and set it free by pouring vegetable oil over the trap while slowly peeling the animal from the glue. Be sure to gently pull up on the animal, and only where the oil has worked on the glue. The gecko can injure itself while struggling with the glue, which is why glue traps are not typically recommended.
Using moist coffee grounds and some tobacco powder, form a small ball with your hands and stick it on the end of a toothpick. Put this near where the geckos are nesting or where they might easily find it, like an outdoor entryway. The geckos will consume some of this ball and die.
Garlic’s strong odor isn’t just repellent to some humans, it’s also repellent to geckos, too! Leave a garlic clove around an outdoor entryway to keep them from entering that way ever again.
Cut some onion slices. Onion slices are another irritant that will drive geckos away. Cut an onion in half and leave it in a known gecko hiding place, somewhere warm and cozy that you’ve seen a gecko camping out, or by an outdoor entryway.
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Pepper-spray around your home. The irritation felt by humans when sprayed by pepper-spray is not unlike that felt by geckos that encounter it. Mix some pepper and water in a spray bottle and spray the solution around your home in places like under the refrigerator, behind the couch, or on the walls – basically, anywhere warm or anywhere you’ve seen a gecko.
- Cayenne pepper or chili powder can be used in place of pepper.
- Tabasco sauce can be used in place of the home-made pepper-spray.
- Warning: spraying too much may repel ‘’you’’ from your home, so be mindful of its irritating effect.
Catch a gecko, let it go. If you have a stubborn gecko that just refuses to be repelled from your home, you can try capturing him manually, as it were, by setting a box against a wall and “encouraging” the gecko to get inside. Then you can release it back into the wild – and set some more repellents to keep it out!^{[2]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Preventing Geckos From Moving In

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1
Render your home inhospitable to geckos. Geckos like warmth, water, and places to hide. You can do several things to make sure your home doesn’t offer these amenities.
- Maintain the general cleanliness of your home by keeping the floor swept and not leaving piles of stuff lying around, such as laundry, newspapers, boxes, etc.^{[3]
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- Keep your furniture six inches from the walls and don’t hang up many pictures: geckos are nocturnal and like warm, dark places to hide out during the day.^{[4]
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- Keep your thermostat turned down as low as you can handle: geckos like the warmth and humidity of your home when it gets cool at night.
- If you have any leaky faucets or pipes or any area that generally offers stagnant water in a humid environment – fix them and remove the water because geckos are drawn to those environments.^{[5]
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Render your backyard inhospitable to geckos. Your backyard can be a welcome mat to your home if geckos are drawn there by their creature comforts: water, insects, and cover. Here are some guidelines to follow in order to make your yard less welcoming:
- Remove any places where water can stagnate, such as birdbaths, as these are the breeding grounds for insects geckos prey upon and sources of hydration to geckos.^{[6]
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- Water your yard sparingly, as lizards enjoy the moist environment and will drink the water for hydration.^{[7]
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- Do not plant succulents: if a gecko cannot find any water for hydration, it will nibble on succulents to survive.^{[8]
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- Trim back your bushes, especially those close to your house, because geckos love places to hide.^{[9]
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- Placing some netting over your shrubs will keep geckos from using them as hideouts.^{[10]
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- Use outdoor lighting sparingly, as it draws insects that geckos prey upon. If you must use outdoor lighting, consider sodium vapor or yellow lights.^{[11]
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Geckos can squeeze their little scaly bodies into small crevices and holes, so make sure your home is well sealed. Walk around the inside and outside of your home and fill any cracks with caulk and make sure your windows and venting are screened properly.^{[12]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Targeting Geckos' Food Sources

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1
Discourage mosquitos, gnats, and flies. These pests love stagnant water because they thrive in it. You should remove or cover any objects or areas that offer this amenity.
- Cover your garbage cans and recyclables container.
- Don’t leave glasses of water lying around for long periods of time.
- Make sure water is not stagnating in your sink or bathtub.
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Repel ants. Ants are repelled by the smell of vinegar, so spray or flick some white vinegar around your window and door frames to keep them from marching in.
- Also, try to clean up after you eat: soiled napkins, crumbs, and unwashed dishes are alluring to ants.
Eradicate fruit flies. Fruit flies love sweet things, they can’t help themselves. So give them what they want: a small bowl or cup of white wine will lead them to dive in for a taste – and never return!
Suffocate moths. Moths thrive in humid conditions.^{[13]
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Deter roaches. Roaches like to eat many things. One thing they absolutely can’t stand, however, is cucumber peelings (go figure). So next time you peel a cucumber, don’t throw the peelings away but instead leave them lying around your kitchen counter or bathtub to keep roaches from venturing out into your home.
- If you find your cucumber peels are attracting ants, you can always use Borax: sprinkle somewhere there is high roach traffic and you should see their population drop in about a month. Contrary to popular belief, Borax is only mildly toxic to humans and pets.
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Prevent spiders. Spiders seem to pop up without reason, but, aside from you targeting their insect prey, there are ways to keep them at bay inside your home. Here are some ideas:
- Seal any spaces that lead outside, such as the sealing around your windows and doors.^{[14]
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- Trap unwanted spiders by placing glue boards in garbage cans, basements, kitchens, and bathrooms.^{[15]
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- If your spider problem is overwhelming, you might need to spray spider insecticide or call a team of professionals.^{[16]
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Curtail crickets. Crickets are a popular food source for geckos, so curtailing their population outside (and inside!) your home is a good idea to deter geckos from coming around.
- A shallow bowl filled with molasses (or beer) diluted with water will eliminate crickets inside and outside your home: they’ll jump right in!^{[17]
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- Keep your grass cut short in your yard because crickets thrive in tall grass.^{[18]
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Community Q&A

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Question

How can I prevent geckos from getting into my fridge?

Community Answer

Keep the fridge closed.

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Will geckos hurt me?

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The common house gecko is not poisonous. If you look into a gecko's mouth, you may also notice that they do not have sharp teeth, or any teeth at all. So no, they cannot hurt you.

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How do I catch geckos without sticky traps?

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At night, leave a light source (such as a flashlight) in a box in the place they normally hang out, and let the moths and other insects get drawn to it. Soon the geckos will make their way to the light source because of the warmth from the light and the readily-available food. Shut the box lid once they're in the box, and release them outside. Place some natural deterrents around the house, like garlic cloves, chopped onion, homemade pepper spray, or mothballs to keep them from returning.

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Tips

WD40 Spray, while not an eco-friendly option, will also prevent geckos from getting into your air-conditioner (spray around the base of your outdoor unit).

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Geckos are nocturnal and hide behind/under your furniture and appliances during the day, so you'll probably encounter your housemates mostly at night.

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Bright lights can attract a gecko's food source, which in turn attracts them.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Spraying entry points around your home with a Teflon-based spray can form a slippery barrier that prevents geckos from getting inside.
Geckos are often attracted to light, so turning off lights around your home can help keep them away.

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Warnings

Never use mothballs when children or pets are in the home: they are toxic.

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Borax is toxic to humans and pets, so do not use this method of killing roaches if you have children or pets in your home!

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