House Geckos in Ho Chi Minh City Homes: Risks and Control

Quick answer. The small pale lizards on the walls of most homes in Ho Chi Minh City are house geckos (thạch sùng, thằn lằn nhà). They do not bite people in any meaningful way and are not venomous. They come in for the insects that gather around lights. The real issues are their droppings on counters and floors, and the rare gecko that ends up in food or in an appliance. The most effective way to have fewer geckos is to have fewer insects for them to eat, and fewer gaps to come through.

Are geckos dangerous?

• Bites: a house gecko can nip if it is grabbed, but it rarely breaks the skin.
• Venom: none. The belief that geckos are poisonous is common but not true.
• Hygiene: like other animals, geckos can carry bacteria such as Salmonella on their skin and in their droppings. Wipe droppings up with a disposable cloth and a household cleaner, and keep food covered.
• Electrical: geckos sometimes shelter in switch boxes, routers and air-conditioner units, and can cause faults there.

Why there are so many

Geckos go where the insects are. A white light on a balcony or beside a window gathers moths, flies and small beetles every evening, and the geckos follow. Homes next to gardens, canals or planting have more insects, so they also have more geckos. Gaps around air-conditioner pipes, under doors and around window frames let them in.

How to keep numbers down

1. Cut the insects: switch outside lights to warm or yellow bulbs, close curtains at night, and fix window screens.
2. Close the gaps: seal around air-conditioner pipes and cables, fit door sweeps, and repair torn screens.
3. Remove shelter: clear stacked boxes and clutter behind furniture, where geckos rest by day.
4. Clean droppings regularly: they show where geckos rest and help you find the gap they use.

Chemical repellents sold for geckos do little. The steps above work better.

When geckos point to an insect problem

A lot of geckos in one place usually means a lot of insects there: flies around a kitchen, moths at a balcony light, cockroaches in a store room. Treating that insect problem, and sealing the gaps, is what brings gecko numbers down. If that is what you are seeing, see our pages on cockroach control and fly control.

For a kitchen or food business, gecko droppings near food are an inspection issue. Clean them daily, cover food, and close the gaps they use.

Our lizard control service

We handle geckos mostly as an add-on to a monthly pest control or IPM contract for factories, where lizards on walls and droppings near products or packaging are a hygiene problem.

• Glue boards along the wall base: boards about 1 m long, laid along the foot of walls on the routes geckos use, checked and replaced at each visit.
• Fewer insects to feed on: the same monthly programme treats crawling insects with residual spray and flying insects with misting, so the site draws fewer geckos.

We do not use poison on geckos, and we do not promise a site with none at all. The aim is to keep numbers low and catch the ones that come in.

Other lizards you may see

• Garden lizards (the larger brown or green lizards on walls and fences outside) live in planting and rarely come indoors.
• Tokay geckos (tắc kè) are much bigger, grey with orange spots, and have a loud call at night. They can bite hard if handled; leave them alone and keep children and pets away.
• Monitor lizards near canals and rivers are wild animals. Do not try to catch one; call the local authorities if one is inside.

Common beliefs, checked

• "A gecko falling on you is bad luck." A folk belief, not a health risk.
• "Gecko droppings are poisonous." They are not poisonous, but they are dirty. Clean them like any other droppings.
• "Eggshells or mothballs keep geckos away." There is no good evidence for either, and mothballs are banned as an insecticide ingredient in Vietnam (Circular 05/2026/TT-BYT).

Common questions

Do geckos keep mosquitoes away?

They eat some insects, but not enough to control mosquitoes. Deal with standing water instead.

Is a gecko in the rice cooker or kettle a health risk?

Throw away the food it touched and clean the appliance well. Then find out how it got in, which is usually a gap near the cable or the vent.