# Chichak (*Hemidactylus frenatus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/chichak  
Data as of: 2026-11-13

The chichak (Hemidactylus frenatus) is a species in the family Gekkonidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh 3.29 g to 3.3 g and reach 5.35 cm in length.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 3.3 g |
| Length | 5.27 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 7 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 60 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 – 2 |
| Age at maturity | 76.1 days – 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 3 – 17 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Introduced range

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 35 countries, and flagged as invasive in 15 of them. Introduced: Australia, Belize, Cambodia, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, St. Helena, St. Kitts & Nevis, United States, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam. Invasive: Australia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, New Caledonia, Palau, Samoa, Seychelles, Somalia, St. Helena, Venezuela. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Gekkonidae
- genus: Hemidactylus
- species: *Hemidactylus frenatus* Duméril & Bibron, 1836

Synonyms: *Gecko caracal*, *Gecko chaus*, *Hemi-dactylus frenatus*, *Hemidactylus bojeri*, *Hemidactylus fraenatus*, *Hemidactylus hexaspis*, *Hemidactylus inornatus*, *Hemidactylus javanicus*, *Hemidactylus longiceps*, *Hemidactylus nigriventris*, *Hemidactylus okinavensis*, *Hemidactylus okinawensis*, *Hemidactylus pumilus*, *Hemidactylus punctatus*, *Hemidactylus tristis*, *Hemidactylus vandermeer-mohri*, *Hemidactylus vandermeermohri*, *Hemidactylus vittatus*, *Pnoepus bojeri*, *Pnoepus frenatus*, *Pnoepus papuensis*, *Pnoepus punctatus*

## Common questions

### How big is the chichak?

An adult chichak weighs 3.3 g and measures 5.27 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### Is the chichak an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the chichak as invasive in 15 countries, including Australia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras and Marshall Islands. It lists it as introduced in 35 in all.

### What kind of animal is the chichak?

The chichak (Hemidactylus frenatus) belongs to the family Gekkonidae in the order Squamata.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)](https://griis.org/), CC BY 4.0, 2026-11-13. Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- [SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), CC0 1.0, 1.0-dryad-v5. Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).

Cite as: Chichak (Hemidactylus frenatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/chichak