A lot of Leo questions, mostly about handling

Jonlee25

New Member
Messages
17
Location
Minneapolis
I've had my boy for 3 or 4 months, at first he was skittish and a little people/hand shy, now he seems to love coming out, climbing my hand and arm. My questions are; how often should I handle him? For how long? Is it harmful to take him outside? Walk on the bed and floor with close supervision?
 

proBie3

New Member
Messages
190
Location
Minnesota
I've had my boy for 3 or 4 months, at first he was skittish and a little people/hand shy, now he seems to love coming out, climbing my hand and arm. My questions are; how often should I handle him? For how long? Is it harmful to take him outside? Walk on the bed and floor with close supervision?

I personally wouldn't take any of my Leo's outside just because there are so many parasites and diseases out there that it can contract that we do a pretty good job of keeping away when we keep our little guys captive indoors. Plus it wouldn't be a very fun hide and seek game looking for a skittish leo who suicide jumped out of your hand.

After a few months of living in it's home your gecko will become pretty comfortable and with handling it every now and then and feeding and cleaning the cage your gecko will learn that it can certainly get out at times. Mine always lays on top of his humid hide scratching at the doors to his cage because he knows he can get out of there that way when it's open.

I will handle my leo's often especially when they are showing signs that they want to get out. I normally only leave them out for a couple minutes up to 20 minutes on rare occasions.

It all comes down to your gecko. Watch the temperature. You don't want to take your gecko out and then sit on the couch if you have the air conditioner blasting towards you for example. Also any little bit of skittishness gets my geckos a quick ticket back in there cage. If they start to run or look agitated or scared I put them away immediately.

Remember it's all up to you and your gecko. Handle your gecko as you please and as often as you want just make sure conditions are right and each time isn't too long. Remember the longer your gecko is out, the more time there is for something to go wrong, and these guys will jump 6ft and run away in a blink of an eye if they get frightened.
 

Dreamsong

New Member
Messages
50
Location
Maryland
It's just like proBie3 said, it really depends on the gecko. I know of the five we had before, only two of them liked being out for more than 20 mins at a time. Of course, they were my two adult males, and they weren't ever skittish about anything. Hiryu would chase the dogs (and climb on the one when he wasn't paying attention..) around my bed or on the couch, and Sanzo would scrawl around on my bed/find his way to the warmest part of my laptop (right against the top of the keypad/next to the screen) and sleep there for an additional hour or so before 'allowing' me to put him back in his tank. If he didn't want to be moved, he'd make almost a growling sound and glare at me.

About the only way I'd consider taking a leo outside would be if I had a smooth-sided kiddie pool at my disposal. Pile up some sterilized rocks and branches for them to hide in at the center of the pool, and never leave them unsupervised, especially if you live in an area with stray cats, hawks, snakes, etc. You never know what could happen, even if you only turn your back for a second.
 

proBie3

New Member
Messages
190
Location
Minnesota
About the only way I'd consider taking a leo outside would be if I had a smooth-sided kiddie pool at my disposal. Pile up some sterilized rocks and branches for them to hide in at the center of the pool, and never leave them unsupervised.

I was just talking to my girlfriend about setting up a little "play area" much larger than there tank that they can just go in and hang out and explore.
 

Jonlee25

New Member
Messages
17
Location
Minneapolis
Yea I'm thinking about taking a big plastic tub I have, and dressing it up a little bit and letting my boy play in there, my girl is still a bit shy, and skittish plus she is in quarantine anyway!
 

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