Avoiding/Shy

[Ersatzi]

Hi everyone, I'm back again with some questions. It's been about two weeks since I bought my gecko. And with the help of the people here and the research I've done myself, my little Smaug has blossomed. I can see a noticeable difference in the thickness of the tail as well as his over all body. Not only that, but there is now a very good cycle of eating/going to the bathroom. So, I figured that over the last few days, I would begin to really introduce myself to my little one.

Now, because Smaug is a really young one, I don't grab at it, or try to force it to walk on my hand. I'll place my hand either palm up or palm down (whichever is most comfortable from my angle) and then wait. I talk quietly, trying to encourage Smaug. Smaug meanwhile will either A). Stare up at me. B). Watch my hand and then slowly move to the other side of the tank and do everything possible in order to not cross over my hand or, both of them.

My frustrations I suppose are about the fact that Smaug just avoids me. I can't seem to get it to give me a chance. Smaug never hisses or lunges either.. so I'm assuming at this point that it's just avoiding me. Does anyone have any good tips into how to get my gecko interested in getting on my hand? I've tried placing a mealworm in my palm and kind of tempt my gecko.. but because Smaug has such poor aim and moves so quickly, I get kinda unnerved thinking that smaug may bite me multiple times in the process of trying to get the worm.

I've just looked up so many 'how to handle a new leopard gecko', and while they deal with young ones, older, jumpy, bitey.. I just haven't found an actual process to one that avoids/has little to no interest. So, I've decided to come on here in hopes of some enlightenment.

 

[Herbiebug]

You're doing all the right things. I just takes time. Leos live a long time so there's no need to rush them on this. Just every day or every other day, put your hand in the tank for 5 minutes whether he/she pays attention to you or not. You'll slowly see changes as the weeks go by as gecko's fear/curiosity ratio moves more towards the friendly side in regards to you.

When you get the idea that gecko is pretty much comfortable with your hand in the tank but doesn't take any initiative towards climbing on, you can do this: place your hand flat on the tank floor and very slowly move it until it's under your gecko's head. Gecko will probably lick you and then move. Try again once or twice then call it a day. Repeat. If you're moving slowly enough it's quite possible for ingratiate your hand underneath their bodies entirely to where they're sitting on your hand without anything apparently threatening happening along the way. This technique has worked great for me. I learned it from this youtube video about taming tokay geckos made by TheReptileWhisperer who keeps all sorts of reptiles:


[video=youtube;bIc3y0D5ipM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIc3y0D5ipM[/video]

 

[Ersatzi]

Thank you very much for your response. I actually just watched the video now, and I have to say it is pretty darn helpful. I will certainly be using this as a resource. :main_thumbsup: