Ceased eating

[Jbritt]

Ceased eating because of dominance?

My now juvenile blazing blizzard stopped eating after I ceased to feed him (male, it seems) inside of his housing cage. I know it's a bad idea to feed inside their living quarters and I now take them out to feed in a separate environment. When I initially got him as a hatchling, he was docile and didn't mind to be held. Though, as he grew he became more aggressive/dominant towards my hand coming into the tank when I would try and handle him. I feed with tongs, so I don't think it's a confusion or accidental association of food.

He started with hissing and biting, as young geckos do, but eventually he began to outwardly attack my hand from the other side of the tank. I was never too pushy with him; persistent enough to hopefully make some improvement, but not to the point of being mean (poking, prodding, etc.) So my thought was to begin feeding him outside of his cage, only now he seems to be stuck in his dominant phase and refuses all types of food. It's only been a few days, but I was wondering if anyone else had an experience like this? What should I do? Thanks for reading and any positive input!

 

[LZRDGRL]

Just feed him inside his cage. Almost everybody does. If you have 300+ geckos, you can't take them all out to feed them outside! If you don't have any bad, loose substrates they could ingest, such as sand, there's no problem with feeding on tile, carpet, or paper towel at all. :main_yes:

Chrissy

 

[Jbritt]

So I will never be able to handle this one?

 

[Hankj]

I do not think his attitude is caused by him eating in his tank. I know they say that about snakes but a lot of snake owners don't even agree with that. Like Chrissy said, most people feed their geckos in the tank. I don't think I would feed out of the tank unless I had two geckos in the same enclosure and wanted to make sure they were both eating. Young geckos are often very feisty. I have never seen one that aggressive but I would just give it some time to mature or look for something else in his surroundings that might be causing the aggression. Does he act up when someone else tries to touch him? Could only be a scent you have on you.

 

[Jbritt]

Well I was thinking that it might just be my scent, but it acts similar towards my wife, although not as aggressive. Right now he thinks he is in control and I don't want him growing up thinking that way. He could end up being pretty rude as an adult at this rate. I would like to eventually handle and mate this one, but he is proving to have quite different ideas than I lol

Should I just give into him and hope he settles down on his own? Or do you think I should try and continue the intervention? It obviously pisses him off that I prove to be in control because when he is out he is much less feisty, though still refusing food. It's clearly a love/hate relationship we have going on

 

[satyr666]

My female acted like that when I first bought her but with regular handling she has tamed down a lot. I just would ignore her when she acted up and just let her bite and try and escape after a while she would calm down then I would put her back in the cage it didn't take long for her to get used to being handled occasionally. I feed my geckos from bowls in their cages and never have aggression problems related to food. He may not be eating because he feels stressed when he is taken out of his environment I would just leave him in his cage for feedings. He will more than likely calm down as he gets older and realizes your not a threat to him.

 

[Jbritt]

Thanks a lot!! I don't want him to drop his tail from me persistently trying to handle him, but I think that's a good idea and I will give it shot! I appreciate it