Do you snuggle with your leo?

[AlbinoNme]

After WEEKS of hard work I finally established trust between him and I for a few mins of handling time with my leo..

(Mainly I waited so long because I was seriously afraid of him biting me or dropping his juicy tail)

Yesterday I up the stakes!

I turned on my laptop and reptile proofed my bed and took him out.
He crawled around (and ontop of me) for a while before climbing on the laptop for heat every now and then!

I watched CSI while I held him and then after sometime he between my torso and arm under my armpit and fell asleep!! . :main_cool3::main_laugh:

For two hours we stayed that way till the position started to put a strain on me and I put him back in his tank.

So my question is; do you snuggle with your Leo?

 

[Dog Shrink]

Aw that sounds so fun. Personally I just got my leo friday and we're still in this stage "Mainly I waited so long because I was seriously afraid of him biting me or dropping his juicy tail"

 

[Daylight_Thieves]

I do... They all like cuddling by me for warmth and I let them... It's cute and it creates a bond between us because they recognize my scent and therefore every time I take them out, they don't fear me, but rather know that I am safe and warm and the bringer of food...

 

[Jgreen909]

Thats awesome! I try to get my leo's out and handle them daily, not had one do that yet but I do have one that sits on my chest when I cross my arms and lifts her head to watch TV(or it seems at least) lol.

 

[Dog Shrink]

I think I just need to stop being such a puss and get in there and hold the lil booger despite his threats and arching dfisplays of "I'm fixin to leap for your juggular"

 

[Jordan]

they sleep on me, dunno if it classes as snuggling lol.
and no need to be worried about it dropping it is very very very unlikely to drop its tail just from handling, well unless its agressive handling including holding its tail lol. they dont drop their tail as easily as most first owners assume. And just as much unlikely to bite you. unless you tempt him. lol

 

[Dog Shrink]

Define "tempt" so I don't accidentally tempt him

 

[Jordan]

well rubbing your fingers in front of his mouth with some mealworm garlic and cricket sauce on lol

 

[Dog Shrink]

well rubbing your fingers in front of his mouth with some mealworm garlic and cricket sauce on lol

ha... smart @$$ kids ok. I'll avoid the mealie garlic and cricket sauce was more concerned he'd mistake my fingers for super worms or the like, or if there was a way that you move your fingers that might stimulate them.

 

[AlbinoNme]

I think I just need to stop being such a puss and get in there and hold the lil booger despite his threats and arching dfisplays of "I'm fixin to leap for your juggular"

Oh my gosh i know exactly what you mean!!

My leo is a bit iiffy... sometimes he wont move when i pick up his humid hide top to get him and other times he stays still.

Once i see him do the "S" shape thing and flinch like hes about to "fixin to leap for your juggular" i back off and wait till later to try again. or sometimes i try anyway and he runs (really fast) into his other hide then i back off then too.

sometimes i try to cooo him with treats.. like two waxworms, hand fed.

i find that this has brought us together. Hand feding him waxworms (not all the time because their fatting, but mealworms are something vicious) helped us bond a little. A few times (almost all the time :/) he bite my hand while trying to get the waxworm (bad vision?) and i realized that his bites dont hurt! thus helping me to become more brave in handling him:main_evilgrin:

 

[AlbinoNme]

ha... smart @$$ kids ok. I'll avoid the mealie garlic and cricket sauce was more concerned he'd mistake my fingers for super worms or the like, or if there was a way that you move your fingers that might stimulate them.

honestly i stopped putting my fingers infront of him because he ignore it after licking once ore twice. Instead i started to slowly scoop him up from underneath in a some what smooth and quick motion.

 

[Dog Shrink]

honestly i stopped putting my fingers infront of him because he ignore it after licking once ore twice. Instead i started to slowly scoop him up from underneath in a some what smooth and quick motion.

Good to know. Thank you. Does this work when he has himself crooked into a corner as well? My biggest worry is I'll put my hand near him when he's cornerd to encourage him to climb on my hand and he'll react badly with a bite or freak and drop his tail. I don't know why I'm so afraid of getting bitten by him. Been bitten by plenty of snakes so...

 

[AlbinoNme]

Good to know. Thank you. Does this work when he has himself crooked into a corner as well? My biggest worry is I'll put my hand near him when he's cornerd to encourage him to climb on my hand and he'll react badly with a bite or freak and drop his tail. I don't know why I'm so afraid of getting bitten by him. Been bitten by plenty of snakes so...

My goodness!! SNAKES!! Thats way more scary than a gecko bite.
But trust me, i was (...am...) probably more scared than you are!!
I hate the corner thing they do, it freaks me out too! but what i did was when they are in that corner, lay your hand FLAT as possible in front of him and dont move. Sadly the reptile can stay still long than we can so try and get into a good position when doing this and wait.

Eventually he/she will move, maybe lick your hand and walk over it or try to walk around it. If it starts walking DONT move yet. As so as you move its going to run (at least thats what mine does). Wait till it gets away from your hand and into a hide or other side of the tank. Then depending on how it reacted either move you hand over and lay it infront of him again or wait and try a few hours later.



I did this for a week before i started picking up waxworms by the back of their tails (pintching their backs) and then lowering into the tank and infront of his mouth. It wont take long before he sniffs and snapps at it. DONT freak! he might bite a part of your finger but i promise you it wont hurt (unless you have a giant? leo). while he is munching lay you hand flat and let him walk around or on it or lick it.

After a while you bond will start to grow more!
Maybe try talking to it. i know this sounds crazy but it works.. and it will get use to your voice. I hate talking to my gecko... idk why so i try to be close to the tank when im on long convos.

Try not to stress your gecko out too much. have a specific time you go to the cage everyday ( i just finished another 1 hour and a half snuggle session, even though he hissed when i tried to fix the possition of his leg at one point, i think it was very succesful).

He wont drop his tail if you take everything slow (i believe). And if he is in a corner when you put your hand there always allow a little room for him to pass you by without touching you in the beggining..

but idk im no expert! these are just the things i done and so far Napoleon and I are getting to be great friends.

PS. sorry for the typos i was in a rush.

 

[AlbinoNme]

PSS, i kind of feel like no matter what there is always a chance of getting bitten by any animal.

the first time he bite me he did it with out warning.. i guess it was because i got to happy and tried to handle him the second day i had him.

the second time it happened was because of his (/ the albino's bad???) eyesight. I put the waxworm in the middle of my hand to encourage him to climb on to eat it... instead he just REACHED OVER AS FAR AS HIS NECK COULD ALLOW to bite the worm and (OF COURSE :/ ) missed and bite my palm.

The bites didnt hurt though! Nothing like a cat or bird bite! it felt like ...like if you put one hand over the other hand and left it limp while dragging up your arm... the way your nails feel on your skin when your doing this is how the bite feels but in one fluid or rapid motion.

PSSS. i hope that made sense..!

 

[roger]

After WEEKS of hard work I finally established trust between him and I for a few mins of handling time with my leo..

(Mainly I waited so long because I was seriously afraid of him biting me or dropping his juicy tail)

Yesterday I up the stakes!

I turned on my laptop and reptile proofed my bed and took him out.
He crawled around (and ontop of me) for a while before climbing on the laptop for heat every now and then!

I watched CSI while I held him and then after sometime he between my torso and arm under my armpit and fell asleep!! . :main_cool3::main_laugh:

For two hours we stayed that way till the position started to put a strain on me and I put him back in his tank.

So my question is; do you snuggle with your Leo?

Actually my wife divorced me because I couldnt resist cuddling my leos.She told me to pick her or my leos

 

[Dog Shrink]

Lol you're doing great at explaining it all albinoNme. Thanks for taking so much time to help meout. I'm just a big chicken really. I'm gonna start him on a schedule tomorrow most likely as I'm seeing him out in the tank more often now.

PS Don't worry about the typos... I think I'm like the queen of typos. I have to reread my posts like 4 times and still end up missing something and need to re-edit

 

[Geckoguy77]

Two of mine ride around on my shoulders all the time. The 3rd would like to, but he has no claws to hang on with so I don't even try. I do stretch out on the couch and watch a movie with him however. Sometimes I have to catch the little guys, but often they will just walk onto my hand. The old one I have to catch since he hides most of the time.

Will

 

[Jordan]

yeh the bites dont hurt often, though an adult male can get some real power in his jaw if he gets your properly lol. not enough to draw blood but can certainly cause some pain.
learnt that the hard way lol.

 

[Jordan]

He wont drop his tail if you take everything slow (i believe). And if he is in a corner when you put your hand there always allow a little room for him to pass you by without touching you in the beggining..

heck he wont drop his tail if you take everything fast either. they dont drop their tail for barely anything you know, it takes a lot, you know one of the best ways to check if a female is gravid is to pick it up by the tail from behind, they dont mind. for them to drop their tail they need to have a hell of a good reason, like its been held down for 10 mins, or its tail is trapped under something. Not from being picked up.
As a breeder sometimes you NEED to check your gecko's, so we need to pick them up, and if they back into a corner, it doesnt matter becuase they can be picked up safely by putting your hand over them and sbending all your fingers round under their tummy. This is the best an easiest way to pick them up and can be done in any situation. you dont need to worry about him coming into your hand on his own or luring him with treats, once youve picked him up and he's in your hand he's fine.

 

[Daylight_Thieves]

you know one of the best ways to check if a female is gravid is to pick it up by the tail from behind, they dont mind. As a breeder sometimes you NEED to check your gecko's, so we need to pick them up, and if they back into a corner, it doesnt matter becuase they can be picked up safely by putting your hand over them and sbending all your fingers round under their tummy. This is the best an easiest way to pick them up and can be done in any situation. you dont need to worry about him coming into your hand on his own or luring him with treats, once youve picked him up and he's in your hand he's fine.

No offense meant, but I read on the other threads MULTIPLE times that you NEVER, EVER under any circumstance grab your leo by their tail because they could drop it or you could hurt them...

As for not minding, I really think that they do... It's kinda like picking a human up by an arm then hanging all their body weight on that one appendage... It might not kill them but it's going to hurt like hell...

Again, I am newer at this but I would never intentionally put my leos through that type of pain and stress...