Emotional and Mental Needs for Geckos

[megan111]

Hi Guys

I have my geckos tanks set up with moist hides, heat, hides and such. All their physical needs are sorted.

I am wondering though, what are their emotional and mental needs? I know this is dependent on the gecko and will adapt the responses i get to their personality. (Side info: One is nervous, territorial, has lots of energy but recognizes me and feels safer with me around. Hes the male The other is female and lazy. She doesnt feel that attached to me and is generally more secure on her own. They dont interact with each other)

How often a week should they interact with their human? Do they prefer their tanks in a quiet room with daily checks or would they like a noisy more human filled area? How often should I take them out for exercise (run around)? Do they need mental stimulation , such as an obstacle course, and what cheap way can I create things to help with that? How do I make them feel safe as I notice they hide a lot and hardly leave their hides (unless this is normal? )? And any other related info would be welcome

I am looking for info that is to support my geckos needs, not my own.

 

[acpart]

I find that they are pretty lazy creatures who, if fed enough, may spend all their time in their hides. Ray Roehner, who wrote "The Leopard Gecko Advisor" feels that they can respond and be trained. It's worth buying the book just to read about that.

Aliza

 

[Desperatedan]

Our lizards decide whether or not they want to come out of their vivs, and are very responsive. They recognise and communicate with us both.

They are both very intelligent, Django our Leo tends to come out of her viv twice a week, usually for 30 minutes or so and more frequently in the summer.

Drago our starred agama is very, very social demanding much more interaction. He often comes out more than once per day for up to 2 hours at a time and also let's us know when he's ready to go back in his viv.

Both love having free reign (supervised) of the flat, and getting stimulation and exercise.

Maybe we're lucky with our first two, and yet to see how Jar-Jar our baby gargoyle gecko will turn out. We've had him/her a week.

But any living organism needs love and stimulation, and our lizards give and receive as much as any cat, dog, bird, rabbit, terrapin or any other pet I've had in my life.

Your lizards will have their own way of letting you know when they do or don't want interaction. With regular interaction on their terms they will become more social.