Gecko Handling advice needed?

[Stone]

I'm new to owning Geckos. I have gotten a baby Leopard Gecko but I'm confused on how I should go about on handling him. I got him a week ago. I handled him once about 3 days ago when he seemed more adjusted to his new home. When I tried to handle him though he was really jumpy and he jumped out of my hand twice and fell about a foot down both times. I made sure he was ok and he seemed fine. I have started petting him and Whenever I pet him he gets scared and runs into his hide. Can anyone give me advice on how I should go about on handling my baby leo gecko? I really don't want to stress him out by handling him to much too.

 

[Munea]

The best thing you can do is take it slow. Patience is the hardest game you have to play with baby leopard geckos and trust me, when you see them starting to trust you, it feels amazing!

Tips:
Week One: Do nothing. Make sure your leopard gecko is eating well before you engage in any kind of relationship building. Let your gecko watch your hand clean the tank everyday but no touching because us owners are pretty foreign to them and anything larger than them is super scary!

Week Two: Let your hand sit around somewhere when you catch your gecko out of their caves (and if they aren't out at all in week two, that's fine too. The main priority is that they are eating). If they run away, that's fine! Do it the same way the next day and soon enough they should be curious enough to lick you and gain your scent. What I used to do was ball my hand into a fist and letting it rock back and forth slowly so that it would attract her attention and it lead her to slowly inch up and lick me. Even just a lick will count as positivity for your trust building. No matter what babies are going to go crazy and get scared, so don't expect much trust and love right now.

Week Three: This is where it's up to you. If you feel like your gecko isn't afraid of your hand anymore, see if it'll walk onto your hand on its own. I'm not assuming what you know so I'll say this but the best way to pick up a gecko if you have to is to scoop them up in a way. Never have your hand over them. If your gecko isn't afraid of your hand anymore, you should be able to pick them up, even if it's just a little bit, and let them walk off of you whenever they want to, because it's about their comfort level right now.

The next couple of weeks should be a slow build-up from there. If they want to crawl onto your arm and up onto your shoulder, that's great! If they want to get down because they're scared that you just picked them up off the floor, let them flee. As your gecko matures they will become a lot more calm and they can also adjust to handling. Sometimes my gecko will look down while she's standing on my arm and that tells me she wants to get off of me.

I hope this will help you and any other potential readers!

Edit:
I think it would be safe for you to know what a leopard gecko's behaviors are.
Leopard Gecko Behavior & Body Language
This web page really helped me learn because the first time I planted my hand semi-close to her, she did a defensive tail shake while gazing straight at me. As long as your hand doesn't move any closer you should be fine, but what I did was basically remove my hand and leave her alone the rest of that day.

 

[rob.kolm]

Just don't rush it. Remember he/she is a baby. It took my Leo several months to get really comfortable getting handled. Work with him every few days and he will get used to you in time. Try tong feeding and move to hand feeding to build trust.

 

[Stone]

Ok, thanks. He's getting more calm but he is still really nervous.