Handling a Leopard Gecko

[FLAWLS1]

How often do you guys hold your LEO's and for how long? I have 2 so far and the really small High Yellow morph tries to get away from me all the time. The other one I just bought is very very calm. She lets me pick her up like she knows I mean no harm.

 

[katie_]

Some just need more time.
Young geckos have a natural tendency to be a little wild.

 

[Jaiden23]

I've heard alot of mixed things about handling leopard geckos. Some say that you should try to avoid handling them as they don't enjoy it, I've heard others say that they've had geckos that run and jump onto their hands every time they open their tank. I've even heard of one guy that had a leopard gecko that would ride to town on top of his head underneath his hat.

Personally, I try to handle ours once per day for a few minutes at a time. When we're trying to 'tame' a newer leo we start by just placing our hand into their tank and letting them get used to you and get comfortable approaching your hand. I've had one leo that no matter how much I worked with her, she absolutely hated being touched or held. Our others tamed up really well and didn't seem to mind being held/carried at all. I even had one that would climb onto my shoulder and just hang out.

That said, it can be a really slow process. Some, like the most recent one you bought, are very calm and easy going right from the start, others can take weeks or even months before they really handle well.

 

[wildaboutleopardgeckos]

I hold ALL my leos at least 5 minutes every day.

 

[Crewdog00]

Mine took 5 days befor he would walk onto my hand. And I did the hand in tank method like above poster.

He will let me pick him up about 6 inches off the ground and then try to jump to my other hand. I'm not comfortable with handling him for more than a minute yet or even think about taking him completely out of the tank.

I will take my time with him since he is my first lizard ever. Thanks for the tips

 

[gothra]

Really depends on the individual gecko. As long as they aren't trying to wriggle free or getting jumpy, you can hold him/her as long as you like. Some of mine doesn't like handling, and I leave them alone most of the time. The ones that doesn't mind will get hold, hugged, kissed until they want to go back to their tank, lol. Just make sure you go slow and steady on everything; you need to make them feel safe walking on you.

 

[Indigo]

I try to handle my geckos as often as I can. As often as every day for 5 mins, a few times a week at the least. I have heard as well that you shouldn't handle geckos too often, but most of the ones my boyfriend and I have like it. They usually just climb up on our shoulders and hang out. My shyest gecko, Kovu, doesn't like being carried around too much, but when I do take him out his favourite place to be seems to be the top of my boyfriend's head. Always heads straight for him and climbs his face. Silly gecko. But yep, it all depends on the gecko!

 

[Crewdog00]

Hope u don't really kiss you Geckos because you could get sick or even worse get your Gecko sick.

Thanks for the tips. Annie isn't ready for handling over a minute or outside her tank. She still wiggles and jumps a little. But I will keep at it and try every other day or so to make sure I don't stress her out. I think her previous owner never handled her especially since she dropped her tail when she was with them.

Another woman with baggage in my life haha. Lmao.

 

[Crewdog00]

My Annie is walking on my hand again and let me scoop her for a short period of time. She didn't like me touch while preparing for shed.

She's getting use to me. Can't wait for the day she fully trust me and allow me to take her out of her tank and handle her.

Progress...