I recently acquired a gecko that is approximately 3 to 4 months old. A coworker had adopted her/him two months before and was having trouble to put it lightly. She asked if I would take the little one because I have a fair amount of reptile experience. The leo had been biting her daily. She could only spot clean the tank as she was unable to remove the leo from its enclosure for cleaning and if the leo was awake when she spot cleaned it would come out of its hide to bite her.
Here has been my game plan thus far.
-Once getting it home I realized it had not been taught to eat from a bowl and had been exclusively tong fed so that was my first step. The leo eats meals from a bowl and gets a treat every few days (a waxworm) from tongs.
-every night I set my hand in the tank flat for around 10 minutes if the leo fully walks onto my palm I gently lift it out and do 5 minute handling sessions that mostly consist of allowing it to crawl around my body and arms
Is there anything else I should be doing to tame this leo? I’m almost certain I see the hemipenile bulges that signify a male but don’t have enough trust to check for anal pores, are males harder to tame? I had a scare with some stuck shed on the tip of one toe the first week I had it (toe looks mostly ok now but I think the toenail came off) and I’m worried about having enough trust to help with the next shed if needed.
Here has been my game plan thus far.
-Once getting it home I realized it had not been taught to eat from a bowl and had been exclusively tong fed so that was my first step. The leo eats meals from a bowl and gets a treat every few days (a waxworm) from tongs.
-every night I set my hand in the tank flat for around 10 minutes if the leo fully walks onto my palm I gently lift it out and do 5 minute handling sessions that mostly consist of allowing it to crawl around my body and arms
Is there anything else I should be doing to tame this leo? I’m almost certain I see the hemipenile bulges that signify a male but don’t have enough trust to check for anal pores, are males harder to tame? I had a scare with some stuck shed on the tip of one toe the first week I had it (toe looks mostly ok now but I think the toenail came off) and I’m worried about having enough trust to help with the next shed if needed.
