Help for a Rookie???? PLEASE?

[TBHall]

So I've got all the husbandry down to a T. The enclosure is very nice, proper temps, 3 hides (wet warm, warm, cool) I feed mealworms and like 2 wax worms a week, clean purified water, calcium without D3 in a dish, mealworms are dusted with Calcium plus D3, etc. etc.

Except for one problem...this young male is a complete douche bag. He constantly acts like he wants to take a bite out of me when I'm looking at him in his tank and the one time I took him out he hissed and bit the crap out of me. So does anyone know what I can do to tame him down in addition to just letting him get used to my hand? Just FYI, I know he's out a lot cause he poops a ton, eats a ton, I have to refill his water dish every other day, and there are little calcium powder footprints everywhere. But I've never ever SEEN him walking about. So yea...any thoughts are EXTREMELY valuable!!

 

[indyana]

Ha, it really is just a game of patience as far as taming is concerned. Some people on here have had good results associating hands with food and good things by hand feeding or having your hand in the cage while tong feeding. The key is to try to minimize actual holding until he stops freaking out about your hand and not force the issue. Keep calm and carry on...

 

[Neon Aurora]

Young leos are like that sometimes. I would say do general tank maintenance with him still in the tank, for starters. Get him used to the sight and smell of your hand until he knows it isn't a threat.

For me personally, I'm not huge into handling so I usually just wait until they're holder to try(except for moving them out of the enclosure for cleaning for anything). They almost always become much more reasonable when they're adults than when they're babies.

You'll just have to be real patient and gentle. Get him used to your presence. Put your hand in the enclosure and leave it there, feed him by putting worms in front of him with your hands, etc. Don't try to pick him up until he's used to your hand. If you need to move him, Let him crawl into a plastic container and move him that way. You want to avoid anything that makes him feel defensive or threatened. It just takes time, that's all.