HELP!! Loose Gecko!

[suziq324]

Good Morning All! I need your expertise. My ginormous cat decided to sleep on the top of one of my gecko tanks last night, and she fell through the screen. Needless to say, one of my geckos got out. She was in the closet last night, so we closed the doors and stuffed blankets around the edges to make sure that she stayed there. We shut the door to that bedroom so the cats can't be in there.

She looked fine last night, she still had her tail and she was hissing at the cats to defend herself.

Can you please give me some ideas on how to catch her without hurting her? I'm desperate!

Thanks!
Suzie

 

[leopardgecko95]

Well, If you know where she's at, then handle her like you normally would. If she is mean when you handle her look at it this way: Get bit, or have a gecko running loose.

 

[TheHiddenGecko]

If you're afraid of getting bit you could always put some gloves on. If you know where she's at that makes things a heck of a lot easier.

 

[Stitch]

You could also put a sock on your hand. Since you know where she is at, that is half the battle. Take your time so as not to scare her. Good luck.

 

[Alusdra]

This being a leo (right?) the worst a bite will be is a pinch. Though someone was saying they can make you bleed... I don't know how that would work. Maybe a giant one or something. The hardest part about a loose gecko is finding it. Then just scoop up around the middle (so NOT pull the tail, of course) and there you go.

 

[Stitch]

Though someone was saying they can make you bleed... I don't know how that would work.

They do have sharp teeth. I have a normal sized leo that bite through my finger nail and break the skin :lipsrsealed2: . I don't own any giants.

 

[Alusdra]

Really? That just seems so crazy... their teeth are barely there and the jaw strength doesn't seem that strong... I've had geckos practically my whole life and never has one bitten me very hard... I mean, if a 7ft Burmese can barely break the skin it just blows my mind that a bitty gecko can... I guess mice are small but bite hard... :main_huh:

Good luck recapturing your gecko, either way.

 

[brandy101010]

yeah they can brake the skin, but it's really not that bad. suck it up and just grab her. The worst that could happen is you'll have to ware a band - aid for a few days. Good luck I hope you can catch her with out too much trouble.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Just try an corral her with your hands and scoop her up. She'll probably be glad to get back in her enclosure where she can get warm again!

Yes, leopard geckos have very sharp teeth! I have been bitten more times than I can count in the 12+ years I've been working with them, but only a few times where it actually drew blood.

 

[sacredcreatures]

Alusdra! What do you mean that a 7ft Burmese can barely break the skin? Try saying they can and have broken arms!!!! My 10 foot nearly ate my whole hand and broke one bone in my arm before we got him off me and my 7ft albino bit me so hard I had to have surgery on my thumb. I was on antibiotics for 6 months!!!!~~! Needless to say I got rid of them, My daughter was only 6 then so think what they could of done to her!. Now back to geckos. Depending on where the bite occurs it can be painful, but well worth it to save the gecko from a cats jaws. I recently lost my Tang Albino male and he had 4 cats after him. I actually saved him by lifting a wire screen I kept behind the dresser and he basically ran into my hand and the cats ran into the wire screen. He had been bit in two places, his tail and his back. I fixed him up and he didn't even lose his tail or any weight. So just go in there and get her. Be calm yet make sure you get her. They are very scared out of the cage when they know they are being hunted by a cat. Good Luck! Deb

 

[GekkoGalaksen]

Teeth...absolutly more then "barely" there

 

[brandy101010]

Awesome pics!

 

[Alusdra]

Those are cool pics- but that is what I consider barely there. I've been bit much more severely by wrens than geckos, and I've had them for 14+ years (though as pets, mostly, plus caring for someone else's small breeding colony) as well as all manner of other herps. And the 7ft +/- Burmese did barely break the skin- she lunged at me and was swallowing my ear, then I pried her jaw open with my hands to get her loose and replace her... hardly any blood. It was like when you slice your finger on one of those cheap disposable razors. The monitor, dog, cat, parrot, mouse, rat, hammie, songbird, otter, emu, llama, horse bites... how those hurt.

Don't know as this divergence is particularly helpful in bolstering the original poster's spirits to catch the wild and crazy gecko, though... If worse comes to worst you can probably scoop it up in a smaller critter-keeper type cage or a goldfish net or something.

 

[OSUgecko]

Those are such cool pics! How do you time your camera to capture moments like that?! Sorry for going further off subject...

 

[GekkoGalaksen]

Those are such cool pics! How do you time your camera to capture moments like that?! Sorry for going further off subject...

Well...sometimes when I take pics and have a lot of time, I take many.
And now and then I get some lucky shoots.

I don´t remember who the teeth on the last pic belong to, but the first one...that is our Electric male and for some reason he always looks like that when he sees me :main_rolleyes:
And then he jumps...some day he will get lucky and will taste human flesh :worried2:

 

[Emma318]

Yeah, I always thought if I ever lose a finger or toe it would definitely be to a reptile....

but then I got my hovabator in the mail. and I was really excited about it.

and when I excitedly stuck my hand in to pull it out of the box, all I got was a sharp piece of wire under my fingernail about halfway up to the quick. Put a nice-size gash in my finger and actually punctured my nail! (I'll spare you all the pictures..)

and it's an odd thing to say, but I almost woulda preferred a reptile bite... especially a gecko bite. I think it's so endearing when they try to swallow your finger whole and they've obviously "bitten off more than they can chew" but they go for it anyway. gotta respect the little suckers. :main_rolleyes:

 

[2.1SRR.YYC]

Now I know what the last 1,000th of a second for a cricket looks like...

That's priceless!

 

[suziq324]

Hey everybody!!

Thank you so much for the wonderful advice. I wasn't worried about the bite so much as scaring her and having her drop her tail.

Godd news to report! I was able to catch her without any trouble. She had ventured out of the closet and was wondering about in a box of misc gecko supplies. I think she was hungry. She is in wonderful condition. The cats never managed to catch her. She was very happy to be back in her home with her half sister.

Thanks again!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

YAY!!!!

 

[LadyGecko]

I am very glad to read that the gecko is back safe and sound

:main_yes:

OMG-those are fantastic pics
I know what you mean about getting "lucky shots"
I also take many pics and sometimes come up with one that i would have never gotten if i had been trying

Sandy