Hi. New here and need advice please

Heckolove

New Member
Messages
13
Hi. Hope you fellow gecko lovers are all good. I adopted a 6 month old male crested gecko 10 days ago. He seems happy enough in his large tank, perfect temp and humidity, eating and drinking and pooping fine but…every time I even go near the tank he FREAKS out darts away so quickly and sometimes bumps on the mesh at top of cage (worried he’s going to hurt himself). I move really slowly and chat him softly. His last owner said he was chilled and showed me vids of him sitting in his hand etc so he’s not naturally skittish. Any tips on how to tame him if he won’t even let me near him? How on earth am I supposed to take him out to clean the tank. Help! Pleeease x
 

Attachments

  • E3C3E267-E479-4797-9029-BA084F14465B.jpeg
    E3C3E267-E479-4797-9029-BA084F14465B.jpeg
    282.7 KB · Views: 6

Sphex

Member
Messages
34
Location
Ohio
Haven't had much experience with crested gecko's but the iguana i had started off pretty skittish. Was just a case of time with him and patience eventually he was perhaps the most tame iguana I'd met before. Though that said he did eventually give someone 4 stitches... But thats another story.

One thing you could try though to maybe help him settle into you being around. You could try putting in a tshirt you wore or anything you've worn basically so that he starts to smell you being around all the time. Theory being that him smelling you all the time will let him know that you're not well trying to eat him or something along those lines.
 

Heckolove

New Member
Messages
13
Thanks for the advice. Am a bit reluctant to put an item of clothing in there though as paranoid of the chemicals from washing but food for thought :) glad you managed to tame your iguana. I had 2 iguanas which were quite chilled out but crestie is sooo scared of me. Just have to walk into the room and he darts and hides for hours. Guess it’s all about time and patience but at the same time I’ve read online that handling them is the best way to build their trust. I can’t see how he’d ever let me pick him up but hope this is normal behaviour as he’s adjusting to his new owner x
 

Sphex

Member
Messages
34
Location
Ohio
Thanks for the advice. Am a bit reluctant to put an item of clothing in there though as paranoid of the chemicals from washing but food for thought :) glad you managed to tame your iguana. I had 2 iguanas which were quite chilled out but crestie is sooo scared of me. Just have to walk into the room and he darts and hides for hours. Guess it’s all about time and patience but at the same time I’ve read online that handling them is the best way to build their trust. I can’t see how he’d ever let me pick him up but hope this is normal behaviour as he’s adjusting to his new owner x

Yeah if ya go the shirt route best to rinse it really well. Its just something I've seen help in the past. Nothing else the time thing generally works generally. Cept in the case of my friends Tokay Gecko who was simply forever angry. I think some lizards are just grumpy. Yours though seem like its likely just a case of being in a new environment and such since they were previously held and the like.
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,119
Location
Somerville, MA
I've had a number of crested geckos. One that I got a few years ago that had probably been living in a rack system has never wanted to be touched. He doesn't seem to be upset at the sight of me, but I can't pick him up (well I probably could if I really had to). Another one that I've had for 16 years has generally been pretty chill but lately he lunges **toward** me when I come to the cage and has tried to bite me a few times. As far as cage cleaning goes, I have a bioactive setup and never clean the cage. As for your gecko, I'd recommend just talking to him whenever you go near and try to wait him out.

Aliza
 

Visit our friends

Top