How old is Boss? Plus need handling advice.

[bry12345]

Boss just shed for the first time last night after getting him last Friday, so I figured now could be a perfect time to ask his age. The store we got him from didn't know, and never got back to me about it when they said they'd ask the breeder.

Here's some pictures of him compared to a medium exo terra gecko hide, a medium habba hut, and his mealworm dish. He's in a 20 gallon long.




I know he's pretty young, but I was hoping for a rough estimate.

Now, on handling... We've had him for a week. i've experimented some. He's eaten mealworms off of my hand on two different feeding days now, along with off metal tweezers. He deals with me looking at him when he's out of a hide now, however, he still flies into one if he left the hide when I wasn't in the room and then I come in.

Today, I got him to lick water off of my finger. He actually bit it first, thinking it was a worm I guess. That didn't work for him, so he backed off. I put more water on them and he licked and mouthed it off. After all hand feeding and drinking, he would retreat back into his wood hut. Where should I go from here? he's still pretty skittish and definitely didn't like me trying to pet his head after I took these pictures, and ran away to the wood hut.

 

[JessJohnson87]

As far as age, I'm not sure and it's hard to tell if you don't know a hatch date.

Handling: Keep doing what your doing with the hand in the tank technique, a week is still too soon to try and pick him up. I would give it a couple more weeks before you start trying to pick him up. The little ones stress out easier than adults do, once he becomes comfortable with you and his new environment, then you can start just setting your hand on the floor of the tank and let him walk into it and slowly pull your hand up and out of the tank. I wouldn't try to grab him, that might scare him.

 

[Neon Aurora]

I would guess 2-3 months old.

As for handling, I have a bit of a different take on it than many. Make sure to give him 2-3 weeks of being completely left alone after receiving him (not sure how long you've had him). Once he is eating well and accustomed to his environment, I would honestly just start picking him up. Do it low over the ground so that he won't get hurt if he scrambles off your hand. The key to this technique is a sure hand. Go in calmly, pick him up calmly, and hold him gently. I've found that pulling your hand back when he moves to get away makes them more skittish. You need to be calm and just pick him up.

You can do it the long way too, with having your hand in the tank and over a period of weeks moving up to touching him, so on and so forth, but this is just another option. Whatever you are most comfortable with. I don't have the time to sit with my hand in several tubs for 20 minutes a day. My geckos usually become tame because I have to move them around to clean their tubs. When I need to move them, I just pick them up and don't worry about their level of skittishness. They become habituated to being picked up very quickly and stop caring.

 

[IfodyTV]

I don't know about the age but for handling, go on YouTube and watch leopard gecko. And keep doing what you are doing. You should try to handle him as soon as you can. But he is still a baby so try to have brakes so he won't get stressed out.


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[bry12345]

Thanks for the assistance guys. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing for now. Any idea when I should start going for pickups? He still only licks my hand at the most, if he even gives it any attention. Most of the time he wanders looking for food when I put it in there.

 

[JessJohnson87]

I would wait a couple more weeks or so before you start trying to pick him up. When you do, just pick him up a few inches from the tank floor so if he bolts, he doesn't fall very far.

 

[bry12345]

So I wanted to give an update. A few days ago, after Boss climbed into my hand for a worm, I decided to lift him and try to hand walk him. It worked, and I've done it once or twice a day for the past three nights. Last night, I was able to stroke his body and head with my thumb some, and today I was able to take the top off his moist hide and scoop him out to mist it without a fuss at all. Considering he's only a few months old and I've only had him for two and a half weeks, I'd say progress is made.

When I hand walk him, he never moves fast (usually a normal pace) and stops or licks occassionally. He also usually heads in the direction of a hide. What should I go for next? I don't think he's completely down with the idea uet, but I want to progress to where he comes to see me or is willing to chill out with me.

 

[JessJohnson87]

Just keep handling him the way you have been. The older he gets, the less skittish he will be. You can always try putting him on a bed or couch and seeing how that goes. Mine likes to explore around on the couch and "hide" under the blanket before popping out to try and make a mad dash for the floor. The max I keep him out is for 20 minutes at a time.