How to tame a leo?

[endrien]

I'm looking for some tips on how to tame my leo. She seems to be pretty used to the tank now, earlier today I laid my hand in the tank and she did a little walk around. Now if I put my hand in she just kind of looks at it. She doesn't seem to like me trying to pet her on the head as she is still a bit skittish.
What can I do to try and tame her? She is still only young, 3-4 months old.

 

[Bones93]

It takes time. How long have you had her? My Leo, took a while to mellow out. It takes a lot of gentle handling. Don't grab her, let her walk onto your hand on her own will, she will get used to you as you go around the daily stuff, cleaning, feeding...etc! Just be patient, take your time, don't rush her.

 

[endrien]

It takes time. How long have you had her? My Leo, took a while to mellow out. It takes a lot of gentle handling. Don't grab her, let her walk onto your hand on her own will, she will get used to you as you go around the daily stuff, cleaning, feeding...etc! Just be patient, take your time, don't rush her.

I've only had her for a week, so I know it will take a lot more time then that. What worries me is how I am going to get her out of her tank for cleaning without taking her against her will.

 

[houseb]

Bones93 is absolutely right about taking your time with her. You could always try hand feeding her first. If you make all of her experiences with you positive, she will trust you more.

She doesn't seem to like me trying to pet her on the head as she is still a bit skittish.

I don't think most lizards enjoy being 'pet' the way a mammal would (not the same grooming behavior), but I'm sure she'll start coming around after a bit. As for cleaning, I'm not sure. Maybe someone more experienced can help with that, but you could probably just spot clean until she gets used to you.

 

[sunshinegeckos]

I have a new baby that is the same way. It has now gotten used to my hand being in the tank and I can touch her but if I try to pick her up she hisses and tries to bite. I have found that if I take the small critter keeper top off and place it next to her on its side she will walk in so I can get her out to clean her cage. It takes time just work with your gecko daily and eventually it will get more tame.

 

[GeffGecko]

Any lizard that does not break skin when bite attempts happen i would say just go for it. Your leo will most likely come around I had some that were really skidish and after about two weeks of picking them up everyday for (5 to 10 mins) they became nice and tame. Don't loose faith at first I though they would never change. One more trick I use is putting some calcium on your hand the leo most times sits on my hand and licks the calcium.

 

[roger]

I'm looking for some tips on how to tame my leo. She seems to be pretty used to the tank now, earlier today I laid my hand in the tank and she did a little walk around. Now if I put my hand in she just kind of looks at it. She doesn't seem to like me trying to pet her on the head as she is still a bit skittish.
What can I do to try and tame her? She is still only young, 3-4 months old.

Just pick her up.she will try to scamper away but just corral her and handle her.They are not fragile animals.Eventually they will have no choice but to get used to you.I have one week old hatchlings who i handle daily and are now used to me picking them up

 

[PaladinGirl]

It took Toon about a month or so. She used to hide at the hint of any movement in the room. Then one day I put my hand in there and she ran onto it and up my arm! The rest is history

 

[endrien]

She doesn't mind if I put my hand in her tank, and she doesn't hiss or try to bite really, but she is definitely displeased at my picking her up. The only time I can get her actually on to my hand is giving her food off of my hand, trying to pick her up she runs like no tomorrow.

 

[endrien]

Grr, this is proving to be a bit difficult. I can get her onto my hand no problems by putting food on my hand, but without it I can't get her to come onto my hand and she does not want to be picked up.

 

[geckoluver4evr]

My new little gecko won't crawl onto my hand either! I usually try to let her be, just clean up her messes and make sure she has water and her moist hide stays moist. I feed her 2x a day, 8-10 extra small mealworms a day. 4-5 per feeding. But when I do clean out the paper towels, I have to pick her up, and she is not pleased. She has hissed at me 3x and tried to bite me once, but she didn't hit my hand at all. But it freaked me out! Eventually I just coax her to the corner, and when she tries to crawl up the wall I scoot my hand under her and pull her out. I've had her for 2 weeks, and I'm still trying to make her more social. We just have to keep trying!

 

[geckogirl3]

pick up the leo
cup it in your hands
blow softly on it
worked 4 my 3 geckos

 

[endrien]

My new little gecko won't crawl onto my hand either! I usually try to let her be, just clean up her messes and make sure she has water and her moist hide stays moist. I feed her 2x a day, 8-10 extra small mealworms a day. 4-5 per feeding. But when I do clean out the paper towels, I have to pick her up, and she is not pleased. She has hissed at me 3x and tried to bite me once, but she didn't hit my hand at all. But it freaked me out! Eventually I just coax her to the corner, and when she tries to crawl up the wall I scoot my hand under her and pull her out. I've had her for 2 weeks, and I'm still trying to make her more social. We just have to keep trying!

I seem to be making a bit of progress feeding her some of the mealworms off my hand. I put the mealworm on my palm so she has to climb onto my hand to get it, then I lift my hand up a bit(still in the tank) and let her stand there or walk around on my hand a bit until she wants to get down.
I've been doing this for a week or so and she seems to be getting more comfortable with it, yesterday she even walked across my hand to get to her water dish so some progress is being made.

 

[geckoluver4evr]

I will have to try that then! Poor dear little Pepper. Just cleaned her tank, and I set everything up again with fresh paper towels and her 2 hides rearranged. I tried to hold her for a bit before I put her back in, and she flipped out as soon as she was on my hand! She started sprinting, I couldn't keep up with her when I kept trying to switch hands. She fell about 6" oto the bed, and I thought she would sprint right off, so I cupped her and brought her to my lap. She calmed down a bit and sat on my leg for a bit, but I didn't want to push it so I gently put her back in her tank. She is walking all around now, exploring and such. I think she likes the new decor, at least. But a stress-free handling that was not. I assure you I am very gentle, the biggest animal lover! I have never hurt Pepper or handled her roughly, and I do everything slowly. She just hates it! It's quite the bummer. I'd love a friendly gecko. I'll keep trying though! I could have her for 20 years, I have plenty of time.

 

[Coby78]

I hand tamed Leila by just picking her up out of the tank. At first she would wiggle so I would have to put her down and try again after she calmed down, but now when i go to get her, she's limp in my hand and she enjoys being out.

One of the reasons why I don't let her just climb onto my hand to take her out is because she has a tendency to jump when I have her high off the ground so I don't trust that she will stay on my hand. I usually keep my thumb rested on her back and she's completely fine with it.

 

[M_surinamensis]

I shy away from most the threads about taming leopard geckos. I do this because my answers aren't always what people want to hear, my answers approach the question from a different perspective and trying to explain it usually requires a bunch of typing... and I rarely feel like I managed to find the right words. A lot of the tips and techniques suggested by others are a little bit backwards, but harmlessly so and the results are similar, so I generally just let it lie. I saw something posted in this thread that's a little bit more stressful and dangerous for the geckos though, so I feel compelled to give it a shot.

Reptiles can't really be tamed. Not in the same sense that a dog or a bird can be tamed. They cannot learn trust or feel a mutual connection with their owners. There is some very rudimentary pattern recognition, the exact degrees of which can vary by species, but it's pretty crude and geckos are not a group which shows much exceptional versatility or depth in that area. They're average, for reptiles, maybe forming some associations when there's a pre-existing behavior that is already a behavioral priority but that's about the extent of it.

Every behavior they display is programmed into them even before birth. Their instincts and behaviors are genetic, with very minimal deviation in that basic programming from individual to individual. Instinctive does not necessarily mean simple though, the inherent behaviors and responses may all be the same, but the total amount of them can be somewhat complex and can change based on variables (both internal and external) that we rarely measure or manipulate intentionally.

Some of the internal reasons why one behavior is displayed over another are things like the health, age and general well being (amount of stress) of the animal. Age being one that I often chuckle about a little bit; while leopard geckos are a sometimes prey item for other animals all through their life, more things eat babies than eat adults. As a direct result of this, babies tend to be a little bit more high-strung, inclined towards skittish behaviors and quick responses. Adult behaviors are more laid back, closer to what we usually consider ideal in a pet. I often hear from people that they worked with their gecko for six months and then it finally calmed down and became a great pet... they assume that their handling caused the change, when a lot of it was just a result of the gecko being six months older.

Some of the external reasons why one behavior would be displayed over another are within our ability to control and manipulate. Unlike the geckos, we do have the ability to form associations between things we experience and we constantly collect information, far more than we realize, subconsciously processing much of it as our brain looks for connections. This is one of the other reasons we see different behaviors displayed by our pets... we learned about their responses and we subtly change our own approaches and techniques when interacting with them. We learn what spooks them, what makes them jumpy, what makes them calm, we learn to subconsciously read all these subtle clues about their posture and the way they shift their weight and we change how we approach them. When we change our approach, they experience a different kind of stimulus and that prompts a different response from them.

We can make conscious decisions to try different techniques as well. Threads like this one often give a lot of tips that all add up up to how to not trigger a fight or flight response. Hand flat, slide it in from the side, cup them, don't grab and restrain them, smooth even motions, not too fast and never jerky kind of stuff are all ways to avoid behaving like the predators they have evolved to avoid in the wild. They're eaten by snakes and other lizards- who snatch and grab, they're eaten by birds, who loom in from above... so we can make a conscious change to the way we approach handling and we can actively try not to trigger those fright responses and those ways they instinctively act when confronted with a predator.

So usually threads like this one are full of a lot of good tips for techniques we can try and they encourage people to responsibly learn from their experiences with their pet. Eventually with enough such experience and learning, a pretty refined and exact approach to handling a species can be worked out; which is why long term keepers and breeders who have dealt with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of animals from a given species usually make it look so easy and effortless. They've perfected their own learning and refined their ability to observe and predict how the gecko (or whatever reptile they have experience with) will behave.

And now the quote I felt a need to refute...

pick up the leo
cup it in your hands
blow softly on it
worked 4 my 3 geckos

Blowing on the leopard gecko is the exact opposite of "not behaving like a predator" and is going to be counterproductive for anyone who is trying to identify good handling techniques. Not breathing directly on them would be good advice, because it tends to stress them out. Telling someone to blow on their gecko is completely the wrong thing to suggest.

Whatever may have actually worked for you, and I described the perspective that is accurate up above (I suggest you read it), it was not that. This is hopefully a case of observational bias leading to an inaccurate conclusion, an honestly naive misinterpretation of correlation and causation... but please do not repeat it, because it's wrong.

 

[Thorgecko707]

seamus, so my geckos are like my wild cat and just become used to the pattern of me=food?

 

[jerrymb]

Mine was pre-tamed. Despite the abuse he took from his previous owners he let me pick him up right from the start.

 

[Franklinj480]

I don't think tame is the right word when it comes to reptiles.

perhaps, "chilled out","calm when handled correctly"", or "accustomed to non threatening patterns of behavior" would work better. They're still very much wild animals without much cognition and will act adversely or aggressively to certain movements or behaviors by the handler

 

[geckogirl3]

I shy away from most the threads about taming leopard geckos. I do this because my answers aren't always what people want to hear, my answers approach the question from a different perspective and trying to explain it usually requires a bunch of typing... and I rarely feel like I managed to find the right words. A lot of the tips and techniques suggested by others are a little bit backwards, but harmlessly so and the results are similar, so I generally just let it lie. I saw something posted in this thread that's a little bit more stressful and dangerous for the geckos though, so I feel compelled to give it a shot.

Reptiles can't really be tamed. Not in the same sense that a dog or a bird can be tamed. They cannot learn trust or feel a mutual connection with their owners. There is some very rudimentary pattern recognition, the exact degrees of which can vary by species, but it's pretty crude and geckos are not a group which shows much exceptional versatility or depth in that area. They're average, for reptiles, maybe forming some associations when there's a pre-existing behavior that is already a behavioral priority but that's about the extent of it.

Every behavior they display is programmed into them even before birth. Their instincts and behaviors are genetic, with very minimal deviation in that basic programming from individual to individual. Instinctive does not necessarily mean simple though, the inherent behaviors and responses may all be the same, but the total amount of them can be somewhat complex and can change based on variables (both internal and external) that we rarely measure or manipulate intentionally.

Some of the internal reasons why one behavior is displayed over another are things like the health, age and general well being (amount of stress) of the animal. Age being one that I often chuckle about a little bit; while leopard geckos are a sometimes prey item for other animals all through their life, more things eat babies than eat adults. As a direct result of this, babies tend to be a little bit more high-strung, inclined towards skittish behaviors and quick responses. Adult behaviors are more laid back, closer to what we usually consider ideal in a pet. I often hear from people that they worked with their gecko for six months and then it finally calmed down and became a great pet... they assume that their handling caused the change, when a lot of it was just a result of the gecko being six months older.

Some of the external reasons why one behavior would be displayed over another are within our ability to control and manipulate. Unlike the geckos, we do have the ability to form associations between things we experience and we constantly collect information, far more than we realize, subconsciously processing much of it as our brain looks for connections. This is one of the other reasons we see different behaviors displayed by our pets... we learned about their responses and we subtly change our own approaches and techniques when interacting with them. We learn what spooks them, what makes them jumpy, what makes them calm, we learn to subconsciously read all these subtle clues about their posture and the way they shift their weight and we change how we approach them. When we change our approach, they experience a different kind of stimulus and that prompts a different response from them.

We can make conscious decisions to try different techniques as well. Threads like this one often give a lot of tips that all add up up to how to not trigger a fight or flight response. Hand flat, slide it in from the side, cup them, don't grab and restrain them, smooth even motions, not too fast and never jerky kind of stuff are all ways to avoid behaving like the predators they have evolved to avoid in the wild. They're eaten by snakes and other lizards- who snatch and grab, they're eaten by birds, who loom in from above... so we can make a conscious change to the way we approach handling and we can actively try not to trigger those fright responses and those ways they instinctively act when confronted with a predator.

So usually threads like this one are full of a lot of good tips for techniques we can try and they encourage people to responsibly learn from their experiences with their pet. Eventually with enough such experience and learning, a pretty refined and exact approach to handling a species can be worked out; which is why long term keepers and breeders who have dealt with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of animals from a given species usually make it look so easy and effortless. They've perfected their own learning and refined their ability to observe and predict how the gecko (or whatever reptile they have experience with) will behave.

And now the quote I felt a need to refute...



Blowing on the leopard gecko is the exact opposite of "not behaving like a predator" and is going to be counterproductive for anyone who is trying to identify good handling techniques. Not breathing directly on them would be good advice, because it tends to stress them out. Telling someone to blow on their gecko is completely the wrong thing to suggest.

Whatever may have actually worked for you, and I described the perspective that is accurate up above (I suggest you read it), it was not that. This is hopefully a case of observational bias leading to an inaccurate conclusion, an honestly naive misinterpretation of correlation and causation... but please do not repeat it, because it's wrong.

it worked for me