Leopard gecko bite

[v2s13]

How strong is the bite of a leopard gecko? Can it cause a flesh wound like the iguanas and bearded dragon or just a scratch? One of my LG really has a bad attitude. When its time to change my substrate(tissue), he hisses and Ive got a feeling he is going to strike.

 

[RampantReptiles]

How old is your gecko? Babies go through a stage where they like to hiss, usually starts from birth and once they figure out your not gonna hurt them they stop. I guess spend some time with your hand in the cage, like feeding or cleaning but dont grab at the gecko and dont make a lot of sudden movements. You want to do this everyday or every couple days for just a few minutes at a time.

Have you handled your leo at all?

This is probably about as worse as it gets as far as bites go, although I am definitely no expert.
http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=57596

 

[Leopard.Geckerz]

I have never been bit to the point of breaking skin, but I've seen some geckos do some minor damage. As suggested ^^ spend time with your hand in the tank and letting the gecko sniff and check you out. They won't always approach you, but if they are feeling curious, they'll come sniff and taste you. Eventually they'll probably walk onto your hand.

 

[OneFootedAce]

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=55453&highlight=gothra

 

[v2s13]

mine is always hissing when I clean the enclosure. I bought him at a pet shop and was already a sub adult age. Maybe the shop employees never handles him since when he was a hatchling.

 

[BurningAmber]

Are they known to bite? :-/ Makes me nervous!

 

[LIZARDLOVER]

Depends on their mood, if they're annoyed or scared they might, but I've only been bitten twice and only one drew blood. Even then, it was just a small drop.

 

[L-G-C]

I've been bitten twice. The first two were more of a pinch feeling and didn't make a scratch but the thrid one got me good and I have a scar. It wasn't all that bad and didn't really hurt and I have a low pain tolerance. It bled for a short time then I was fine.

 

[aznguyen837]

I was struck by my first gecko and it drew blood for about maybe 20 seconds little droplets but did not hurt one bit........

 

[v2s13]

How many sec/minutes should you hold your gecko to avoid them getting annoyed or getting stress out? Ive got 5 LGs but one one male is very defensive when I started cleaning his enclosure. Maybe he was defending his territory. His tail raises up and hisses. Its not the pain that scares me but the "shocking" experience when the gecko strikes. It might gave me a heart attack hehehe

 

[RocksMama77]

I have been bitten a ton of times by my babies. One of my rescues got my entire finer down to the first knuckle in her mouth and then began to gnaw and jerk. It didn't hurt at all but she was a little thing. I have had one of my big girls turn and bite me between the thumb and first finger and break the skin. Now, that hurt a bit, not too bad. My boys don't bite at all but I would hate if my big boy got a hold of me, I just have a feeling that stitches will be required.

 

[mindgamer8907]

This is Camille thinking she's ferocious... She's never even scratched the skin. (and yes she has flesh, not my finger nails) I'd really only be too worried about adults, juvies could theoretically break the skin but probably wont, and if a baby breaks skin on you I have bad news... you're made of wet newspaper... Even with the adults, if you hold their bodies still while they bite you, they'll be less likely to do any damage with the death rolling or what have you. Also, if you're holding them and then they bite you, don't put them down, just let them sit in your hand, it helps to condition them into realizing that your not gonna let them down because they bit you... unless it's a really bad bite and there's blood everywhere... then they may have earned some time alone.

 

[GeckoNub]

When Bubba was still really little he mistook my finger for a worm and bit me. It didnt hurt at all but i squeeled like a sissy cos it made me jump :main_laugh:

I think Yoshi is my most likely to bite me as he has really grumpy days where he will sit in the corner during feeding time, swishing his tail and looking at me as if to say "go **** off and die!" but so far all hes done is kinda lunge at me when i was cleaning up his poops

I think you just gotta accept that one day you might get bit, as with any animal, and to just not worry about it. Worst case is you'll bleed a little and maybe have a little scar...its not like theyre iguana's where ive seen pictures of people with their hand in a right mess that needed stitches :worried:

 

[v2s13]

At first I was not really afraid of iguanas until I saw pictures of wounds in their hands because of an iguana bite. Im just afraid of the bite strike of my LG. Its just to quick to notice, I might jump out and might my LG.

@mind: nice pics!! Good thing it didnt shock you when it strike, he/she might have been thrown away