Leos with Personality

[ebuch]

Okay so hear me out on this...

I'm sure everyone has had that gecko with a spark more personality than any other and I'm interested in the stories you may have about that. My Leo is right around three years old, I've had him since he was a juvenile, bought him from a show, and he really seems to dislike me. And I don't mean that in a sense that he won't let me handle him, he will, he just seems to have a sense of smug self entitlement. I know that it's ridiculous to assume that a gecko even has the capacity for that type of attitude problem but their mannerisms are humorous none the less.

Case in point.

When I put a handful of meal worms in his dish it takes him all of about three seconds to come out of his hide and mosey out by the food bowl but he won't eat or even pretend to be interested in what's going on in the bowl while I'm standing there. He just looks around and pretend not to see me. However, the second I walk out of the room and close the door (yes I have to close the door because he can see it, and he won't eat if I'm in the room) he gets on top of the food bowl like he's 3 months old and starts destroying meal worms. If I want to mess with him (I don't do this all that often, most of the time I just leave and let him eat) I'll start to crack the door back open and he'll stop eating and stare me down until I finally leave him alone.

On another side note, he also gives me the stare of death if I'm in that room using the computer and he notices me. My desktop is in there and if I'm using it I'll look over to his tank every now and then and see him hiding behind some fixture staring at me with this terrible gaze of death until I leave. I know he's healthy, he's just kind of an a**hole.

I want to know if anyone else has crazy geckos like this. I have another that is a sweet heart and really seems to trust and like us, so I know they're all not crazy. But I figure there has to be others that are. I'll try to get pictures of him next time.

 

[halffrozen]

I know he's healthy, he's just kind of an a**hole.

I am lawling so hard right now.

Sounds like a cool gecko!

You should put a camera and watch him... I bet he flips the bird as you close the door!

 

[KTyne]

My adopted Leo, Prim, is kind of like that. If I come in the room and near her tub she'll just stand there and stare up and me with her HUGE eyes with a shocked expression like, "wtf are you?!?!?!!" As soon as I walk away she's all good.
Gaia on the other hand is a total sweetheart but also has a huge attitude and I've called her my little diva ever since I first got her when she was 8 months old. She'll wag her tail at you if she wants you to back off.

Every Leo is different.

 

[IslaReina]

Haha that is very hilarious. I have one Leo, one AFT, and one Crested gecko, and they all have completely different personalities. My leo is the oldest and I believe she likes me more or less, if I have her out of the tank I'm pretty confident that she won't wander that far away from me, if she hears a loud sudden noise she will come running back to me. On the other hand, my AFT is very similar to your leo haha. She is very calm (they are a very calm species) but sometimes I think she just despises my existence haha. She doesn't move much or crawl on my hand so I pick her up to hold her and take her out, and the entire time she looks at me like "wtf do you think you're doing"... maybe its her full black eyes lol. My crestie is very flighty but will also calm down and sit on my hand after a while. I really do think he likes me haha.

 

[SamsonizeMe]

When a few of my boys see me come home in the evenings, they kick and scratch at the paper towels, or stand up with their bellies against the plastic and "swim" to let me know they want to come out of their tubs. This is not related to food - they will completely ignore food in favor of climbing onto my hand to get out and climb around on me and explore the bed.

They do it almost every night. My girls only do it once in a blue moon, but one of them does it only when she wants to go to tbe bathroom. Yeah, she holds it in in the hopes she won't have to poo in her own tank.

 

[lora01fl]

They do seem to have personalities.

Every evening all but one of our leos will plaster themselves to the front of their tubs and beg for attention. A few of them will high tail it to the back of the tub when we open it, but the rest all will climb out onto hands to be held. It does take longer to clean water bowls, spot clean and feed each night, but we enjoy handling them so it's worth it.

The one who avoids contact at all costs is a female who will wag her tail if she even thinks you are looking at her. Pulling her tub each evening is an experience. She's been here over a year, always housed alone, never harassed intentionally and still is the biggest sissy we have ever had to deal with.

 

[HipHerp]

My male seems to want attention much more than my females, and will come out and watch whatever I am doing. He comes out any time he sees me, and will watch me place mealies in his dish, but he will then follow my hand around and actually seems to prefer being hand fed. If I don't hand feed him he will wait til I withdraw my hand before going over to the bowl and chowing down, (doesn't mind being watched while eating though). It's obvious he knows that the big hand is where food comes from so he comes right on over, is very mellow and tolerates handling very well. However, the girls are very skittish and don't like being touched, (typical female behavior; reptile or human:main_rolleyes. The girls only come out and pay attention to me when they are hungry, otherwise they prefer to curl up in their box and will run for it if I try to handle them. Males are known for their confident and bold(er) behavior, so if a person wants a leo that can be regularly handled a male is the better choice.

Hip

 

[CharmedMom]

I have a few with great personalities but I would have to say my favorite is one that hatched last year. She has never been afraid of me unlike my other hatchlings that would run and hide if I put my hand in the tank to feed them. She would always come straight out with an arched back and would occasionally hop sideways (reminded me so much of a cat). It took a few months for her to calm down enough to let me hold her but now she loves to be held and will watch me from her tank if I'm in the room.

 

[steve_gecko23]

seems like everyone has that one unique gecko with a funny personality, i have three my self my male sunglow is starting to get used to me when i first bought him he would always try to run and jump out of my hand, after i started putting my hand in his tank he slowly started to inspect my hand then would climb on to it so he could come out, so after a while of doing the same thing he just runs to my hand now. the second leo i bought is a mac tremper super snow i swear she is the funniest thing whenever im cleaning my room or anything loud enough to get her attention she comes out of her hide and just stares to see what i am doing, when i notice her do that i go closer to her tank and she just tilts her head like a "what are you doing" look she always has me laughing she is my favorite of my collection just because of her crazy personallity hence her name loca. my third female who i recently just bought is very skittish i dont think she likes me very much she never wants to come out of her hide unless she knows no one is in the room i started to handle her more often and she is a runner i hope she calms down.

 

[Ozy]

My girl Ozy is about the brattiest thing ever. She will NOT eat out of a dish, she absolutely has to be hand fed. She also will NOT use her humid hide or water dish if there is something other than Spring Water in it. I tried using Repti-safe with tap water. Misted her humid hide with it and put some water in her water bowl and she was completely disgusted by it. Anytime I try to handle her she's like.. F YOUUUUU! Wags her tail and is very vocal about her displeasure. She also will ONLY poop on completely smooth surfaces. When I got her as a baby she was on paper towels and would only go on the top of her humid hide which is smooth plastic. I switched her to slate after a couple of months and once she picked a pooping spot I put a piece of paper towel there and she would NOT poop there anymore. I took the paper towel out and she started pooping in that spot again... >.<

 

[stager]

I have a female that tried to gaurd her first and second clutch of eggs, the third she completely burried so I couldn't find them.

 

[ChizoReptiles]

I have a female leo which i got her when she was about a year old, and she was super skinny, her weight was about 20 grams and she was really weak
after alot of hard work i got her to 50 grams and she looks great (and about to lay eggs)
but! she has the biggest appetite in the world now! if she sees the tweezers she will attack them in a second. she will eat everything on the tweezers and when she is getting fed she's trying too eat everything that moves, that means that she was biting the male a few times in her life lol... one time i took her poo with the tweezers just to throw it to the garbage and she caught it haha...
now when she's eating i need to get her into another tank so she wont eat the male