My first Leo

[Entix]

I recently took an interest in leopard geckos after raising northern diamond back terrapins for the past four years, after researching and setting up a habitat over the course of three weeks I went to my local petstore and found a leo that I loved. The owner said she was two weeks old and I've had her for a little over two weeks now. She has adapted to her new home nicely however she's very skittish when it comes to anyone around the tank. I wanted to show her that I'm not there to hurt her, two days ago I attempted to hold her and I had to corner her in order to catch her, I felt awful, but she got to the point where she sat on my hand. I gave her two days before I attempted to handle her again, today I attempted to pick her up, however she clearly didn't want to be on my hand so instead I stoked her head very gently, after awhile she most likely didn't want to be picked up, but I tried one more time and I did get her and I was able to hold her, however I could tell she felt threatened so I put her down and stopped for the day. Both of these instances only last about 10 mins, btw.

Basically I realize I'm going about this wrong and I just feel awful that she's so afraid of me. I can tell she is stessed when people are around her, but she eats like a hog, so I don't know how much I'm actually stressing her.

can anyone point out what I'm doing wrong and give me some advice?

 

[Herpluver]

In my experience, the more nervous you are, the more likely you are to stress your gecko and possibly hurt them if you react the wrong way. Always maintain confidence when handling your babies, as a fall from standing height could seriously injure them.

Reptiles (geckos included) don't ever become what dogs and cats are, domesticated. They only become hand tolerant. Meaning they are only dealing with you since they have come to realize you do not mean them harm. You are still intimidating to them, and can still startle them enough to cause them to enter panic mode. Especially if you approach them too quickly or make the wrong motions.

This is my method of dealing with flighty/aggressive/shy animals.
-First, start with 5-10 minutes of what I call "Hand In Tank" time.
-Don't pick them up, just move some cage furniture, adjust a hide box, etc.. Let your gecko know you are there to stay, and are only here to maintain the place.

(After some time, your little one will become less nervous of you being there. )

-Now you can upgrade to "Hold in Tank" time. Where you only pick your little one up while holding it inside the tank. This gives your gecko a bit more security (imho) knowing it is still in its own habitat.
-What it sounds like, your gecko is likely going to try and run, or quickly move off of your hand.
-This is where you will practice "Hand Walking". Keep putting your hand one in front of the other allowing your gecko to walk across them, but not letting the gecko jump down into the cage. Maintain control without attempting to "Grasp" or "Hold" your gecko.

-Once "Hold in Tank" time is a success, and your gecko has calmed down enough to sit on your hand for any longer than 20-30 seconds at a time, you are basically good to go. From this point on, will be "Bonding" time basically. You aren't building any emotional ties, but "Trust"/"Co-existence" bonds.

Reptiles never truly become "Tame" or "Domesticated" as I stated earlier, so there is always that chance that you will startle them and cause them to fight or flee. Never become so comfortable that you forget to respect the animal too.

This is just my way, and I am sure others will have their own. Hopefully you find what works for you!

Good Luck

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Leopard geckos are generally very skittish when they are young, but they slowly grow out of it as they get older. It will do both you and the gecko good to give the gecko more time to settle in and allow the gecko to get used to you the right way. 2-4 weeks old means the gecko is still a hatchling, they operate on the very basic functions and the instinct they were imprinted with. Which means, they see people, they think they're big huge godzilla monsters.

The good news is they do generally grow out it rather quickly, and the more you feed it, the more it'll get used to you. Holding is not all that required when "taming" a gecko. They are docile creatures, you just have to give them more time to get used to both you and their new environment. From my experience once you've had them for a couple of months, they should know you're the food person, and stop running away or hiding when you go to feed them. That's generally a good measuring point when I know picking them up will be less of a hassle, and it's when picking them up gives them less stress.

Also understand that leopard geckos tolerate handling, as Herpluver described above. So there are times when they just don't want to be held, that's perfectly normal. I would recommend going on their terms. With these lil creatures, the less stress they have, the more likely they'll have a long, healthy life.

 

[Herpluver]

I would recommend going on their terms. With these lil creatures, the less stress they have, the more likely they'll have a long, healthy life.

1+, LIKE, RETWEET! W/E! LOL Couldn't agree with this more. Heck, stress kills humans, imagine how rough it is on a tiny gecko! You will have to get to know your own gecko, as they all have their own personalities. You must be the judge of when it is too much and when it is time to leave them alone.

big huge godzilla monsters.

ROFL'ing over this one, but its the truth!

 

[Ozy]

I never tried to handle Ozy as a hatchling. When they are small like that, they get scared way too easily. The only thing I did was cage cleaning and I hand fed her. She never would eat out of a dish and still won't (freakin brat). After about 6 months she would start coming out and watching me. So I started just putting my hand in the tank and letting her smell it, lick it, walk on it etc. Now, if she feels like coming out she will climb up on my hand, if she doesn't, she won't. If she doesn't want to come out I just take my hand out and leave her alone.

 

[LCReptiles]

It can definitely be frustrating but each animal is different. I have my own geckos that I've had for a year that still most of the time try to run and hide. Then I offer to keep a friend's geckos while they are doing a study abroad and after 10 minutes his geckos are eating out of my hands and very happily sitting with me. Makes me want to throw myself out the window.