Peek-a-boo!

[PaladinGirl]

I've noticed that my geckos will lay in their hides with just their heads poking out. Toon used to do it all the time but does it less often now. My new little diablo blanco has his little head poking out all night. He's like that when I go to bed, and still there when my husband leaves for work in the morning I've just always wondered about it, figured there must be some kind of reason for it.

 

[Repkyle]

Maybe their stealth hunting hehe crouching tiger hiden gecko

 

[mango+cola]

My gecko does that alot too, it looks pretty funny but I imagine its a defensive tactic. Being able to observe their surrounding environment, with the peace of mind knowing their body is protected inside their hide. That way they can see predators (or prey as Rephyle mentioned) near their hide, and determine if they want to engage them or hunt (fight) outside, and away from their hide so as not to give away where they sleep/be trapped in a hole with no escape. Or if they dont want to be seen by the predator, they just pop their head back in (flight). So even if they do get suprised while observing, their body is protected.

Might be wrong, but it would seem likely that this would be the reason, as most (possibly all) animals have fight or flight responses as part of their sympathetic nervous system from birth.

 

[PaladinGirl]

My gecko does that alot too, it looks pretty funny but I imagine its a defensive tactic. Being able to observe their surrounding environment, with the peace of mind knowing their body is protected inside their hide. That way they can see predators (or prey as Rephyle mentioned) near their hide, and determine if they want to engage them or hunt (fight) outside, and away from their hide so as not to give away where they sleep/be trapped in a hole with no escape. Or if they dont want to be seen by the predator, they just pop their head back in (flight). So even if they do get suprised while observing, their body is protected.

Might be wrong, but it would seem likely that this would be the reason, as most (possibly all) animals have fight or flight responses as part of their sympathetic nervous system from birth.

That makes perfect sense, actually! I figured it might have something to do with hunting but I never thought of the defensive purpose it might have :main_thumbsup:

 

[Kat&Rin]

Yah Rin does this too all the time....though it usually occurs when she hears me talking in the room in which case she pokes her head out and looks at me as if to say "So, when do you plan on feeding me? It better be soon or else I'll be a grumpy gecko." I think its a multi-purpose thing. Defensively speaking its great (like mango+cola mentioned), it allows for seeing prey, AND it allows them to be curious and look around their surroundings without having to worry about finding a hiding place. And I personally believe that they do it just to say hi as well

 

[LeoMerlin]

Ahh that makes perfect sense. Though most of the time Merlin is in his moist cave or the other rock cave he has.