Rude Gecko!

[greedo11]

Hi, I was just wondering what other people would make of my leos behavior towards my boyfriend, its almost like there is a hierarchy in the house and hes at the bottom! :main_laugh:
When she comes out she will let me stroke her and she will sit on me. If Martin tries to touch her she will have a tantrum. However if im in work she will sometimes come out and let him stroke her, as soon as I home she comes to me and its like he doesnt exist! But shes obviously not afraid of him and doesnt dislike him as if Im not around she will go to him for attention.
When I remove poo Im rewarded by her lifting her head and looking at me and she will sniff the area to make sure Ive done my job then walk around a bit showing off. When Martin tried to do it she started to have a tantrum and went in her house.
Also we never see her have a poo, she is a very private gecko. that is until the day we were sat on the bed and she was having a walk around. She climbed on Martin instead of me (very unusual) and Martin was very pleased, until she lifted one leg and squirted a turd all over him :main_laugh::main_laugh::main_laugh:
We arnt concerned or anything, we just find it quite interesting, does it have any bearing on how geckos relate to each other in the wild?

 

[Wowoklol]

LOL

We arnt concerned or anything, we just find it quite interesting, does it have any bearing on how geckos relate to each other in the wild?

Yes. Sounds like an episode of The Honeymooners. Exactly how leos act in the wild. "I'll send you to the moooon Alice!"

 

[doublet74]

Thats really funny. What a character !

 

[greedo11]

Haha!! :main_laugh: Thanks guys! Yes she is a character! She knows what she wants and doesnt want and how to express it. She gets what she wants too! Shes like a spoilt little princess but I wouldnt have her any other way!!

 

[Thorgecko707]

A lot of geckos react from repetitive behavior. Like who is the one that cleans my poop. Or who feeds me can get close to me. I do think that some geckos act like that but really have something extra going on upstairs. Like when it looks at you, it expects a reply. I have been working with my geckos for 6 years and only one has caught on to the blinky game. She may have been marking him for dominant reasons too.

 

[Adinar]

LMAO! Sounds ike a trip.

 

[IslaReina]

Wow, what a smart little gecko! She has you guys trained well xD

 

[gothra]

Haha, rude? You should hear what my Marly does to my husband, LOL. If I'm holding Marly and my husband comes near, Marly will stare at his every move with wide eyes. Sometimes he'll even move a step or two closer to him, and get into the "ready-to-attack" mode. And there were so many times that Marly actually tried to attack him when he was merely just walking pass his tank to get to the bedroom. According to my husband (I have not witnessed it as I go to bed early), Marly would rush to the front of his tank and started jumping vigorously and even making growling noises. And guess what? He was successful for at least a couple times. During the first encounters, my husband was so afraid that Marly will drop his tail since he was dashing and jumping like mad that he couldn't make it past his tank, and he ended up sleeping on the living room sofa, LOL.

Now I can probably explain that behaviour logically, but I'm pretty content with the thoughts that "Marly likes me much better"; so I'm going to leave it as that. :main_laugh:

 

[gothra]

Oh, I forgot to mention, his rage towards my husband only occurs if I'm holding him, or if I went to bed. If I'm still walking around the house or watching TV, Marly has absolutely no problem with my husband at all.

 

[PaladinGirl]

Now I can probably explain that behaviour logically, but I'm pretty content with the thoughts that "Marly likes me much better"; so I'm going to leave it as that. :main_laugh:

We have to be careful when we talk about gecko personalities and behaviors, we might get accused of being anthropomorphaholics :main_laugh:

But ya know what, I still think geckos have personalities! Some people say they act purely on instinct and conditioned response, but I just don't think that explains everything that they do. They are not like dogs or cats, I'm sure their brains are pretty inferior in comparison. But I think they get to know their owners, prefer certain people, and like attention. Even when Toon has plenty of food running around her tank, she will sit and stare up at the screen lid until I come pick her up. She runs up my arm with what I firmly believe to be excitement and joy. Phooey on the logic of animal behavior experts who would say no! Hehee!

Nothing against the experts. I actually don't disagree with what they say; I just don't think it explains everything!

 

[gothra]

Agreed. Not everything is just plain black and white, there are grey areas too. :main_yes:

 

[greedo11]

Hi Everyone thankyou so much for the replies, a lot of good points made and its made me laugh!
Thorgecko 707 : Yes, dominance was one thing we came up when discussing her behaviour and it seems likely, though Martin doesnt quite want to believe a 6 inch creature thinks it has dominance over him!! :main_laugh: When Greedo did actually sit on him once, she sat on top of his head looking smug and imperious so I think it has something to do with it!
Also as a baby it was always me who cleaned her poop and fed her so its probably ingrained that that is my job.
Wow Marly sounds great, a gecko with attitude! If a bit of a psycho too!:main_thumbsup::main_thumbsup:
Haha I do pity your husband though, especially sleeping in the living room, its amazing how much hold these tiny creatures can have over us!
It is weird that if your there he doesnt react like that, shows he thinks your the boss!
Paladin girl, when I submitted the thread I thought I would get accused of anthromorphosising too much so its funny you say that!
Oh and yes geckos definetely have personalities, anyone who thinks overwise hasnt had the pleasure of getting to know one properly!

 

[artes]

"Experts" don't always know what they're talking about. Like the study done recently that "proves" dogs are smarter than cats. How did they prove this? They tied a treat to a string, dangled it in front of the animal, and told the animal not to eat it. The dogs listened, the cats ate the treat. If anything, that proves cats are smarter - the cats got to eat.

Besides that, its obvious they skewed the study towards dogs. Dangle non-edible objects in front of a cat and see what happens. Lack of ability to resist shiny, dangley things is not a sign of low intelli.... OMG A SHINY! /runs off

 

[Adinar]

I feel the same, when you own several geckos at once you can most certainly see their different personalities shine through. Some are laid back while others are high strung. One of our cresteds, Calypso, does something similar like Marly. She doesn't like the hubby for whatever reason. He comes into the room and she sees him, she watches his every move. Her little head even turns to watching, not just her gaze. She has lunged at the glass at him, and can be temporarily passified with a cricket or two as a treat from him. But it always goes back to her staring him down and letting him know who's boss!

 

[greedo11]

That "dogs are smarter than cats" study wasnt very scientific was it!? I agree the cat eating the treat proves nothing! Its like when people have argued " a dog will fetch your slippers, a cat will not". The cat has better things to do with its time than wait on people!
Yep Geckos have personalities! I would probably notice Greedos even more if I had quite a few geckos. I would never dare though, shed go mental!!:main_laugh:

 

[LeoMerlin]

LOL now that's a funny story! My gecko's still too young I think to be held too much. So I am making sure he's got enough free time to himself and that he's not bothered by others. He loves to sleep a lot for one, even at night time I've seen him sleep some. But generally he loves it when I feed him and cleans up after him. I have noticed him look at me when I am watching him. He kind of turns his head at an angle sometimes to keep an eye on me but other than that, he stays mostly on his warm side of the tank