Taming Concerns

[klspets]

Hello, I've had my two leos for several months now and I bought them at a large chain pet store. They are both healthy and no longer scared of me, but I'm afraid I messed up with taming them...at first, I was very eager to handle them so I bothered them often throughout the first weeks, then I realized what I was doing wrong and stopped any interaction between myself and the geckos (besides cleaning and feeding). Now they know I'm not a threat, but instead they associate my hand with food/eating! Any time I put my hand in the tank they instantly think it's dinner time and they try to bite me. Any tips on how to change this? Thanks in advance!

General info in case it's needed:
• Genders are unknown
• They are about a year old, one is a bit younger than the other
• The younger one has a 10 gallon tank, and the older one has a 20 long

 

[crazylizardlady]

I would say you just have to start opening up their tank to handle them not just to feed them. As difficult as it may be if they bite you try to leave your hand there and continue to talk to them theyll realize you arent food and let go. Eventually with more handling they'll get used to you and you wont have to deal with them thinking you are the food. Also maybe starting out try to handle them after theyve eaten, just not directly after. Good luck and enjoy the process

 

[Russellm0704]

Usually are geckos do associate use with food which really is not a bad thing. It is better than them being scared when we come up their enclosure. Do you hand feed them?

 

[klspets]

The only concern I have about letting them bite me if they choose to is that I'll get sick from bacteria in their mouths- is that just blown out of proportion & it's nothing to worry about as long as I wash my hands or what? I feed them mealworms one by one with tweezers. Is that bad? Thanks for the replies!

 

[crazylizardlady]

The only concern I have about letting them bite me if they choose to is that I'll get sick from bacteria in their mouths- is that just blown out of proportion & it's nothing to worry about as long as I wash my hands or what? I feed them mealworms one by one with tweezers. Is that bad? Thanks for the replies!

Im def not an expert but I can say Ive been bitten several times the only one that has ever broken the skin is my 80+g male the babies dont really bite hard. Wash your hands well after handling and you should be fine. Ive never gotten sick from a leo bite. Feeding mealworms from tweezers is fine as well.