why is he screaming at me?

[daveim]

I waited a few weeks before holding my gecko, like I was supposed to, and at first just stuck my hand in and let him sniff it-at least I tried. The first time, he actully crawled up on my hand and the jumped off. But then the second time, when I stuck my hand in there for him to sniff, he licked the tip of my finger and then screamed. It was the scariest noise that I have ever heard. Honest. it sounded like someone was screaming in agony through a walkie-talkie with static interference. Why does he do this?

 

[HepCatMoe]

to scare you. seriously. its a defense mechanism designed to shock a predator into leaving them alone. its supposed to say "look how much noise i can make, dont mess with me!"

what it really means is he is scared of you. just give it time, he will probably come around.

 

[Kwyk]

 

[fallen_angel]

^lol :main_laugh:

It's pretty normal behavior really, some are screamers and some aren't, but even the biggest screamers can become sweet and docile after getting used to human interaction.

 

[malt_geckos]

Because he's Godzilla...and young...you know those younsters...they think they're so big and bad.

 

[lamarr]

I feel ya!

I haven't bred geckos in 5-6 years, and just started to re-establish a colony. I was in the cage 3-4 days after the 1st SHTCTB females arrived and the smallest one in the cage let out a SCREECH! Now I've been threatened by hatchlings but this was a 20g. animal and I was not expecting it to say the least. Scared the crap outta me :main_rolleyes: and the first reaction was to get out of the cage, so I guess it works..... she's since apologized and is not in time-out anymore!

 

[rubym]

We had one that came out of his egg screaming and hasn't stopped yet, LOL. We stil hold him and stuff but he always starts off by letting us know he is really the boss.

 

[breanna-banana13]

perfect

i have tried many-a-time to describe what a leopard gecko sounds like, (mine dont really scream but they almost chirp) and i must say that your description of the noise is the most accurate by far. good job.

I waited a few weeks before holding my gecko, like I was supposed to, and at first just stuck my hand in and let him sniff it-at least I tried. The first time, he actully crawled up on my hand and the jumped off. But then the second time, when I stuck my hand in there for him to sniff, he licked the tip of my finger and then screamed. It was the scariest noise that I have ever heard. Honest. it sounded like someone was screaming in agony through a walkie-talkie with static interference. Why does he do this?

 

[MichaelJ]

i agree with everyone; it's definitely a defense mechanism against intruding predators..

Even after years of dealing with dozens of babes each year, they still make us jump back when they make that quick strike and squeal!!

We've found that some are louder than others though.. Often, some will be the same temparment as their parents and be completely calm no matter what; right out of the egg.. misting their tub is another tub..

"cariest noise that I have ever heard." my friend it gets much scarier!

The first time a Tokay barks randomly will probably take a year off your life..

but by far the most alarming defensive posture and sounds i've dealt with were from a Frilled Dragon..

i thought a Velociraptor was going to spit acid on my face!

Even Worse; these suckers will chase you down!

 

[MissDoom1985]

Haha my gecko has screamed only twice since I have owned him, once right after i cuddled him into my shirt for a warm little nap, telling me he didn't want me to open it to peek in at him the second when he was showing his reflection whose boss I wish he'd do it more it's the most surprising and amusing noise I've heard from such a tiny creature =]

 

[nats]

Haha my gecko has screamed only twice since I have owned him, once right after i cuddled him into my shirt for a warm little nap, telling me he didn't want me to open it to peek in at him the second when he was showing his reflection whose boss I wish he'd do it more it's the most surprising and amusing noise I've heard from such a tiny creature =]

I have only had the pleasure of hearing the infamous "alien scream" once.
It was from a hatchling not more than an hour old. Never heard it again!

 

[leonut]

haha my adult still grunts and squeels at me. :main_laugh:

 

[daveim]

he did it again last Saturday, but this time I was not quite so scared and did not recoil in fear. I guess he realized this and he was not so loud this time.

 

[rcbritt87]

mine shrieked once right after i brought him home i put him in his tank and he ran a did a cannon ball in his water bowl and shrieked its quiet a noise i was quite surprised by it

 

[Haligren]

lol Cute. I love icanhascheezburger.com too.

The only sound I've ever heard Tiamat make was when I had to give her a warm bath (because she hadn't had a bowel movement in about 4 days) and she started making this weird gurgling sound. It was almost like a popping noise. I thought it was her tummy but when I picked her up and held her to my ear I realized it was her! lol

She's never made a peep aside from that.

 

[gothra]

I have never heard my geckos scream, hope I can hear it someday!

 

[Libby15]

Was it like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyvAG8vAeMo

 

[Haligren]

ROAR!

lol

 

[StangWolf]

Kaida's done that to me only once and it was shortly after I got her. She had climbed up on my shoulder, facing the same direction my back was, and I was trying to get her used to me so I just let her chill there for a few minutes. I thought she would either stay there or move on in a moment, so I sat still, at first just kinda keeping an eye on her out of the corner of my eye.

Well after a minute or two I decided to turn and look up at my TV (it's mounted on the wall and I was sitting on the floor) and in the process my head movement moved my ponytail toward the shoulder she was sitting on and I guess it startled her because she let out this quick bark, chuff, squeak noise. Startled me but made me laugh too because it was kinda cute, if a total surprise. Good thing I knew they could make noise otherwise it might have startled me more.

But like everyone else has said, its pretty much a defense thing. Just give your guy some time, I'm sure he'll get used to you and relax, it just takes patience like with any new pet ^^

 

[Bodon]

At the reptile show this past Sunday a breeder took out a little blizzard girl and she flipped out, screaming and trying to bite the guy, i had heard that they scream but it was crazy to hear in real life for the first time. They really do sound like a baby crying!