Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a new leopard gecko that is 5 months old. every time i try to hold him he bites me. it doesnt hurt but i would like him to stop so i can hold him. if there is any tips on what i should do or how i should hold him please let me know

i had one of my geckos do the same thing. also when they're younger they seem to be more afraid of their surroundings. what i do is put my hand in the enclosure and slowly put a finger close to its mouth so it could lick me and see that my hand is not a threat. next step is to try to slide your hand under the gecko and lift it up that way. after a while it will get used to you.

Agreed. I even take it a step further than that to start out with young ones. Takes some patience, but at this point, my gecko willingly climbs onto my hand almost every time it's presented to her.

I don't even approach them with my hand to begin with. Just put your hand down on the terrarium floor and wait. Be willing to do this for 10 minutes at a time a few times a week. The gecko will eventually get curious and come investigate you. As the previous poster says, they will lick you (this is how they check out new things), and eventually decide to climb on you. I'm quite certain that mine now sees my hand as warm, moving terrain .
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

You can also try hand feeding him. When I my leos were little, I hand fed them crickets with tweetzers, and now they are all accustomed to me being around them. They start to associate food with me and soon lost their fear.