Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had Pumpkin for a week now. I previously posted because Pumpkin bit me and it freaked me out. Thanks for the posts of encouragement and information. Things are progressing. I introduce my hand daily. Now, when I put my hand in the cage, he (I just say "he" even though I don't know what it is) raises up on all his legs and his throat starts rapidly "beating" just as it does before he strikes. I usually remove my hand before he bites. But, if I slide a piece of paper under him and then put him from the paper to my hand it is much more peaceful. I hope to graduate from this to just being able to pick him up or do things in his cage without him biting me. When I do transfer him to my hands, he sometimes is very relaxed and subdued and curls up and "rests" with his eyes half shut. Other times, he does not relax and he is always looking to jump on to the next thing he sees. I usually just put him right back in the cage if that is the mood he is in. When he gets older, will he always be this wild and crazy or do they mellow out? Also, the day we got him, we got 24 crickets as was suggested to us by the person we bought him from. He picked away at them and finally ran out of them on Tuesday (Saturday - Tuesday he hate 24). When we got more on Tuesday, I put them in his cage and watched him down 14 of them!!! Is that normal? He just went to one right after the other. He has not touched his mealworms, I don't think. His belly is growing!! I was a little worried that he ate that many but I read that they do not over-eat. So, he must have just been really hungry? Also, he has not touched the remaining crickets since this initial gorge. I guess my two questions are about their temperament as they grow - do they mature and mellow? And also about this 14 cricket feast??? Thanks for anyone who has input. I am enjoying this board and all the information and resources provided.

Have you read the care sheet on geckos?

I may be mistaken, but it sounds like you are dumping all his food in there at once. If you are that is a big no-no. Crickets will stress out a gecko during the day and all uneaten ones should be removed. 14 is a lot, perhaps you are using too small a cricket? (1/2 the size of the leos head) Are you gutloading and dusting the crickets? (VERY important) Baby leos should be fed everyday with gutloaded and dusted prey (I prefer crickets for many reasons I've stated a lot before) about 4-5 crickets of the appropriate size is about right, but he may eat more if he's "between sizes".

Crickets should be housed in a separate container (we use a cheap one called critter keepers) with gutload food and water. Remove and replenish as necessary.

Oh, and the "throat beating" is just pronounced breathing, means he noticed you, not that he's going to strike. They settle down a lot as they mature if handled properly... someday they will just see you as a UTH that moves. Hope this helps.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

Oh, one more thing, handling EVERY day is not a good idea. Start with twice a week at most. Although leos tolerate handling better than most reptiles, the key word is tolerate. This isn't really a pet that you can handle on a daily basis and have him be happy about it especially when they are young. Most likely, it is all the handling and the loose crickets that is causing him to be so stressed and all that stress is causing the biting. Let him be for a few days after each attempt at handling. I can assure you this method works, our geckos are tamer than most dog's, they walk up on your hand of their own free will. Patience.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

Thank you for the input. The breeder I got him from told me to dump all the crickets in there and I was surprised and I even called him the next day and asked if I heard him right because it seemed to me the crickets were bugging Pumpkin. I use the baby crickets as advised and supplied to me by the breeder. He gutloads them and I just pick them up once a week. I'll do less at a time and keep them separate. That's probably why he was eating them all, because they were bugging him!!! I am trying to make a good environment for him so I really appreciate the help and time spent in to replying to my questions. Thanks for your patience, my goal is to have a very happy and healthy Gecko!!

Glad to help. I would really suggest just getting a cricket keeper (less than $5) and some cricket food (they sell products that are food and water combined for pretty cheap) and keep your own crickets. That way you always have some on hand and can easily fed him every night. I wouldn't suggest taking him out of the enclosure to feed as that is a lot of unnecessary handling. A container of food items is the set up nearly all of us use and it works great. Just dust a few crickets a night and pick up fresh once a week or so when your supply runs low.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

I recommend putting Pumpkin in a tubby or another enclosure with no cage furniture or substrate. You feed him his crickets in this enclosure so when he is done eating you can put him back in his regular enclosure and you make sure their are no crickets that are gonna be there to bother him. I also think feeding him mealworms is just as good as feeding him crickets. Some people think it is not as much exercise for him to catch a mealworm in a bowl, but these people have never seen my geckos circle the bowl 5 or 6 times, wag their tails, and then jump in the bowl grabbing as many mealworms as they can. You can leave mealworms in the enclosure because if you use a bowl with smooth sides the mealworms can not get out of the bowl and you don't have the problem of them stressing the geckos. I just add a little pure calcium to the bottom of the bowl so when they grab the mealworms they are getting calcium. You still need to gutload the mealworms and dust them with vitamins about every week. The mealworms are also easier to care for and do not make noise or smell like crickets. Either prey item is fine in my book/
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Vicky Lord
1.0 boyfriends (Jeremy)
1.1 cats (Oscar, Angel)
1.1 dogs (Toto, Jesse)
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa (Herman)
1.0 Catavina Rosy Boa (George)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Edge, Jazzy (short for Jasmine), and Dot (so named for the cute dot that is right above her tail))

Yes. Geckos mature as they get older.

Yes. Its normal for him to eat 14 crickets.