Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my gecko for a couple months now. I used to try to handle it a lot when I first got it but it bit me and always tried to jump off my hand when it was tiny which made me very nervous. I stopped handling it because it seemed to be getting wilder rather than tamer. I didn't like being bitten and screeched at, and also I feared for its safety if it lunged away. Is it bad to not handle the geckos at all? My goal is to have a tame adult that is comfortable with us holding it. In order to achieve that, is it necessary to keep handling it at this stage? I just don't want it to bite me or jump down and hurt itself. Whenever I try to pick it up now it races all over the cage and just gets itself all worked up. How often do you guys handle your geckos and those of you that have tame adult geckos, how did you go about that? Maybe it's just the personality of the gecko and Pumpkin might not ever like it. But, I would like to some day handle it after sheds to make sure they were successful and also figure out the sex.

Well, if "a lot" means more than 2x a week, you were probably stressing the little guy. Leave your hand in the enclosure, let him get used to you just being there before you attempt to pick him up. Handling early is usually better for taming a gecko, IMHO, but patience is always rewarded.

Search for posts by "olstyn" and you find it said much better:

"Much like any other animal, they each have their own personality. I've seen lazy ones that sit around and do nothing all day and night, really active ones that patrol their whole enclosure every night, friendly ones, and aggressive, angry ones - your albino may just be a bit less friendly/more aggressive than the other one. That being said, juveniles in general tend to be more nervous and thus more likely to bite than adults. They tend to mellow out with time and handling. Juveniles, at least, can't do any significant damage with a bite, so stick your hand in there and let the gecko get used to the idea that you're neither a threat nor food. Don't chase her around; let her come to you. "

In another message:

"Yes, as s/he gets older, the biting will most likely subside. Probably just nervous and stressed from the move to a new environment, plus the little babies are sometimes more prone to defensive biting. I'd say give him/her a week or so to calm down, then start just putting your hand down on the floor of the terrarium to give him/her a chance to get used to you. Eventually you'll get licked, then climbed on, and from there on out you will likely have a very tame gecko..."
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

What I found works best for me is to to hand feed it some crickets and mealworms. Use a forceps or tweetzers to hold the crickets, or mealworms, and dangle it infront of it when it's hungry. In no time, it'll get use to your presence and tame dowon. My high yellow was this way when I first got it; he would screech and lunge at me, but after being handfed, he calm down quite a lot and now don't screech or lunge at me anymore. I hope this help you.