Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have always had leopard geckos and handled them some, not too much though bc the one's I had didnt really enjoy it much.

How do you handle cresties given their smaller size and jumping nature?

Don't try to hold them back or restrain them. I hold them most during the day when they're less active and they usually sit still while I pet them, at night I let them jump from hand to hand if they want to or I let them lick babyfood off my finger.

>>Don't try to hold them back or restrain them. I hold them most during the day when they're less active and they usually sit still while I pet them, at night I let them jump from hand to hand if they want to or I let them lick babyfood off my finger.

I agree on the not holding them back or restraining them, however, think about what you're doing bothering them during the day. They are NOCTURNAL. That means they sleep during the day. Would you like being forcibly removed from your bed by a giant who wants to play with you? I cannot recommend or condone handling them during the day in cases where it is other than completely necessary.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

When/how would you suggest holding them then?

I second the don't hold them in the day comment. In our experience something similar to training leos is in order, only vertical. We tend to herd them by using our hands as barriers until they decide that a hand makes a good branch or we get them to the top of the enclosure. At the top of the enclosure, a hand can look a lot like an extension of the glass and the crested can be encouraged to continue its upward climb onto the waiting hand. Obviously, with the much more skiddish crested, this takes A LOT of patience and a bit of practice. After you have them, remember they can hop very far, so don't stand too close to anything you don't want a gecko on. (Like a wall.) You can easily feel them tense up before a jump and gage where they are going, then it is simply a matter of making sure another hand is there. Remember that cresteds are not the most graceful geckos and their aim is somewhat lacking... you will be caught by a tail or a single foot sometimes and they look quite surprised when it happens too. I would suggest having someone else nearby the first few times you handle your crested... sometimes they can be really quick and you will end up with a crested on your shoulders or back, basically some place it might be better to have someone else scoop the little guy/gal up for you. Hope this helps.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

Another thing on handling them is that they tend to want to climb up in general, so if you hold your arm at an angle, you'll be able to control reasonably well the direction they'll go in. Keep the handling periods to a couple of minutes at a time and do it fairly regularly - like every second or third night or so and they should get used to you and become less nervous (though they'll still jump around - I once rather unexpectedly had mine on my face, and unluckily for her, I had shaved about a day and a half prior, so I was seriously stubbly - needless to say, she didn't stay there very long ).
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Great advice!!!
I would throw in one more trick.
I always start by letting them crawl onto my hand rather than trying to pick them up. Once on my hand, this is important, I try to place a finger or two or my other hand in front of them (in front of their eyes). This works extremely well for that time you are handling your crested and they decide to spaz out! Placing a hand in front of them instead of trying to restrain them will usually stop them in their tracks.
As said before, once I start handling them, I hand walk them and allow them to jump from my hand to my check a few times. Always provide them a path. Again, they like moving upward so keep that in mind. Once they are at your shoulder or upper arm, the only place to go is away from you If they are looking away from you and at that lampshade 3 feet away, you know they are going to launch so distract them quickly with the hand in front of their face, turn them and then do the hand to hand thing again.
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