Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click for ZooMed
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You

Oh Crestie, do you want to be held?

AndrewFromSoCal Oct 01, 2007 02:17 PM

I won't lie. I'm nervous. My room is full of hard-to-get-to hiding spots (dressers, my bed, other cages..) and my two cresties seem pretty hyper. Squirt has a gnarly swagger, poppin' around his enclosure like there's no tomorrow, doing things a grown human male would never think of without being arrested, and his girlfriend, who is still nameless, jumps to the back of her pothos as soon as the door is opened.

I don't want to lose my geckos, or have them drop their tails. They're harder to get acclimated to my hand than a leopard gecko..because they can run up it.

How do you guys do it? Nerves of steel?

Please, only reply if you're over the age of 13 (mentally, not physically!)
-----
2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

Replies (4)

sleepygecko Oct 01, 2007 08:40 PM

>>Please, only reply if you're over the age of 13 (mentally, not physically!)
What about if you are 20, but took down the part of your website that said you were 20 because everyone guessed you were 13 due to your posts?

Ok, seriously...

As for handling cresties, oh, I wish I could help, my little girl has "gecko ADD", always has. We had a hard time handling her early on, sometimes we even had to box her to clean her cage. Now, admittedly, it was mostly our fault, we didn't spend enough time with her, we expected leopard gecko tameness. Now what I can offer you is after about a year she began to settle down quite a bit and it is a lot easier.

A friend taught me a trick to slightly angle your arm straight out with a slight incline and they are naturally inclined to crawl up it, add the next hand at your biceps and you can do something similar to the "there is always another hand" game for leos. I've never really gotten the hang of it, but my arms are pretty short. I never handled my girl early on without a "back up", someone I can call if she jumps too high. I also started holding her close to the ground, because honestly she was often too surprised when she "got away" that she was corralled within a foot of where she jumped. I can also tell you that is it fairly easy to tell when they are preparing for a superman leap, you'll feel them brace and tense, if you change your body position you can interrupt most flying leaps that way.

Another good idea is, if possible handle them somewhere you feel comfortable. (Heck, head to the shower, it works for crickets.) When she was really small, I would handle her over her transport box, that way if she jumped, it was usually either into or onto the box. I would then watch her, but leave her alone until we were done with the cleaning... slowly she would spend more time with me before leaving and she also saved the pooing for the box, which I appreciated. Mostly now we just spend time hopping between hands, about a foot apart, slightly different elevation and she just hops and flops.

Another trick that works with leos too is to cage their heads if they get too high. Cup your hand like a cave to stop the upward mountain climbing.

I know I am not much help, but here is some of the things that I have learned. I hope someone has some magic training technique, because I would love to spend even more time with my little girl. But let me tell you, it is so worth it... holding a crested in one hand and feeding her fruit from a teaspoon with the other... so worth it. Good luck.
-----
0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

AndrewFromSoCal Oct 02, 2007 12:24 AM

Thanks Sleepy!

I wasn't trying to take a stab at anyone with the age comment, I just don't want to read flip statements from know-it-alls and "breeders" (it's the animal breeding, not the person, right?)

My little Squirt is semi-used to my hand, as i've fed him baby food from my finger time to time..but I must say, he has to have ADD as well. He likes to pounce at the glass. The girl, however..not so much. Hand goes in her exo terra, and she's goneeeeeeeeee. Granted, the cage is too small, but they're still waiting to move into the 38 gallon.

Maybe i'll wait till they get a little bigger and lazy. Lazy is good. Leopards get lazy. :D
-----
2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

sleepygecko Oct 02, 2007 08:53 AM

I wish I could have been more help, but since I also came from a leo background, I figured I'd put in my two cents. I don't know if it is just lazy when it comes to cresteds getting older, more like "I'm big enough not to be food for EVERYONE" or something like that. Keep at it, I don't think they will ever be leos, but they are still fun... poopy but fun.

I do know our girl will run the other way when she figures out we aren't just giving her more snack. If you have an exoterra (I'm jealous) my advice won't help you as we just trick her into climbing up the walls and having a hand as the top of the wall.

OK, now that I'm really not adding to the conversation, I really just wanted to post that it's not just my leo that turned into a lazy queen? Her motto, "The crickets are dumb, they will walk by me eventually." And 90% of the time she "hunts" by just sticking her head out of her hide ala turtle style. Good to hear she isn't just spoiled.
-----
0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

AndrewFromSoCal Oct 02, 2007 05:40 PM

My exo terra is only an 18x18x24, but I got it for 15$ at NARBC. The sellers didn't want to take it home, and liked my VIP Badge :D.

My male leopard is way lazy. He still hunts, at least crickets..roaches just run right past him. He doesn't move, however, when you pick him up. He just kind of sits in your hand and licks your finger tips. My two girls, however, are a different story..one squeels when you pick her up, and the other one bolts like the energizer bunny. Not to mention the biting..gosh!

Back to roaches..does anyone else try roaches with their cresties? I have a B. Lateralis collony that I was going to start producing for my leopards...but I know if my 9 month old crestie has to spend 30 seconds catching them, my leopards will NEVER get them.

Anybody maybe use a different species?
-----
2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

Site Tools