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i have a female leo that just wiggles like crazy when i pick her up. what can i do? i have to put her down because i dont want her tail to come of.

>>i have a female leo that just wiggles like crazy when i pick her up. what can i do? i have to put her down because i dont want her tail to come of.

What exactly do you mean when you say "pick her up?" I've never seen one "wiggle like crazy," so that statement leads me to believe you might be trying to firmly grip her and/or enclose her body with your hand(s). If that is the case, stop trying to control her that much when you want to interact with her. It's generally better to just let them walk around on your hands; that way they don't feel threatened, whereas with what it *sounds* like you're doing, she would almost certainly view you as a predator trying to capture/eat her, which would obviously be bad. If you're just picking her up and letting her run around on your hands and she's got a problem with it, try first letting her get used to you more by just putting your hand in her enclosure for an extended period - eventually she'll get curious and come inspect you, and you can build trust from there.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

no when i pull her out of her cage(gently on both side of her body) i have 1 other leo and 2 african fat tails and they all let me HOLD them without having to walk around my hands.

I guess I have a hard time seeing the need for that, apart from situations like veterinary examinations. Why do you feel compelled to do it that way? Is she fine walking around on your hands, and this is only when you hold on to her? If so, perhaps her personality is just different than the others'. If that's the case, you may just have to respect that. Perhaps someone else has some further insight; I've never felt the need to grip my geckos like that, except for the time when I had to force feed a very sick individual.

I find it very easy to pick up a leopard gecko by placing a hand immediately in front of it and giving it a light push on the hind legs; this usually gets them to walk forward onto the presented hand. Geckos, it seems, are rear wheel drive, so you don't really need to grab them in order to pick them up, either.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

I don't think I've seen anyone "hold" a leo as described unless maybe it was in the dark corners of the vet's office having a procedure done. While I've used Olstyn's method since he posted it years ago, the "professionals" I've seen don't grab the animals by their sides, but use a scooping method when time is short. (I'd say it is the way to pick up a young rabbit, but no one would understand me.) Basically placing their hands beneath the entire underside of the gecko, not from the sides.

Anyways, listen to Olstyn, he's the resident expert on tame geckos, I've had two wonderfully tame leos to prove it using his advice... now if only he'd tell me how to tame my crested, I'd give him the title "Gecko Whisperer".
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

I can see how you pick her up as I do the same to mine. The way the cage is set up I can't place my hand flat because I simply can't reach it that well, I'm short and it's high.

When I go for her I do get her by the sides as you describe, but then curl my fingers under to support her and hold my thumb above her head to kinda hold her if needed. As soon as she's out tho she goes right on my shoulder or lap and can go where she pleases. If she goes to far I pick her up the same way, if she doesn't want to walk on, and put her back down quickly in a better position or in the tank.

I don't really like the "tap her back to get her to go" method because I think that she'll feel like something is going for her from behind and drop her tail. She's got such a pretty little tail that I want to keep it.

I may be doing it all wrong too though...I'm new at this.

I'm not sure I'd recommend the "putting your thumb on top the head" part, but otherwise sounds good. I prefer a two handed scoop, or the tap on the hind leg myself, but some of my leos don't mind being picked up gently by the sides either- they splay out their legs until I put them on my hand, which is as soon as they clear the top of the cage. Unless your leo is unbelievably stressed or high-strung, a gentle tap to a rear foot or thigh should not cause them to drop a tail.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 Leucistic rescue (Lucy?)
0.1 Tremper stripe from JMG (Delta)
0.1 SHCT hatched by me! (Blinky)
0.0.1 SHCTB hatched by me! (Sunny II)
0.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
Hatched: ~50 leos