Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just wondering when you take your leo out of its cage are they suppose to want to come out or is it normal for them to not want to but once they are out they are fine.

Its perfectly natural for the gecko to be scared of coming out of the cage, even within months of having them. I have heard stories of people training their gecko with food to crawl right onto their hands when htey put them in the cage.

It's normal for leos to be a bit intimidated. Doing this few times a day is fine, but EXCESSIVE handling (I'm sure you'll never do this) can lead to stress. Just a bit of caution.

Tim
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Extinction is forever. Endangered means we still have time.

Protect the global wildlife.

I only take my leos out once a day most is 3 if that. I think as someone said I think I will feeding on my hand then take them out and feed more so they want to come out.

That's fine, and it won't cause them any stress.

Tim
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Extinction is forever. Endangered means we still have time.

Protect the global wildlife.

My leo is very social and once i put my hand in the cage she will usually just crawl right on and look up at me, but you should be careful of excessive handeling for stress reasons. it's not a really good idea to take them out in the day, cause there is a greater chance of them not wanting to come out and hiss at you. I take Arwen (my leo) out at night before i feed her and then prepare her food while she sits on my shoulder. when im done handeling her i put her in her cage and feed her. It's kinda like a reward as for being patient and letting me handel her.

My big males will usually just stand there and let me pick them up. My females tend to be a little more skittish, but it's pretty easy to catch them. I put one hand down and herd them onto that hand with my other hand then lift them up. Mine prefer standing on my open palm or the back of my hand. Most don't like to be actually "held" in a more closed hand if that makes any sense.

This is my one year old High Yellow male, Trouble. He was not very handlable as a baby. Would just keep jumping off my hand as soon as I'd get him on. He's much better about being handled now that he's a big boy...

This is Mystique, my female Hypo Tang. I've found my Leos to be less intimidated by the back of my hand than the palm of my hand. Guess they prefer a slight hill to a shallow valley.

Fingers can make fun monkey bars. This is my High Yellow (het for Rainwater) female, Freckles. Believe it or not, she's only 6 weeks old here. She is the same size as my female Rainwater, Jewel, who is 5 months old.

Good luck with your leo, just be calm, patient, and slow moving around him (her?). If he is really flighty and prone to jumping off your hand (some will jump regardless of how high up they are) then you are best to sit on the floor to handle him so he can't fall far. He'll learn to trust you the more you interact with him.
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www.LynsLair.com
4.4 Leopard Geckos
(Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Buttercup, Nala, Mystique, Jewel)
1.0 Carpet Python
(Bear)
5.1 Ferrets
(Wolf, Shadow, Roland, Verdell, Boo, Sullivan)
0.1 Cat
(Mia)

Wow, great leos. And yes, I like your suggestions, but to add more, if your gecko gets ticked off really bad, they will bite just like all animals, no doubt it. Even the nicest leo can turn into a fireball if they think their master is becoming unbearable with them. And a bite from a full grown leo can be rather painful, resulting in a bleeding cut.

Tim
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Extinction is forever. Endangered means we still have time.

Protect the global wildlife.

When I first got my leo, she was about 4 months old and raised by very reputable breeders. When I put my hand in the tank, she'd crawl right up on my hand, mostly out of curiosity, I think. She'd come over, lick my finger, than crawl up onto my hand, heading for my arm.

To this day she's still a very curious leo, always wanting to get to new places when she's out of her tank. However, she knows me pretty well now so she'll no longer crawl up my hand, mostly because I think she knows what it is (my hand). So i just gently pick scoop her up. She has no issues about it.

Like the others said, don't do it too often. I only really handle my leo once every few days, and only after she's 'awake'...by that I mean after she's out and moving about. As long as you respect your leo's sleep schedule and are gentle, there's no problem with having it outside its cage...just don't let her run away