Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought a Day Gecko. The guy said it was a standing Day Gecko, but anyways the thing is fast. He escaped twice. Once when we went to put him in the home. And once while feeding. He seems to be very smart. Anyways I have owned lizards before and have never had a problem with them just runnin right out of the home. Has anyone else had this proble? Once you get a hold of him he's fine and content. But man I've never seen anything so sneaky and fast. Please help me. I'm afraid to feed him now.

I have a Gold Dust Day Gecko named Kermit who loves to escape. In the year I've had him he has escaped on three seperate occasions and I had to basically tear my apartment apart to catch him. My advice is 1) make sure you have a big enough enclosure. The bigger the tank the less nervous he will be when you have to go in there, 2) Be VERY attentive when you open the tank. If he starts towards the top back him away right away. 3) I use a plastic container to trap him when he escapes that way I don't have to grab him with my hands. Hope this helps.

I too have noticed that these geckos are very smart. They know when you are going to feed them and they plan each move. Like he said though, keep a container close by and a large tank helps in terms of reaction to his movements.

standings are really cool & quick as hell. i have owned them & grandis (the big green ones with the red stripes) & they are both lighting fast. these geckos seem to calm down but they usually get a little freaked out when you try to pick them up. they will acclimate to you after awhile but these guys are more for show in my opinion. I have had a breeding pair that were totally cool about being handled but after like 15 minutes they would turn brown ( a sign of stress). So try not to handle em all the time. I feel that it's better to just enjoy their visual side & watching them hunt. These guys are amazing with prey that can fly. Every now & then I will come across a chance to feed them a couple moths or flies. these guys are acrobats. They will jump across the cage & catch em in mid air. As far as escaping, after owning them for a little you can notice when it's a stand off at high noon..lol you will see him staring right at the path he wants & they ready themselves like a cat ready to pounce. The ones i have will be real still but they act like a cat by the slight wiggle of their hide legs to ready their lighting fast run & just wait for you to make the wrong move. I have used a spray bottle to get them away from the top of the tank. I don't mean be cruel but set the spray a little to have a mist but one that's a tiny bit stronger than usual. if that doesn't work you can set it to a stream but dont ever spray the gecko with a stream, just a quick spurt near the gecko is usually enough for them to want to be closer to their fav hide spot. they seem to enjoy a lil water but not being soaked so water has always worked for me , also as someone mentioned a plastic contain works well but it can take a butt load of patience as they dont always get in without a fight. what ever you do don't ever grab them, always be extremely gentle because their skin will peal right of like rotted fruit skin. then the skin will grow back but you will usually always see the skin. the skin will grow in lighter & not match the rest of it. also i have never had a problem with a day gecko biting but i have seen one bite a friend who had grabbed it too rough. they have transparent razor blades..lol he was the proud owner of one hell of a cut. no hospital needed but it made him think twice about how he grabbed his geckos. when i was 13 my male warned me by having his mouth open & then he was fine once i held him lighter. that was how i saw the transparent teeth. as long as you do right by them & dont bug em constantly they should get use to you just fine. i say they because it's so hard to own just one of these..lol anyway this is what worked for me so do some reading & ask as many as you can. hope i helped. best o' luck..later