Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My leopard Gecko I got a month ago is now displaying some unusual behavior. Whenever I sit next to her tank, she crawls up to the top of her tree, scratches around trying to find a way out, falls down to the bottom of the tank, crawls back up, and then she'll just stare at me until I open the tank and pick her up. When i take her out she either just sits on my shoulder or she starts crawling everywhere she can. When I put her back in her tank, she just crawls right back to the top of her tree and waits to be let out again. She's housed in a 10 gallon tank, with a hide log and a huge bushy tree. Is she bored, need a bigger tank, perhaps a friend? Anyone else's Leo act like this? Any thoughts/answers would be appreciated!

I don't have much experience, but it sounds like your leo just likes you a lot and wants your attention.

It could be space: your new leo is just use to having a bigger tank where it can roam around. I housed my male tang in a 55 gallon breeder with 2 hi yellow females, and i recently moved it to a 10 gallon by itself, and i notice its behavior has changed. It roams alot and tryied to find ways of escaping, looking at the top of the tank [screen]. I am not sure about people's views on it, but i think all reptiles dont like to be handled and bothered much. Handling should not be hours long, yet only minutes long as long handling can stress out the herp.

from what I've seen on this forum, many leos do enjoy being handled...someone even said they have one that won't eat and gets depressed if he doesn't handle her enough.

leos are scary because they have almost human like personalities. diff leos have diff. personalities, some like being handled and some dont. I still believe that over handling leads to stress.

I think there is a lot of benefit to simple awareness and respect of your gecko's moods and preferences. If your gecko is feeling really skittish and freaking out and trying to jump or wriggle away, I think it's best to just let it be and not handle it them as it clearly is not in the mood. On the other hand some geckos will come up to the side of the enclosure and paw at youtil you pick them up.

When handling, experiment with different ways of holding/handling your gecko. If one particular thing seems to make them more calm, do that more. If something seems to freak them out, don't do it. In general one way to calm a nervous gecko is to cup your hand over its head so it is dark and warm-makes your gecko feel safe and secure I think.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm going to move her up to a 20 gallon I have left over from when my Beardie was a baby and see if she's more comfortable in that. I actually don't handle her much while she's out of the cage, she tolerates it, she'll climb up on me, but she usually wants to crawl around and explore more than stay in one spot.
I've noticed when handling though to always put the hand underneath the Leo, offer it as a platform, rather than come down over the Leo and pick it up. This last method tends to make them skittish and scurry around. They feel much safer with a polite offer of the hand. ^_^