Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well we went to this herp world on Saturday. It was most excellent. I have pictures of the sweetest little leopard Gecko in my son's hands. But we weren't ready for him yet. They had about 50-60 different ages/stages/colors of leopard geckos. But the things is the girl showing them to us suggested we go with a crested gecko instead of a leopard. She said they are so much easier to care for blablblablaaaa better personalities blablbalb. She kinda broke my heart. We still haven't decided 100% that we are going to get a gecko, still weighing all the options and doing lots of research. One thing hubby read was that you shouldn't handle leo's very often if at all and I know we will want to at least occasionally. Thoughts please?

Also, thank you all so much for your most excellent advise on my other thread!

Wen

Not being able to handle leos is a bunch of bull...most are very good about being handled, and even like it. I know someone a while back posted about their leo getting depressed and not eating if it isn't handled enough. You just have to make sure you get one that likes being handled. If you got a crested you would definitely not be able to handle it like a leo...besides the fact that they can climb glass...making it harder to keep them secured in a tank. I don't know why someone would say they're easier...leos are called the ideal starter reptile for a reason... I don't know, I've never owned a cresty...I know some people on here have one or two though. I would definitely say go for a leo...they're fantastic. Bronx will just sit up on my shoulder when I'm cleaning his enclosure, and I've had him less than a month.
-----
Christina

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

At the moment we only intend on having one, but who knows what are plans will be over the next 20 years. What do you think?

I think females are better, only because if you chose to get another one, after the quarentine period and rearranging the first geckos tank, so there isn't dominance issues you can house them together. You want to get a gecko similar in size, or house it separately until it is. Then again if your like me and don't mind tanks everywhere you can house them all by themselves LOL...but i warn you, these guys are addictive. I went from one gecko to 7 then to 11 leos plus i have three crested geckos soooooooooo........LMAO. Having this many geckos takes up much of my time, not only cleaning, feeding etc, but also trying to spend as much time with each one as possible. The boys and i have *us* time through the glass. I come up and they come up to the glass and we sit and watch eachother. Bronx is funny in that he'll get up on his log to show me that he is dominant LOL. And now that i'm starting to handle them more i find most of my evenings (depending on what shift i'm on) is spent with my geckos. I will truely be known as lizard lady, old and single with lizards as my companians LOL

Red

>>At the moment we only intend on having one, but who knows what are plans will be over the next 20 years. What do you think?
-----
Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0, Ziggy and Zeus
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
New Girls: Flame, Karma, Bubbles and Bell pics coming soon
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

LOL...you crack me up Red... Anyway...they definitely are addictive...I started with a pair on December 31st...which quickly made it up to 5...lol I now have 2 males and 3 females. My Bronx (lol) is a complete sweetheart, however Spitfire, my other male, is a bit skittish and jumpy. My three females are pretty sweet in general now. I haven't had any of them try to bite me since the day after I got Bronx (he tried to bite be...but I don't blame him...I woke him up and it was the middle of the day the day after I got him...lol). Sex doesn't really seem to matter as far as temperament, unless you wanted to get another down the road that you didn't know the sex of, in which case if you had a male and the new one turned out to be male there could be some trouble. It's really just going to depend on the individual animal, so basically if you decide to get one make sure you handle as many as possible before you decide so you can choose the one whose temperament you like best.
-----
Christina

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

I would also say go with a female. While I love my males dearly, they're pain in the assets! (remove the T) anyway.. my one younger male blizzard, Goliath... HATES to be handled despite the fact I've handled him regularly since he hatched.. (He was my first hatchling to crawl out of the egg) He litterly will run, jump and try to bite whenever you hold him. His father dislikes being held but not to the same degree... Caine just tries to get away. But my 2 females couldn't be more different than them.. Tiki enjoys being handled and walked around with. Lilith can be skittish at times.. but doesn't mind being handled. However all but Goliath will eat from fingers... Caine will only take waxworms from my fingers. Won't touch them if they're in a dish.. waxies are their twice a month treat.
-----
Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.2 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 het Blizzard (Lilith) and 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

>>LOL...you crack me up Red...>>>

Its a good thing then that your not an egg LMAO. I aim to please and love putting a smile on someones face. As for the choice of sex, i guess it really doesn't matter. I got 4 new girls and i was excited about housing them all together like the others but i've found Bell and Bubbles are so laid back, Flame might overwelm them. So i've redesigned my setups (on paper) so i can house them separately. I'll be getting to work on that once i get the heater installed again and i've got a day off (tomorrow-WOOHOO)

Red
-----
Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0, Ziggy and Zeus
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
New Girls: Flame, Karma, Bubbles and Bell pics coming soon
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

Once out of quarentine i'll be putting them all into new tanks. Flame and Karma will be together in a 40 gal with Bell and Bubbles having their own 20 gal long or 15 gal tanks (haven't decided yet). I have the 15's now but i'd have to buy another 20 gal if i go that route.

Red
-----
Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0, Ziggy and Zeus
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
New Girls: Flame, Karma, Bubbles and Bell pics coming soon
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

n/p
-----
Christina

2.3 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-1.0 tremper albino (Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

I don't really handle either species. My leos are all abit skiddish cause i haven't handled them much which i'm starting to to change now. The new girls i just got will be handled alot more than my original group. I find Bell and Bubbles to be so calm that handling is possible where as my group of 5 girls are a bit more difficult. The male leos are out of the question as Bronx bites and Boo....well he'll tolerate it but not for long (i have to take him to a different room cause if he sees the girls he just goes nuts lol). My three cresteds are wonderful to look at.....but they can jump and don't stay put. Its a struggle just moving them from one tank to another to do a cleaning as they are masters of escape LOL.

Now not every gecko is the same...some people i see post pics of them handling their cresteds and leos without trouble and i think its been my lack of handling thats caused my first set of girls to be so intolerant of me. Each gecko has their own personality too. Nala is very calm, so is Abby, but Dot is just a handful. Besides i'm more inclined to sit and watch them for hours interact within their enclosures.

My geckos all know who i am and that i give them the food. Most (except Bronx) will lick my fingers and not freak out when i'm in their tanks.

Now leos do require more equipment than cresteds. Under tank heaters for example. The cresteds like room temps but other than that the care is the same, they all take up a good amount of my time regardless. I would personally start off with a leo, giving it time to settle in, then starting to get it used to you, working up to handling it.

Either way you'll be entering into a wonderful experience. Geckos are great

Red

>>Well we went to this herp world on Saturday. It was most excellent. I have pictures of the sweetest little leopard Gecko in my son's hands. But we weren't ready for him yet. They had about 50-60 different ages/stages/colors of leopard geckos. But the things is the girl showing them to us suggested we go with a crested gecko instead of a leopard. She said they are so much easier to care for blablblablaaaa better personalities blablbalb. She kinda broke my heart. We still haven't decided 100% that we are going to get a gecko, still weighing all the options and doing lots of research. One thing hubby read was that you shouldn't handle leo's very often if at all and I know we will want to at least occasionally. Thoughts please?
>>
>>Also, thank you all so much for your most excellent advise on my other thread!
>>
>>Wen
-----
Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0, Ziggy and Zeus
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
New Girls: Flame, Karma, Bubbles and Bell pics coming soon
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)