Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an eight month old Crested gecko. He is my first gecko and incredibly cute. He's a "normal" that hadn't sold because he isn't a "desirable" color / pattern. Personaly I think he is the cutest thing in the world. I was wondering how interactive they get after they are comfortable with their family and surrounding. Our baby seems to hide most of the time though he will come out at night. He doesn't seem to have any desire to be taken from his house. Once he does he will sometimes just stit there watching me while the rest of the time he will spend trying to jump away.

How interactive will they become with handling? Do they enjoy interaction at all? Can they be pet or will this just stress them out? I want to love and hug and cuddle our baby cuz he is soooo cute but at the same time I don't want to stress him out. Where is the line drawn between giving him good attention and giving him too much attention?

Thank you for the info. =)

Peace,
Widj

Obviously every gecko is different, and they all have unique personalities, so your mileage may vary. Mine started out super flighty, basically running away all the time. This led to us not handling her as much as we would like to because it was stressful for us and her. Even with handling her only infrequently, she became much more calm and handleable as she got older. She's still not tame to the level of my leopard gecko, who will climb up onto your hand of her own free will, but she is *much* calmer than she used to be. I'd say as long as you feel like you can keep control of the situation, handle her 1-2 times a week and she'll probably reach the point where she's comfortable with it sooner than mine did. At this point, mine resists coming out of her enclosure, but once she's out, she's basically well behaved, not seeming to be overly stressed by it.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Well, I have two examples of extremes. My "almost" brother in law's crested is so dopey it will sit on your hand or arm for quit awhile and not do anything. I figured what a great pet to hang out with. Now my crested, on the other hand, literally has gecko ADD. While I agree with Olstyn, she settled down a bit after about a year, she's still a bit too crazy. So, one, I'm starting to think the other gecko is brain damaged (probably not a bad idea in that household) and mine needs to eat less CGD (honey/sugar).

What I want to say is, although I'm not comfortable always handling my crested when I am alone. (This is partially due to a muscular problem on my part; I'm not as fast as I used to be.) She is wonderfully fun through the glass. I've learned her expressions over the years and, yes, I talk to her and try to understand her. We stick our tongues out at each other and such. Yes, I tease her, but she's just so darn funny. For instance, we have only one AC and we have to move the geckos into the main room each summer. That means the TV. Both of our geckos LOVE the TV, but different programming. Our crested is a total NFL/football nut. She will sit holding onto her CGD bowl eating out of it and staring at the TV. When halftime comes, she runs to the corner closest to where I'm sitting and stares angrily at me as if to say I changed the channel or something. (No, she still hasn't figured it out after all the games she's watched.) When the football comes back on, she rushes back to her "preferred seating" and her snack bowl. She's a hoot even inside her cage.

Guess what I'm trying to say is, yes, these are still "display" animals and you won't get to hold them more than once, maybe twice a week (depending on the animal, maybe more) but they can be very personable later in life through the glass/ mesh.

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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

>>Once he does he will sometimes just stit there watching me while the rest of the time he will spend trying to jump away.

pretty normal behavior

>>How interactive will they become with handling? Do they enjoy interaction at all? Can they be pet or will this just stress them out? I want to love and hug and cuddle our baby cuz he is soooo cute but at the same time I don't want to stress him out. Where is the line drawn between giving him good attention and giving him too much attention?

i don't think "enjoy" is the right word. "tolerate" is more accurate, and some geckos have a higher level of tolerance than others. reptiles aren't "interactive" like a dog or bird would be, in that we humans get more enjoyment out of handling them than the reptile does. crested geckos do not NEED physical affection from us. that being said, and given the individual differences in the species, it is possible to have a gecko which tolerates short periods of daily handling (hand walking and perhaps even gentle petting) with little to no fight or flight behavior. however, they will never enjoy being "hugged" or "cuddled."

just gauge your gecko's reaction and use it as a guideline. i had a female who would always shake her tail as if about to drop it whenever i chased her around the cage to get her out. it would make me nervous so i would take a break and then try again in a minute, but i think it was more of a warning because she never did actually drop her tail.
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4.1 snakes, 4.3.2 crested geckos, 0.1 gargoyle gecko, 0.0.2 red-eyed tree frogs, 2.0 devon rex cats, 1.0 betta, 0.1 sun conure, 1.0 lovebird