[yogii]

Hi Guys,

I got a couple of crested geckos from a breeder a couple of weeks ago and wanted to the best way to make them comfortable with being handled.

They seem settled and are eating/drinking well, as far as I can tell.

Neither of them will willingly jump/move onto my hand, but once I have coasted them onto my hand they are happy enough. One of them seems happier than the other and will lick mango off my finger etc.

My question is, is there a best way to 'train' a gecko to be handled?

For example, to start, would it be better to handle them in the morning when they would be less active? Or would that cause too much distress?

Also, on a side note, the substrate I selected is called Orchard Bark. Is this suitable, as I have read that crested geckos have a tendency to accidently injest pieces when pouncing for crickets???

Any help offered would be much appreciated!!

CHEERS!

[mowgli]

Time and patience is the best way.

Start by just having your hand in the viv (I did it around feeding time so they associated my hands with food) so that your gecko can get use to it, gradually curiosity will get the better of him and he will become more inquisitive and eventually more trusting.

Gecko's need to feel secure, once they feel secure and realise that your not a threat they will begin to get a lot more use to handling, remember compared to the size of your gecko you will be a giant!!

Also not all gecko's like to be handled hence why you just need to give them time to get use to, trying to force handling on them could have a negative affect.



With any lose substrate such as sand or bark there is a risk of them ingesting the substrate, especially younger gecko's. This could result in impaction in the intestine of your gecko which will obviously cause it a lot of pain and distress.

Personally I would remove the bark and use vinyl floor tiles, they come in a variety of colours they are cheap and there also really easy to clean.

[yogii]

Originally Posted by mowgli

Time and patience is the best way.

Start by just having your hand in the viv (I did it around feeding time so they associated my hands with food) so that your gecko can get use to it, gradually curiosity will get the better of him and he will become more inquisitive and eventually more trusting.

Gecko's need to feel secure, once they feel secure and realise that your not a threat they will begin to get a lot more use to handling, remember compared to the size of your gecko you will be a giant!!

Also not all gecko's like to be handled hence why you just need to give them time to get use to, trying to force handling on them could have a negative affect.



With any lose substrate such as sand or bark there is a risk of them ingesting the substrate, especially younger gecko's. This could result in impaction in the intestine of your gecko which will obviously cause it a lot of pain and distress.

Personally I would remove the bark and use vinyl floor tiles, they come in a variety of colours they are cheap and there also really easy to clean.

Excellent reply!

I'm well chuffed with that information, cheers.

The main reason I put the bark in was because it would help keep the environment humid. How would you over come this if you were to use tiles?

Simply mist more often than if there was an absorbent substrate??

Thanks again

[mowgli]

You could use the occasional extra mist or use a slightly bigger water dish as that would also help with humidity.