[jess]

Hi,

I've just bought my first leopard gecko, had him about 3 weeks now. He's still fairly young and i pick him up about once a day. I know juveniles aren't good when being handled and they need time but are there any tips anyone can give me to improve his handling? anything i can do to make sure he knows i wont eat him lol?

Also he's tried on 2 occasions now to escape from his viv when I've tried to pick him up. Could it be something he doesn't like bout his viv or is he simply running away from me??

Thanks for any help

[loveleos]

Hiya,
I was the same when i got my first leo Nothing to worry about. Heres a video on youtube that i found really helpful, it says for evil lizards lol but i messaged her and she said it works fine with juveniles too.

http://www.youtube.com/user/bellaboy...14/FFMyI_YaWbU

Hope this helps

[lostinfantasy]

As loveleos said above it's perfectly normal for them to be scared of you when they're young. They tend to calm down and become less skitty with age

[newtyboy]

Originally Posted by lostinfantasy

As loveleos said above it's perfectly normal for them to be scared of you when they're young. They tend to calm down and become less skitty with age

I agree, You cant really rush things too much, even if you want to. I would say be as "hands off" as you can and the LG will let you know when they are ready

[jess]

thanks a lot guys! really useful :grin:

[Immy]

A good tip that I've read on a lot of leopard gecko websites is to lay your hand flat on the substrate in the vivarium, and keep it still, as though it is an ornament. You have to be very patient but eventually, curiousity will take over and your leopard gecko may come to investigate by climbing on your hand and even licking you.

This is what we did with our leopard gecko that we acquired about a month and a half ago. He was very shy and skittish at first but after a while, he just got used to our hands and now he will let us pick him up whenever we want to. He's also grown very calm and cuddles up to whoever is wearing the warmest and darkest clothing It's just a matter of time.