I got an albino leopard gecko yesterday. I've got questions, any gecko experts out there?

Question

My friend has had a leopard gecko for about a month now and can hold it and walk around the house with it on her shoulder with relative ease. I got an albino at Petco yesterday and am wondering if there is a "best way" to go about socializing it? It sleeps during the day and I feel as though I should try not to disturb him then, but then at night I'm getting ready to go to bed as he's getting ready to start the day. He's quite skittish and doesn't like me to hold him. How can I get my gecko to be as mellow as my friend's gecko? Also, he seems to be oblivious to his mealworms. I've seen him eat one, but today he fell asleep watching a mealworm bury itself in the sand right in front of him. My house is loud and full of cats and my very in-your-face 10 year old brother. His tank is on our living room floor. Will it be harder to socialize him in such a choatic environment? Any tips on "gecko rearing" would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

My son has 3 lepord geckos and I will tell you, I love them. They are easy to care for and somewhat train. As for socializing, I would make it a habbit to handle him for a little while everyday. He has to feel comfortable with you and know that he has no reason to be scared! My son is 13 but he has a yonger brother who is 7. Sometimes you have to explain the rules to them, he is 10 he should get it. My oldest showed his brother how to properly hold them and lets him play with him as long as he does it right! This keeps them from reaching into the tank and scaring the daylights out of your gecko! Also, mine never like the mealworms. I feed mine crickets! They love them. My sons gecko's like to do what I call hunt for their food. The chase is on when I put new crickets into the tank. Also gecko's can live on their food storage for a few days, so they may not want to eat every day. I put in a dozen crickets in for each(I have 3 so I get 3 dozen) in a week. Thats all. They do take time but when you get him to trust you, you will enjoy him. One thing though, be carefull with their tail when you are handling them. They have a defence mechanism in them, that when they feel they are being attacked they release their tail. In the real world this is so that the preditor eats their tail while they get away. It does grow back, but it will never be as nice as their first one. You lizard doesn't know your his friend yet, so be carefull when holding him not to squeeze his tail.

Answer 2

handling your gecko on a routine basis is the only way you are going to get it used to you, and it is ok to have him out for shorter periods during the day. I would start off holding him inside a container (box/ plastic tub), so if he does make a run for it you have him in a contained area and wont risk loosing him in the house. I would spend around 10-15 mins a day doing this as your schedule permits. All creatures have their own personalitys, and your guy may take longer or shorter period of time to hand tame, but consistancy is the key here. As far as feeding goes, crickets have the least amount of fat and the most protein and should be the staple diet first and foremost, mealworms should be fed/offered less often than crickets. I found that placing a jar lid like a "prego" spagetti lid inside the tank (on the Opposite side of heat lamp) was a great container for the small mealworms, its just high enough they can not crawl out unless you put way to many in there. Waxworms have a high fat contient and should be fed sparingly. Foods such as mealworm, waxworms and superworms should be offered in a dish, you dont want them crawling around in the substrate where they will not be eaten before they change from there larve state into beetles, moths ect.. When i used to keep Lep. geckos they would go stare at their dishes if they were empty. If you have a juvenile gecko, food must always be present/offered on a daily basis, adults can be fed everyother day. Use vitamin/calcuium dusting on crickets and i recomend getting a strip light for housing UVA/UVb light will help with calcuim in your gecko, along with using your standard heat lamp light.

Answer 3

Geckos are noctural and they need a sense of security. Perhaps, the cats, the brother and the traffic in the living room is stressing it. Do you have a hide (cave)? They need this to help them feel secure. You can use a toilet paper roll. You can cover the sides of the tank too, so it will not see out as much.

As for feeding... do yuo have a feeding dish where the food cannot crawl out? Use a ceranmic dish used under flower pots. They are cheaper than "reptile feeding dishes" which do the exact same thing.

When you have the right set-up, the gecko feeling secure, you can start handling it more and more. Try to do so at night so you won't disturb its sleep pattern. With time and patience, your gecko will be more tame. I must explain that geckos are not cuddly pets like most mammals. They are a pet to be observed. You can train them, but it goes against their nature. So, be patient and give it some time before it warms up to you.

Cheers

Answer 4

The best thing to do would be to buy a book on this, I can guarantee you this is not the first gecko like this. but lemme see here....


Housing your Leopard Gecko

In this section we are going to consider several topics to discuss: Enclosures, heating, humidity, lighting, and substrate.The most common and recommendable type of enclosure is the all glass aquariums. This type of enclosure tends to be more accessible, as well as easier to clean and to maintain. Make sure that you get a secure lid along with this enclosure in order to make sure that your gecko does not escape. When considering the size of the enclosure to determine how many geckos are to be housed together, people could follow this simple rule of thumb: The length of the enclosure should be at least 4 times the total length of the gecko and at least 1.5 times the total length of the gecko for the width. Also, you should add at least 1/3 - 1/2 this size per gecko. It is important to remark that depending on different people this information may vary a little, but this was the most accurate information I was able to gather.

Humidity is a very important topic when talking about Leopard Geckos since it definitely helps your Leopard Gecko to shed, and it also helps decreasing the rate of dehydration. The humidity in the Leopard Gecko's enclosure should not be more than 40%. The consequences if the humidity levels are too high can be respiratory infections, bacterial infections, and fungal infections. Getting a hygrometer will able you to monitor the humidity in the enclosure.

When talking about lightning, it is recommended to offer 14 hours of daylight during warm summer months and 10 hours of daylight during cold winter months. Also, it is very important not to use bright light bulbs during night hours; it can cause severe stress problems to your Leopard Geckos. Both black lights and red head lamps are recommended.

Finally, let's get into the substrate matter. By the way, this is by far the most debated topic when talking about housing a Leopard Gecko; at least in my opinion. After doing some research, I can suggest the following substrates: newsprint, paper towels, sand (although very debated), and repti-carpet among others. Also, I will NOT suggest the following substrates: kitty litter, sawdust, bark chips, etc.

Feeding your Leopard Gecko

Even though some people think that finding the right food for Leopard Geckos can be an adventure, I can guarantee you that it is a very easy and practical task. In order to make a long story short, I will start by mentioning some of the most used feeders: crickets, mealworms, giant mealworms, super worms, and pinkies. Most breeders will recommend you to use crickets and mealworms or giant mealworms, and only to use pinkies once in a while. Parallel to all this, is the vitamins. There are tons of different vitamins out there in the market. Also, most breeders would agree that the most important one would be calcium without D3.

Note: This is just a brief explanation of how you should take care of your Leopard Geckos. If you feel that after reading this you still have more questions, do not hesitate in emailing me. If you have questions about how to breed and how to incubate, please send me an email as well.

David and Daniel Villar,
Tundra Geckos.



There you go, have fun with your new gecko!

Answer 5

Ask ur friend how she got hers to be so tame. He shouldn't be on the floor because when u run, it makes vibrations and makes yoru gecko scared. Keep it in your room.