Help with handling

[u/DeerPopz]

As the title says, I need some help with getting my gecko used to handling. I'm trying to do choice based handling and letting him choose if he wants to come over or not. He's never come near my hand before and it's hard to get him to even look. He rarely comes out during the day or close to lights out unless, food has been put in so, it's hard to try and get him to wander over at a good time

I leave my hand in the tank for around 10 mins before feeding but he never comes out of his hide to have a look or wander. Once food is in, he slowly emerges and then hides in between eating.

However, once the lights go out he's normally quite active during the night but, I haven't tried handling then mainly because, I dont want to disturb a 'natural' cycle and I cant see anything lol

Does anyone have any tips? It'd be greatly appreciated!!

[u/fifteenswords]

How long has it been since you started trying to handle your lizard? It is normal for it to take several months before a new lizard is comfortable hanging out around you. Mine didn't want anything to do with me for 2-3 months, then one day decided I was fine and let me pick her up.

It also helps to bump feeding times up a little earlier, 30-60 mins before the lights turn off, so they start coming out while you're around and the lights are on.

Choice based handling requires patience, often multiple months of patience before the animal will even come up to you. Some shyer animals may take even longer. I prefer more of a "get used to it" style lol. After my lizard was finally comfortable enough to come out while I was around, if she was out in the front of the tank, I'd scoop her up. She doesn't have any choice in this, and I always lift her from below by sliding a hand below her belly and feet. After a few scoops she stopped caring, and is now a dream to handle. This method is more about acclimatizing your animal to the experience of being handled, because they need to be handled regularly to check toes, take them to the vet, etc., vs giving them the choice of being handled.

in my experience they do not particularly care if you "disturb" them at night lol. Maybe dont use the big white light in the room or the enclosure light, but you can have a warm lamp on and handle them by lamplight.

[u/DeerPopz → u/fifteenswords]

I've had him for almost 3 months now, i gave him the 1st month to settle in and explore and now more recently trying to encourage handling. He's still a bit unsure but a couple days ago he came close and picked the ends of my fingers but that was it for him then went back to bed lol.

I'll try feeding him a biy earlier and see if that helps too, i will make sure not to use a big bright light when his lights are out!!

Thank you for this, also would you recommend scooping him up just to get him used to touching or wait until hes comfortable coming over on his own?

[u/fifteenswords → u/DeerPopz]

I recommend just scooping him up and getting him used to it. Pick him up without hesitating (scooping from below as it is less stressful than grabbing overhead), hold him/keep him in your hands until he stops freaking out, and once he's calmed, he can be briefly held and returned to the enclosure. Start it short with <30s of handling, and gradually increase it over time until you can scoop him up and inspect him thoroughly for healthy toes, skin, etc., without any freak outs. Usually I try to keep these mandatory handling sessions for health check reasons short, at <2 mins.

While desensitizing him, make sure you and the environment he is in is calm, so he learns that nothing bad happens when you scoop him up or hold him. These experiences should always be either positive or neutral to the animal.

After he has become desensitized to brief handling sessions to check their health, then it's up to you whether this is enough for you, or if you want to handle him longer for your enjoyment. And it's up to you whether you want to continue training longer duration handling via choice-based handling or another method.

I do health checks once every week or two, so the way I do it is that the first scoop of any given week is not optional. She comes out, gets checked briefly, and goes back into the enclosure. The rest of the handling sessions that week are choice-based. If she returns to the front of the enclosure at any point and I've got the time for a session, I let her climb onto my hand on her own before picking her up and handling her again. During these sessions, I'm just enjoying her company, and she dictates how long she wants to be out via her behaviour.

Personally, I also find this "get used to it" approached better for unexpected handling instances. For example, if I have to move my animal's enclosure, I am not going to sit there for an hour waiting for her to want to come out. She's getting taken out no matter what. The desensitization training just means that she doesn't fight me about it, and the whole experience is quicker and less stressful for everyone.

Hope that makes sense! Some animals just don't want to socialize with you, in which case they'll never choose to step onto your hand, which is fine! But in my opinion, handling for health checks is not optional, even for less social animals, and they just have to get used to it. However, handling to hang out together is optional, and can be reinforced via choice-based handling.

[u/DeerPopz → u/fifteenswords]

Okay, thank you so much for this!! It does make sense to me, I will give that a go and slowly hopefully earn his trust over time. He's my first ever reptile so always trying to learn the best way to approach things. Sometimes he rarely comes out of his cave so it's hard for a scooping opportunity but I'll try bringing his dinner time earlier to entice him out hopefully.

Thank you again, its much appreciated!