Handling a Gecko

Video Transcript

"Now we're going to talk about handling your leopard gecko. Now when you first get him, he's going to be tiny, and they're probably going to be a little bit flighty. They can be pretty fast, when they want to be, but they're not sticky-footed, so you don't have to worry about them climbing glass, or anything like that. What you want to do, is you want to let him pretty much do most of the handling himself. You're going to give him an area to walk on. You want to be gentle. You can always direct him to certain areas. Be nice and firm. If you have to hold him, get him between like a finger and your thumb, and just press down ever so lightly. You don't want to crush him. Be very careful, but that can kind of hold him in place, so you can get a better look at him, or if you want to show someone, or for whatever reason. Whatever you do, we do not pull on the tail. The tail is not a handling device. It is not a handle, OK? This is a defense mechanism of the leopard gecko, and he will drop his tail. If you tug on that too hard, it's going to come right off. It doesn't hurt him, but it will startle you, that's for sure. And it's never going to grow back looking quite the same. Now, right now, it looks like a nice, pretty tail. If he were to drop this, and it were to grow back, it would be bulbous and light bulb shaped. They just never tend to come back looking, the, pretty, and the nice form again. So, make sure we're not grabbing him by the tail. That's not a handle for a leopard gecko, and not necessary. So, stay away from that."