# my crested gecko is SCARED.



## dragonj (Sep 1, 2009)

Hi,

I am having a hard time getting my crested gecko to feel calm around me.
I am a new owner of this female crested gecko. She had already dropped her tail when my boyfriend and I bought her... Unsure of her age. 

She is on CGD and sometimes we give her some fruit. At first we gave her crickets but we noticed she would not eat them... they would crawl all over her and she would just freeze in place while they were around (as if she was scared). This is when we switched her to CGD. 

She doesn't seem to like me very much. When I try to handle her she jumps away from me and has even peed/pooped once when I held her. Even when I so much as look at her, she will run away from me.

How do I get her to feel more comfortable and less frightened all the time? I've tried feeding her from my hand and she will cautiously lick off my finger, but not for long.

I try to be very cautious with her and not make any sudden movements, but this can be a challenge for me sometimes, because I sometimes get startled when she does. 

FYI- she's cautious with my boyfriend too, but not nearly as scared as with me. He is better at handling her than me, and he was primarily taking care of her until now (because he moved away). 

Will she always be scared of me? How can I change this?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I REALLY want her to like me. 


J


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

If you post this in the Lizards section you will get a lot more help.
If you flag the post with the red triangle at the top of the post and ask a mod to move it to the right section I am sure they will be happy to help. Good luck.


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## 9Red (May 30, 2008)

Hello, and :welcome: to RFUK! 

Firstly it is important to understand that reptiles are not the same as many other pets like cats or dogs in that they generally don't develop an affection for their owners, so it's unlikely your crestie will ever actually 'like' you. However, she will become tame with regular gentle handling. 

How long have you had your crestie? If she has only been in her home for a few days, she will still be very stressed from the change of environment and you are best to leave her alone for up to 2 weeks to allow her to settle in. Unfortunately her tail will not regenerate. 

It is perfectly normal for a little gecko to be very scared of humans - imagine if you were that tiny and some great big pink monster tried to pick you up! Her natural instincts tell her that you are a predator and that she is in danger, hence her being very nervous around people. When you do come to handle her you need to make sure you do it somewhere where she wont hurt herself if she does jump or fall - sitting on a bed is a good choice. You need to be very calm and gentle, and move very slowly. For the first week or so try just putting your hands inside her enclosure and moving them slowly so that she gets used to them - don't try to pick her up, but each day you could move your hands a little closer to her. You should aim to do this maybe twice a day for 10 minutes. Then when you are ready, try gently coaxing her out onto your hands - guiding her with one hand so that she climbs up onto the other, then let her just sit quietly on you. If she is very jumpy or runs about put one hand in front of the other, like you would with a hamster, so she can climb from one hand to the next. You could try offering her treats like mashed banana or papaya and this may help her to relax and develop a positive association between being handled and nice food.

I hope this helps! In future you may want to post your gecko questions in the lizards section of the forums as you are more likely to get more replies there : victory:


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