male pacing

Hi, my little boy (hatched in April) has been pacing his cage and scratching at the newspaper a lot, and I mean most of the night. He started this last week and its enough to keep my husband awake. (I can sleep through just about anything) The viv is in our bedroom. I know they are nocturnal, but why the pacing? the little girls dont do this. Is it a male thing? Or is he not happy with his viv? When I hold him he is getting very calm, only a little jumpy still, so he is not nervous or upset. He will start 'walking' on my hands if I hold him for a while, like hes trying to get somewhere. What does he want? does he just have exceses energy to burn? does he want some dirt to dig in? Do they dig burrows in the wild?

Worried mommie syndrom strikes again!
Thanks
~Mia

The first thing that comes to mind for me is to double check your temps. I don't mean to just check the same thermometer. Use a secondary device. If you have a temp gun use it or a different thermometer. Make sure it's not too hot in his enclosure.

How long have you had the gecko in that enclosure? Is he by himself? Yes, geckos do like to dig, and some are extreme 'escape artists', so perhaps he just wants out!

When i aquired a couple leos that had previously been in vivs and put them in my rack system i noticed the same thing. And i believe because it was change of habitat. But they have since stopped.

He may be bored as well, altho i never bothered to ask any of my leos if they were bored

I have a few that dig at the paper and make too much racket for hubby so I just give them a deeper laerger hide with coco fiber to dig at, and yes they tend to make a mess but love to dig and it quiets the noise. I just scoop up the coco fiber and put it back in the hide after its all strown out.

And as Jeremey suggested, check the temps, it may be too hot for him and he is trying to dig down away from the heat or something.

I checked the temp last night and it was 84, but I only have the one thermometer, its not in the viv all the time. I will have to see if I can get another one to cross reference this one's accuacy. Im going to stuff him on crickets tonight (Ive been feeding only mealies for the past week) and see if a full tummy will help. He was starting to ignore the mealies in favor of pacing. Maybe I should leave him out longer when I hold him. I didnt want to upset him too much, but if he's bored, then more time out to explore would help. Maybe I should set up a leo 'jungle jim' in a box or something hehe.
Thanks for all the replies!
~Mia

Is he in a cage that he can see the females at night? If so it may be breeding instinct kicking in.

Originally Posted by Milwaukee Reptiles

Is he in a cage that he can see the females at night? If so it may be breeding instinct kicking in.

The 10 gal. tank he is in is split with a peace of cardboard, and the little girl is on the other side. The adult girl is in another room, but he often gets her sent from our hands when we handle them one right after another. She is Very big with eggs now, we can see them, so maybe he is trying to get to her? but he's too young to accually breed with her isnt he? He hatched in April. I know its recomended to wait a year before breeding, but is he physically capable of breeding now?
~Mia

Yeah he is a little young... (I actually missed the part where you said he was hatched in april... D'Oh!). I'd try giving some stuff to dig in, see if it helps calm his need for movement, and definitely get a second thermometer to double check. He could be looking for a more suitable environment if he feels his is inadequate (temps being one of many possible reasons).