Calm down leos?

Alright... I've got 4 leopard geckos in my collection. One is a male I'd imagine a bit over 1 year old. He's very nice, and likes to hang out, and be a cool little dude. I was originally told by some friends that this was the general nature of leos.

BUTTT!!!! I also have a trio of SHTCT's that are
They're absolutely EVIL.

I've dealt with the nastiest snakes imaginable, and turned into best friends. Though with these guys 20 to 60 minutes a day and they STILL hate me.

I keep up with great husbandry. They're all fat and happy. They even take crickets, and meal worms directly out of my hands. They have a good calcium supply in their cage, and on their main food.

So is there any way to tame them down? I've got them up for sale right now, but if there's some kind of trick to tame them down I'd keep them.

Any advice would be helpful.

Are you using lights for heat? If so you would be amazed at their temperment change if you switch to UTH.

hmm I can't be of much help since I only have 2 leos myself, but I will say that both came to me not very friendly. I have both of their tanks next to my couch so when I'm sitting watching t.v. they see me all the time. I take them out once or twice a week, they both still pretty much move around but are getting better every time and not trying to run or jump away anymore. I did STOP hand-feeding them and this really seemed to help.

Interesting tidbit about the UTH Thad, I wonder why? I have one of mine with UTH and the other has overhead light.

Stupid question but any chance you are feeding snakes before you work your leos? I have noticed that my leos will often fear bite/display when I havce pinky scent on my hands from feeding my other animals. My nephs especially go nutso if there is any pinky scent on my hands...I wonder if I will ever get them eating pinks. I like to "treat" my gecko mommas to a pinky meal after they lay eggs to help them bounce back quicker.

Otherwise, I guess I'd just chalk it up to genetics. I have noticed that my tangs are generally more aggro than my other morphs...but thats only based on an N of 4 and I havent heard others share that experience. Its probably like it is with all herps, aggro trait pops up here and there in captive populations especially with many large scale breeders contributing to the stock. I mean who expects someone with 1000+ leos to get in there and temperment test every animal they are going to breed. Its like grab, drop done.

Good luck and just remember its only a gecko bite

Yeah, I actually completely disinfect myself before handling the geckos. They're still evil.

I have a girl like that. She tries desperately to bite my finger off every time I pick her up. Nothing I've tried has changed that fact! My other 10 are friendly, happy little buggers so I just let her be a cranky snot, lol.

So maybe just high tempt incubated animals then?

I get why gex would be darker colors and slower growing when incubated at lower temps but why aggressive at higher temps? Larger need to defend a territory in warmer micro climates maybe? More food and more competition maybe?

It's an interesting mechanism anyway.

I'm not positive with this, Mark, but I would presume the heightened aggression with animals incubated at higher temperatures is due to more testosterone in their systems. Now, I have many leos that were incubated at 88-90F and they were completely fine, and I've had some geckos incubated at 80F that were off the walls bat crazy. So yeah, seems like you may just have some unsocialized geckos there. I would just be patient with them, wear gloves or something, and just gently handle them until they get used to it.

Maybe aggression is also genetic?

Personally I would hope breeders would put a bit more effort into selecting for disposition and health traits as well as cool colors but probably isnt going to happen....I mean look at all the mild enigma syndrome animals being sold (and presumably bred).

This is my friend HJs method.

May The Force Not Be In You


I train my geckos the same way I train a dog.
No force. Kind, gentle hand, and a treat.
And with very good results.
Force on occasions, may stress them to drop a tail, among other things
blood clots, organ failure and even death.

So my way at Gecko Friendship 101****************
Make a fist, wet your knuckle , slide it slowly with your fist
on the floor level until it touches your geckos nose.....or it strikes
your knuckle. Either way the next time it relates your touch and smell to water.
(knuckle because gecko X has a harder time alligator clipping
than to your finger....getting you startled and causing
quick movement which either makes him feel dominant or
stresses one or both of you to unsureness and prolongs the process.
After water..you can go to meal worm inners, if necessary.
Usually the water has them climbing on your hand before many
attempts. After relating this way slowly see if it
will climb on your hand.
Slowly slide it til it wants a ride. The first couple times
don't lift it out of the habitat.
When comfortable with your gecko and you........
bring it out and directly to your body. your body temp. is
a nice range of highs it will enjoy. And really not want to leave
unless it gets startled from quick motion or grabbed at,
Lightly cup your hands to secure it until it rides surefooted
anywhere it wants to go..
Limit to short amount of time (3 to 5 min.)until it rides
with no restrictions to it....
(usually after a couple times of cupped hand carries)

The amount of time to get to this point is strictly based on
your devoted time for it.