Topics Forums Crested Geckos New crested gecko parent needs helps! Reply To: New crested gecko parent needs helps!

#27404

Zoodulcis
Moderator

Glad the cardboard worked. Lots of male animals engage in some seriously damaging agonistic behavior if they think they see another male. I once saw a bull elk go after a sedan in a parking lot as he was strolling by and caught sight of himself in the driver’s side mirror. I thought it was hilarious, but the park rangers were less amused, not to mention the car’s owner.

There is a trick that falconers use to tame a shy bird. Works great for small reptiles too if you have the time and patience for it. Grab yourself some form of entertainment where you can manage the content with one hand. Laptop, Kindle, etc. Then, instead of feeding your fellow in his container at the usual time, sit next to the enclosure with your free hand inside and laying on the bottom, palm up. When you open your hand, it should contain a wiggly food item. Crickets are not best for this. Leave it there for at least 1/2 hour. If he doesn’t approach, remove your hand and the food. Later in the day give him only a half feeding. Try again the next day. Do not move your hand or fingers at all during this session once your hand is in place. Do not stare at him at all. All movements in and out of the enclosure should be incredibly slow.

When he finally takes a food item from your hand, take the win, remove your hand and release any other food items into the enclosure. When he voluntarily takes food from your hand and lingers just a bit, you can elevate your hand a fraction of an inch up slowly, then back down. Depending on how shy he is, this whole process can take weeks. It may be impossible to do it every day, so whenever you can when you know he’s really hungry, give it a go. This process is called habituation and will eventually yield results as his stress response diminishes. This will happen when your hand loses its novelty, becomes familiar, and also becomes associated with rewards and no harm.

If you decide to try this in the next few days, please let us know how it went, plus any observations on how long it took him, any surprises, progress, set-backs, etc.


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