hes a wild one

[Peter Williams]

i bought my gecko as an adult, and obviously he wasnt handled in the petstore, cause hes nuts, he runs around the tank if i try to pick him up, how do i tame him?

[Purrrfect9]

I had a similar problem with my adult male leo. I bought him as an adult as well, and he was really skittish when I first got him. I started by putting my hand in his enclosure for about 5 minutes at a time, to let him get used to the scent/over all presence of something so much bigger than him. Then I built up to gently stroking his back, to hand feeding him mealworms, then short, 1 minute handling sessions, then progressively made the handling periods last longer and longer.

[Peter Williams]

ya he SOMETIMES lets me touch him without running and ive hand fed him a couple times, but if i pick him up he just wants to get out

[geckochick]

Purrrfect9 has the right idea. That is the best way to introduce yourself to your Leo...IMO. I try to remember.... If this was my home and saw this big two legged monster reaching down inside it, I would be really scared too. There is that possibility that your Leo just doesn't like to be picked up. My girl doesn't appreciate being taken out of her home at all. She will climb on my hand, lick it, lay on it, let me pet her back, but as soon as I try to pick her up shes gone!(this makes cleaning day quite an adventure!) I have had her for about 8 months. Some Leos just don't like being handled.