The great Outdoors..

[Sgt7212]

Remember, I'm very new to them as well, so I'm no expert.

I was TERRIFIED of loosing my gecko !! I worried so much about that before I got him, and right after I got him. I pictured him being like those Anoles or House Geckos that we have outside. They are FAST like a flash.

But..Smeagol isn't. Or ...doesn't want to be.

Don't get me wrong, he just recently has started to sit still for a few seconds on my hand. Before that, he would walk or jump. Not run, though..just walk. I would just hold one hand out for him to walk/jump on and then the next hand, etc. Never restraining him. They sort of "suicide jump" if you aren't careful, so you shouldn't hold them super high up over hard ground.

I have heard that some Cresties are spazzes and do try to run away and are very jumpy, esp. when younger. Some never grow out of it. Smeagol always seemed rather calm. If anything, he turns into a "statue" when he is scared.

I've had him about 4 weeks now and only recently has he begun to move around the cage BEFORE it was pitch black dark (and me in bed). But he would sleep out in plain view, so I could still enjoy him.

He has also calmed down enough during handling that he walks slower and stops every so often to enjoy the scenery, LOL. I think its all about trust, sort of like with the snakes. They learn you won't harm them.

The firing up and down thing was explained to me with them firing up when they are excited. Can also mean stress, but doesn't have to. They can be all the way fired down or up and anything in between. I even heard of mis fires where part of the body fired up and the rest didn't.

Right now he is still on his piece of wood watching me carefully, moving around some. Even though they aren't animals that you handle for hours or cuddle with, it is SO amazing to me that they can learn to trust. And Smeagol is so full of personality. I swear he can make faces. And he makes me laugh every time I pay attention to him. I can't count the times I laugh at him and tell him "Smeagol, you're so funny..." during the day

Thank you for that explaination. I agree, it’s amazing how they learn to trust. Zoey, my Russian tortoise isn’t the cuddly type either, but she has personality. And why would Smeagol want to go anywhere else when he has such an awesome set up, several toilets, smoothies, free bug delivery... and fries! 😂

Smeagol is definitely full of personality. The expressions he makes in your pics totally crack me up. You can almost hear what he’s thinking by the look on his face.

I will say between you and Phillydubs, I have been very tempted to get one. I’m still waiting on my male bp to arrive first though... hopefully next week. And I’d also want to do some reading up on crested geckos too before making my own “suicide jump.” 😉