Thanks, everyone, for your responses!

I ended up not getting that female I got to interact with. I was way too busy all week long, and her handler tried contacting me twice because he had another person interested. Sigh, needless to say, I was unable to check my cellphone (house phone doesn't have an answering machine) and he sold her to the other person. The other person is also a snake/gecko breeder, and well-known for his knowledge on reptiles, so at least she went to someone with lots of experience. Right on.

He promised that when he gets another with such an excellent temperament, he'll be calling me first, right out of the gate. No worries. I am more than willing to wait for my new "soulmate."

JLC -
I definitely know what you mean about getting what you put into a lizard like an ig or beardie. My friend has a beardie that he'd handled everyday for the first five months. She was sweet as sugar and would love to just hang out on people's laps. He started working more hours, handling her alot less, and now you have to carefully take her out of her enclosure or she gets spooked extremely easily and will resort to trying to bite. If that doesn't work, she'll let you lift her, then she'll thrash and dart about, trying to escape your grasp.

I plan on handling at least once daily. I've seen those claws and teeth on the adult iggies, and the thickness and power of those tails...NOT something I want to mess with!