How can I move my gecko?

[ankan333]

Hi,
I hope someone has tips to share about how to move your gecko! On friday a nice grandis lady is arriving:biggrin: and I would like to take the advice I got here previously and move my male to another terrarium while the female is getting comfortable in the big one. Then I want to put him back inside with her. Also, I would like to take my geckos out sunbathing. But how do I do it? I really don't want to stress him too much! He already lost his tail while living with his previous owner. I tried putting his "traveling box" in the terrarium with the hope that he might just go in there, but he doesn't. I have a tuck for catching insects, but I doubt he would like being caught in that..?

/annika

 

[daggekko]

Hey, depends on how friendly/skittish he is. One way is to get him while he is hiding in a tube(like bamboo) and cover the escape route and move him to the new enclosure. Another method which could work is picking up whatever he is sitting on and moving them both. This works well for my baby Phelsuma, but this is the same reason I have 1 Phelsuma laticauda running around. Another trick that takes some time is hand feeding. If you can hand feed him he will become less scared of you. As far as catching escaped geckos, I prefer to use a fish net, like one for aquarium fish. They have a frame and when the gecko gets on the net they seem to have trouble running! Just be careful not to pinch the tails. I would recommend securing the gecko inbetween the house and outdoor enclosure. I couldn't imagine trying to catch one outside the house. Good luck!

 

[ankan333]

Thanks!

Unfortunately my gecko is skittish. I just recently got him to pick food from my hand, and usually he runs away as soon as he got it in his mouth, although I think he is getting a bit more relaxed (stays closer to the hand while chewing).
Now I am thinking I should not hurry things, and so I will probably just let him stay in "his" enclosure and hope for the best when I let the new female in. According to her current owner, she is very relaxed and easy to handle, so in case of an emergancy, I can hopefully transfer her to the other terrarium..

/annika

 

[hexentanz]

If you can get him out of the tank, personally I would. Introductions go a lot smoother when you introduce the male to the female.

 

[ankan333]

Mmm.. I wish I could just make a tunnel between the tanks or something..

 

[ankan333]

Yeees!! My skittish little gecko is in his new tank!

Not the way I intended, but anyway.. My plan: I opened the door a bit and pressed the opening of my outdoor cage (IKEA washbin, thanks maureen ) to the tank opening, put some bugs in the cage and hoped that he would enter. Instead, when I looked next time he was sitting on the outside of the terrarium.. Uuups. But that ment I could actually lift away the door he was sitting on and use that to transfer him. Glad he didn't jump off...

 

[hexentanz]

Yeees!! My skittish little gecko is in his new tank!

Not the way I intended, but anyway.. My plan: I opened the door a bit and pressed the opening of my outdoor cage (IKEA washbin, thanks maureen ) to the tank opening, put some bugs in the cage and hoped that he would enter. Instead, when I looked next time he was sitting on the outside of the terrarium.. Uuups. But that ment I could actually lift away the door he was sitting on and use that to transfer him. Glad he didn't jump off...

hahaha sneaky little man! Glad to hear you got him moved safely!

It's good you mention the washbin, did you find one with zipper top or did you have to modify it? I went to get some more after posting my reply to the other thread but all I found was ones without zipper top (gotta love how IKEA saves cost sometimes). So I will have to pickup some zippers for my newer ones.

 

[ankan333]

I'm glad I didn't cause him any trauma..

When it comes to the washbin, I didn't even notice that it didn't have a zipper top when I bought it, but when I got home I noticed. I tried to fold the side edges over the lid, but it's not really stable. If I come so far that I can actually take my geckos out I also want to modify it, at least if I'm gonna leave them unsupervised..

Speaking of that, even if the introduction with the female goes well, I have understood that it isn't good to separate female and male again, since then might fight when they meet again. Is that true even for very short periods of time, e.g. if I take only one of them out basking for a few hours?

/annika