Leopard geckos: One people pets?

[TifaBea]

From all research I've done, I haven't ever came across this.

Izzy (formerly Oscar) is my first ever leo so I'm still considering myself pretty new to this. She's settled down nicely and will walk right onto my hand. Since I first started handling her she isn't too jumpy with me. I can hand feed her, move stuff around in her tank, and if I sit next to the tank she will walk up to the glass and stare at me.

Recently I've been working a lot during her feeding time so my boyfriend has the role 70% of the time. He's held her when she was younger and she seemed fine. But lately whenever he puts his hand in the tank or whatnot, she bites him. He was cleaning the tank the other day and she bit his ear while on his shoulder.

I'm slightly confused as to why she is behaving like this, she doesn't like other people either. But even in my absence she still will come to me, and has never shown any aggression towards me.

I was under the influence that they were only dependable on themselves (Aside from food of course, I'm talking more-so the handling is unnecessary as the prefer to be alone) and wern't the bonding type. Any one have any idea what is going on?

 

[Debbie7054]

Well in my experience they all seem to be different Pookie seems to love being handled by Col but only tolerates me. Koopie freaks out if I don't get her out every night to be played with but has bitten Col. Yoshi and Princess will both walk out onto us if we open the tank but Yoshi loves being played with and Princess only wants to walk all over us but doesn't like being handled too much. Luma and Bowser are both real softies that like to come out and being tickled under the chin. So I think its just personalities but I'm no expert but then again Koopie would def disagree with experts that say they just tolerate being held lol

 

[panthergecko]

someone loves mario
anyway i cant comment i only hold my gecko 1 a day for 5-10 minutes

 

[bwoodfield]

Side tangent...

I was reading an article on Science Daily regarding animal emotions the other day. The majority of thinking is that emotions are a human trait, but our emotions come from chemical interaction in the amygdalae. Most complex animals have amygdalae and the same chemicals that cause the emotions in us. With that in mind it is very possible that our leopard geckos very well may like or dislike us, feel lonely, happy, etc. I've even accused people of anthropomorphising pets, but I'm starting to think I was wrong in doing so.

Oh and Debbie.. no Gombas?

 

[Debbie7054]

Not yet but going to Doncaster to a show at the weekend so who knows - if I put a really sad face on and puppy dog eyes Col might just get me a Gomba lol. Fingers crossed )
I really didn't think lizards had emotions until we got ours but now I'm sure they do. I can tell when they want to be picked up and when they don't now. I just leave it up to them - the geckos esp. My main prob seems to be when 2 or 3 of them come walking out on me at the same time they all seem to go in different directions lol. The Beardies tap on the glass if they want to come out and so does Koopie. The rest just wander out onto me if and when they feel like. Its not an option with Koopie she has to come out every night. Tho I'm not sure if its me she likes or sitting on my knee watching telly. Blizz is addicted to facebook and World of Warcraft not good lol

 

[bwoodfield]

Blizz is addicted to facebook and World of Warcraft not good lol

..

Well being named Blizz did he have any choice :biggrin:

Buffy doesn't like being handled at all, I've gotten her to climb up on my hand maybe twice. She will lick my fingers or rub up against them but gets very jumpy outside of her tank.

 

[Debbie7054]

She might get better over time Pooky is still pretty jumpy esp for me she likes Col loads better so she behaves better for him. I don't tend to get Pooky out I just let her wander onto my hand and back into her viv unless she's feeling very brave and wants to wander. She's loads better than when we first got her tho she wouldn't come near my hand at all then.

You're right about Blizz tho I should never have let Col name her :biggrin:

 

[bwoodfield]

But the burning question is.. Horde or Alliance?

And does Blizz get excited when she sees the raptors on the screen?

 

[Debbie7054]

Blizz loves the Raptors but Bug is scared stiff of them and dragons esp the noise they make. He runs and hides and Blizz sits in the middle of my keyboard looking at the screen its really funny we took a photo of her and put it on our calendar. It makes it very hard to play WOW tho. We were alliance but I've got a few horde chars too now and I've been playing with them more :evil:

 

[Mardy]

I was under the influence that they were only dependable on themselves (Aside from food of course, I'm talking more-so the handling is unnecessary as the prefer to be alone) and wern't the bonding type. Any one have any idea what is going on?

Nobody can really explain it. You'll find a lot of the people believe leopard geckos are as smart as bricks, and they react based on instinct only. Some will say they never really learn anything and that everything they do, they inherit from genes.

But then you keep seeing stories of leopard geckos behaving in strange ways. You are not the first one that have noticed your leo dislike everybody else but you. You could maybe explain it by simple explanations such as your leopard gecko is used to your movements, thus when someone else is around, their movements may be too fast or erratic. You could say your leopard gecko is used to your skin scent and temperature, thus when other people try to hold them, it'd feel totally strange to them.

Could there be more to it, sure possibly. But I doubt anybody really knows, as scientists haven't exactly decoded brain functions fully yet. Most of us would like to think there's more to it, and that leos can somehow remember us or get used to us somehow. For now I'd say believe what you want to believe. Personally leopard geckos never cease to amaze me. They're too fun to watch and raise. And in my limited experience they do each have different personalities, heck some are even picky eaters like kids

 

[Debbie7054]

Some of mine know their names and some are very picky eaters too and they all def have their own personalities. I can't wait to find out what my 3 knew ones are going to be like.