Leopard Gecko Escape Attempts

[Lenewen]

Hi Everyone!

I picked up a new gecko last week. As some of you may have seen from a previous thread, he is a rescue and I found him in a very unclean tank, underweight and not supplemented at all. His heating was all wrong too! He had a Basking Light!! Morons...anyway... lately, I am noticing that he ALWAYS trying to climb out of his tank. My other two geckos do that when they want to be taken out of the tank, but they do not do it very often. Usually just by taking them out, they calm right down and settle in my palm.

With this new gecko, things are a little different. He only appears to start climbing the tank walls when I am home. He never shows any interest in my roommates when they are in the same room, but when I am, he ALWAYS tries to climb out. I do not always take him out when he does that either because he is new and I try not to handle him too much, so as not to cause unnecessary stress. But he fruitlessly tries climbing the terrarium walls when he sees me all the time!! Do I take him out each time?

The first thing I checked was heating, and his temps are normal.

Tank Info:
10 gallon tank
reptile carpet
3 hides
dish of mealworms at all times
calcium powder
water dish
plastic leaves to hide behind, like a 4th hide
1 moist hide

The tank isn't crowded at all either!! Theres plenty of room. Its the tank he came in, but cleaned with all new supplies.

Temps: 90 on hot side, 78 on cool side during the day. Heated with red heat lamp and UTH.

He only seems to hide when I am not home, by the way. My roommates report he spends a lot of time in his hides. But when I come home, he sits right out on top of the highest hide, and tries to climb the tank walls!

Any ideas anyone????

I plan on buying him a bigger tank eventually. He met my female Leo, Isis, so I wonder if maybe he is trying to get to her in the next room? She is in a 40gal tank with another male right now. Do you think a bigger tank will help? Or a female to live with?

 

[Mardy]

Give him a week or two, he should settle down. All of the new leopard geckos I get do some form of that, some more so than others, some longer than others. But once they settle in and get comfy, they should stop climbing the glass.

Also if it's an adult male, they do that to spread their scent especially during the breeding season. So it's perfectly normal for them to do that, and they should be left alone when they do. He'll likely going to be rubbing the glass all the way around the tank to know the perimeter and get used to the new living environment.

 

[Lenewen]

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Also if it's an adult male, they do that to spread their scent especially during the breeding season. So it's perfectly normal for them to do that, and they should be left alone when they do. He'll likely going to be rubbing the glass all the way around the tank to know the perimeter and get used to the new living environment.

Really? Do you have a source to confirm this? I havent heard of this before. I'm just very curious.

 

[Mardy]

Really? Do you have a source to confirm this? I havent heard of this before. I'm just very curious.

Read it from various sources, but here's one.

"A male Leopard Gecko

Here's a snapshot of the relevant parts of a mature male Leopard Gecko (Fig. 1). Notice the well developed row of pre-anal pores, hi-lighted here in blue. Under magnification, these pores can be seen as open holes, often capped with a waxy build-up. Sexually mature specimens will exude a waxy substance from these pores which is smeared about the cage. This is a form of scent marking. Many beginners think their gecko is being cute 'wagging his butt all over the cage'. In reality, he is staking out his territory. "

 

[Lenewen]

Read it from various sources, but here's one.

. "

Thank you!! Very interesting!! Explains his behavior perfectly.