Better way of cleaning house gecko tank?

[iluvmychis]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and new to house geckos for that matter. A little back story... my daughter brought this little house gecko home from school... apparently there is a large population of them in the school. she said he wasn't doing well and so she brought him home. Normally, I wouldn't keep a wild animal as I am against it under normal circumstances but she was adamant about keeping him safe so I reluctantly agreed to give him a home. I have him/her in a 5.5 gallon tank with plenty of things to climb on and hide in. He/she is doing very well but when it comes time to clean the tank (like today), it is a nightmare trying to catch him. Naturally, he panics and runs/jumps all over. Right now he is up on the tank lid in the crevice at the top of the tank wall. I had removed everything from the tank except the log but now he won't come down. Afraid if I try and remove the lid, he'll get out and I'll never catch him. My cat, however will and that would be awful. This is probably a stupid question but are there an tricks to getting these speedy little guys out of the tank safely? Maybe I need something he can crawl into that is easier to remove from the tank with him in it? Thank you so much!

 

[Tamara]

You can slowly try and place a deli cup or something over him when he's back out, and try to catch him that way. But yeah, they can be amazingly fast and it can be a real pain to catch them.

Welcome to GU by the way.

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Yeah non-transparent delicups, small microwave tubs or even a small, plain box can help contain and reduce stress on the animal. House geckos have pretty good eyesight so covering them in a blurry or dark container for a few minutes can help ease out the stress or you could use some box with a small cut to fit in one side to gently tauntly the lizard into hiding there

 

[iluvmychis]

Thank you both. I will definitely give that a try. I managed to put his transfer tank in there and get him to run into it but he sure didn't make it easy. At least he's cleaned out for now. Will look for a smaller container to use for next time. Thanks again!