My gecko fell from his terrarium

[Rapmilo]

Yesterday my gecko fell from his terrarium, almost a three foot drop from the top of the desk.

I seemed to have accidentally left one of my sliding doors slightly open leaving her a space to escape from.

Fortunately, she doesn't seem to be hurt and just resumed about her normal activity. She was slightly shocked when she fell off but I was able to pick her up and return her to her cage.

My question is, is this kind of fall normal for a leopard gecko? I know of house geckos which can take large falls without getting hurt. But I am just confused as to why she would even attempt to jump out of the container unless she was sure the height wasn't enough to hurt her. I don't think she slipped trying to climb. It seems that she must have just jumped straight off since the edge of my desk is completely flat.

 

[PoppyDear]

A leopard gecko can take surprisingly high falls, they are hardy and pretty durable. I don't think it would be too uncommon to see them taking short falls in the wild.

I don't think they contemplate whether they would get hurt or not. I have seen my Crested Gecko, when I first got him, make impossible jumps for his size, especially the first time I handled him and he jumped for a shelf 4 feet away and fell on the ground. The point is that they probably don't consider that and had they known it hurts to fall they might not try it unless they were panicked and in fight or flight mode. They may not see the edge either and choose to continue towards it assuming they are fine. Slipping os another plausible thing. On a flat desk if they get too close the edge they cannot grip. We can't totally know for sure what makes them takes these "leaps of faith" but we do know how to prevent them, I'm glad your leo is okay.