Just got my 1st Leo, a 7 month old female, and she's not tame at all :( is there hope

[Dandelion18]

I've only had her a week, but I'm starting to wonder if she is going to ever be the laid back easy to hold and enjoy gecko I imagined. I've been placing my hand in the enclosure for a few days now and just letting it sit, and she will come lick it, and not really act scared but soon as I try to touch her she is not interested and I've picked her up twice and she just tried to get out of my hands and I worried she will end up loosing her tail. The whole reason I wanted a gecko was because of the extremely docile temperament I see in all the YouTube videos and also what I've seen personally at the reptile show. I was pretty surprised to see that she is so skittish. Any tips or help?

 

[acpart]

It's encouraging that she comes up and licks your hand. You could try scooping her up from the bottom and making a nice little cave out of your hands for her to sit in. She may enjoy it (or at least tolerate it) once she gets over the transition, because your hands are warm. Then you can put her in a safe place (like on the couch) and let her roam around under your supervision. Some of them never get used to being handled, but others can acclimate with some gentle encouragement. Also, they are not really hair trigger on the tail, so as long as you're gentle, don't worry too much about it.

Aliza

 

[Sasha_the_gecko]

I got my first gecko few months ago and she was about 6 months old. I have her for almost four months now, was doing the same thing with hand for all those months, tried holding her a few times and all she does is trying to hide. And if she's still i have a feeling it's cause she's scared. I don't think mine will ever be fine with handling honestly. I just accepted it. it seems like it's stressing her out more than i thought. She stopped eating a week before shedding and it's been a few days now after she shed, i see her pooping, eating every now and then(i suppose when i'm out of the room), but that's not the same appetite she had few weeks ago. I'm not handling her no more except after she finished shedding just to check all the old skin got off..maybe yours just needs more time. As i red, they become much more calm with ageing.