my crestie is super flighty, any time i touch him he takes off running. however, he’s never dropped his tail after almost 10 years, and he’s fine with eating while on my hands. i’ve found that announcing my presence in a calm voice helps him to anticipate handling better. they’re very intuitive though, he knows when strangers are around and normally refuses to eat in front of them. still working on tong feeding, right now he only takes insects if they’re roaming the enclosure
I'm generally pretty wary about getting care information off RU-vid, but as soon as you said "let's not anthropomorphize these guys" I knew it it was gonna be solid information
My favorite interaction is different with all three of my reptiles. I love to hold my rough green snake, she’s very curious and adventurous so it is really rewarding to watch. I love to feed my cuban knight anole because she turns the most beautiful shades of green and blue when she eats something particularly tasty. And I love to just watch my leopard gecko live his best life in his home, as he is most comfortable there and most comical in his own territory.
i dont have one yet but my mom said aiming for my next birthday i could get one, so i gotta learn about them as much as possible and think of names too.
I just got my crested gecko today because the last one I got died because he had something wrong with him. The new one is a girl, and she got shipped here! She's gotten used to me handling her, and when I got here I put food and water out so if she got hungry or thirsty she could do that. Her name is Zuzu and she is a Juvenile!
The lizard: it's a nice day to be alive what the heck is that is that Godzilla I see with my eyes that I can't blink the human: oh look it there is a tiny lizard the lizard: trembling in fear
my favorite way would be if i had a crested gecko or a green tree moniter it would be watching them, handling them, and lots of the other things you said.
well at the moment I love to give it a drink, I do it with the straw of my waterspout. i love this nuw because i have my gecko for a few days and i just started handeling my gecko. So giving My gecko water in this way is a good and positief interectoin.
So, it might sound weird, but my crested gecko often sit on my head. When I am handling it, sometimes it just goes all way to my neck and then climbs on my head using my hair. I actually enjoy it. (When it does it, I put a mirror in front of me or use my phone to put my hand next to it, so it won't jump and hurt itself)
To start awesome video! 😁 I got a question tho.. i want to hold a reptile as "pet" but want as much as interaction with it, because i don't have much space i can't take a normal pet, dog or cat, so second thing i like the most are reptiles.. so my question is: what do you think is most likely to fit my needs? I'm interested in crested gecko's or other lizards but like i mention i don't have much space.. I've read that crested gecko's don't take handling that great like for example bearded dragons (not that interested in bearded dragons tho)
thanks im gonna need this for mine thanks for inspiring me to be positive. You're so patient with your animals love the channel you have my sub forever .
Tips for a crestie that will not tolerate me in any way, I can not feed him off my finger without him flipping out and running, he has plenty of decoration in his tank. I’m lost
My crested gecko is super timid, she’s very scared of being handled or picked up she’ll jump away. But she does allow me to tong feed her crickets and she’ll eat her food from my finger. She’s not shy about eating from me but she’s scared of me. I’ve had her for a month and a week and she’s pooping and is very healthy but she’s very shy of me. Any tips? She’s a juvenile.
I got a crestie today and it looks very similar to nona! Were not sure what gender it is so if you can tell me how to tell that would be great!! Obviously I know it might lay eggs but that will take a while so I would rather know sooner! It's name is chilli by the way and I love him sooo much! Thanks for the vid it will be really usefull Have a nice day 🦎
Which brand and flavor CGD do you feed them? Mine would never attack food like that. I've tried different Pangea, ZooMed, and Repashy flavors. Would love to know which kind she was loving so much in the video and I'll try that next!
I just got my new gargoyle gecko and it’s been about a week, I’m thinking about handling him soon. He usually hides behind a piece of cork bark (sort of on the side to sleep) and sometimes ventured to the top of the cork bark or into the foliage. How should I go about handling him…?
2 Questions, so I have my male and female crested geckos together permanently and sometimes when I take them out and hold them both at the same time they crawl ontop of each other, im just wondering what does that mean if you know.
Whats the diet you are feeding ur gecko’s, i hear really much people saying that there gecko is like 25 -30 g when my gecko is the same age and weights 10g
I have been trying really hard to tame my gecko down, but he's just not very food motivated. Ive tried 3 different flavors of pangea and a variety of insects, but he just doesnt care too much; he will eat but he won't see it as a reward or anything like that. He's healthy and gaining weight and stuff, I just dont think he's food motivated. Anybody knows what im doing wrong?
Honestly, it just takes time to get them acclimated to handling. Try hand walking it and handling a bit each day until it gets less jumpy. Hand feeding is a pain if they get used to it and only eat when you offer it (but I've only had that issue when starting it with hatchlings or young juvies)
I sometimes bring my bearded dragon to my pc, lean back in my chair and watch youtube videos(sometimes yours), and she would lay on my chest until we both fall asleep. I dont know why, but this is definitly the best moments for me. i feel somewhat closer to her when this happens. Thanks for another Awesome video man, keep it up :)
eh just remember that they are tolerating you; and in no way are they emotionally attached to laying on ur chest falling asleep. They will fall asleep at night the same way thinking when the next time this human gonna feed me.
@@imnotagamer22 id say its more about trust than just tolerance! if a smaller animal feels safe enough to sleep on you or just hangout it means that there is some form of trust. tolerating handling comes with trust as well, if your beardie isnt biting, thrashing or trying to get away from you id say they understand you are not a predator. im not sure how to explain it but my baby beardie falls asleep on me occasionally and i know he trusts me enough to be in a position that i could seriously hurt him and he is relaxed enough to "snuggle" up to me, the reasons he does this are probably A. im warm and a good heater to reptile and B. he knows my smell and feels generally safe. i can see where you come from but i can also see trust is a huge part of tolerance :))
I have 4 juvenile cresties and thankfully, they're super tame. We started really young and they are calm enough now that my 6 year old can take "his" gecko out for supervised handling and enrichment 😁
I have a hatchling Crestie but she won’t approach my hand and when I hoop her snout she runs but has no problem with my hand being less than a millimeter next to my hand. Do u have any tips on overcoming her fear of me touching her?
@@vis222 if she's eating well, put your hand in the enclosure for a few(around 5) minutes at night when she's most active to let her get used to your scent. After about a week of that, I helped mine walk/jump into my hand, by gently touching the back and they should move forward. Just keep one hand in front of the one they're sitting in and they usually will jump from hand to hand. Best to start with your hands in the enclosure when doing that so they can't fall It's easier to start handling during the day because they're less active. We hand walked ours for less than 5 minutes a day and gradually built up from there as long as they still are well and we're growing One in particular wasn't eating as well after handling so we held off a couple of weeks to make sure they were still growing and then started the process again😊
I have talked about a few animals I've handled, fed, and worked with over the years and I agree with Dayyan. You have to stop thinking of animals as having human attributes, but rather that they develop learned behaviors that are in line with their instincts. One animal that gets left out often in talking about conditioning an animal is dealing with snakes. I love handling bull snakes. You can sort of feed them by hand, but I don't recommend it. Their feeding response is pretty intense. You don't want to encourage them associating your hands with food because they absolutely will bite you in excitement. I enjoy using tongs while feeding these bull snakes. Just keep the prey item aligned with their mouth so they don't try to clamp down on the tongs too hard. I also wear the same nitrile gloves that the owner wears when feeding, letting the snake know that the gloves aren't for eating, but are an indicator that food is on the way. That's the classical conditioning Dayyan talked about. Snakes aren't great at operant conditioning. They are noodles with heads. The world is scary and confusing when you don't even have feet. Suffice it to say, snakes are not great problem solvers, so consider what your hands and feet mean to an animal that has none.
Thanks so much for watching everyone! As always, thank you so much to my Reptiliatus Channel Patrons over on Patreon: www.patreon.com/Reptiliatus . Hope you learned some helpful tips/steps to taming and interacting with your crested gecko :)! Don't forget to answer today's question of the day!
for the question of the day, my favorite is hand feeding! for example hand feeding feeder insects with my fingers, and having the gecko, on my hand, and licking away at the meal replacement diet.
I have a Pin strip on hold till about mid June! Building his bioactive tank right now!Super exited to handle him and hand feed him! What would you recommend heating? I only need it up by like 5 degrees. Thanks ❤️
My Leo will spend hours in the hood of my sweatshirt. It is very endearing when a cute little critter sees you as a safe place. This actually came in very handy during an extended power outage earlier this week. I was able to keep her warm with me for several hours at a time because of the hours spent doing things from this video. Dude, thank you for making this guide.
I have hand tremors due to medical issues, and I've been very nervous about handling my little cresties because they're so smol and jumpy! I feel like I scare them more because my slow movements are still shaky :/ I'm hoping they get used to it over time, and know that I'm safe, even if my hands feel like a mini earthquake! 😅
My crested gecko bolted up my arm while I was handling her. Instead of using my hand to block her path like I usually would, I tried your tip and let her wait. Amazingly she calmed down immediately! Thank you for the great information.
I just got my first crested gecko. I bought him from a breeder at an exotic expo. He is a harley morph, real cool looking, but already is a frog butt. I figured getting one that is already a frog butt will be less stressful due to me not worrying about him losing it 24/7.
After accidentally scaring my skink during a rehouse and seeing her tail drop I’ve been terrified I’ll scare my crestie and have been too afraid to interact with her in the three months I’ve had her. Thank you for this video, after watching this a couple times I think I feel confident to try and handle her next time I catch her out.
I've watched and read several guides on taming Cresties, and I must say I really like the approach in yours. It's funny, informative, and I appreciate the disclaimer. We can love our reptile friends while understanding they are very different from us! Thank you for this vid! Really wonderful
I got my first gecko when he was only a month old and he is 4-5 months now. When do you recommend starting minor handling? Also, at what age is the tail able to drop, or does it not matter? I’ve left my gecko alone so far the furthest interaction we’ve had is me carefully cleaning his tank around him as to not disturb him too much. I really don’t want him to drop his tail but i’m also worried about him never being tame as he seems to have a high flight response and is very jumpy. I’m also worried about his slow weight gain and was wondering a way i could quickly and easily get him on a scale to monitor him?
same man i try to stick my hand slowly in the enclosure in front of him and this sight of my hand makes him bolt but he responds to tong feeding and the noise i make before i am about to feed him and he’s only 3-4 months old not sure if i should keep trying or wait till he’s older
@@westontrim4344 hello so my crestie is over a year now and i still don’t handle her a lot (found out she’s a girl) compared to the average owner due to being busy but when i do, oh my lord is she obsessed with me. She’s an amazing eater now, still on the smaller side but there’s room to grow still. Anytime i try to put her back in her tank she’ll crawl up my arm instead with her little mischievous face it’s adorable. The time i put in with her has definitely paid off!
Please help, I just got my crested gecko two days ago, I bought is pretty chubby it’s an adult btw, he’s rlly chill on my hand could stay on for half an hour, but I couldn’t hand feed it and also it dint too a lot last feeding which I did yesterday
I just got my little crested gecko literally a few hours ago. I loved this video thank you so much ❤️ I'm really looking forward to using your techniques to bond with my new baby 🥰
I love my Chahoua she begs to come out of her enclosure to just hang out. I also love my 2 Leachie babies I hand feed them. So cool to see your cresties as babies and then all grow up in same vid. Thanks for vid!
My peeta comes out and crawls up my leg when I'm laying on my bed. Crawls up my leg and just chills on my foot for hours while we watch tv. Together..he's a very cool little dude ..🦎
I love to turn all the lights off and let her eat when handling her and I also love to let her sit with me on my shoulder when I'm drawing or doing something else but not for more than 15 minutes because as you know after 15 minutes they get quite jumpy.
My crested gecko is extremely afraid of me. I can't even get near the enclosure without him freaking out. I haven't been able to get near him. I can't even tong feed him. Really don't what I can do but it's very disheartening. Especially since my other crestie was so calm.
I'm over here watching a video on how to tame a crested gecko when I have a juvenile crested gecko that is super tame 🤣 I was wondering if this video would show me how to get my cresty to not walk away every time I go to pick it up but yours seem to do the same thing aha 😅
Yup “Pavlovs dog” classical conditioning. Even though my adult male wasn’t impressed, I put him on the lower rack under my new baby so she’s chest height with front opening doors, my adult is no longer concerned with me picking him up from above him and I wanted to make sure my new baby felt more secure. The second week or so I would just hang out by/in her enclosure getting her used to me, my voice, movements, especially while feeding her, she’s only a couple months old but already she doesn’t fear me picking her up. Though I don’t yet do it for too long, I read her comfort levels.
Just noticed you added a whole paragraph to your comment 😅! Thanks for sharing! That’s a very important point! Having the animals at chest/eye level def would make them feel safer than say to be over them reaching in!
@@Reptiliatus I tend to comment repeatedly throughout the video lol I’m never finished editing my comments until I’ve watched it all lol , I’ve got a short memory
Hi there. I raised my crested gecko from 3g to now 43g (maybe 1 year). He is a male, in 3 1/2’ x 2’ x 2’ enclosure. Eddie used to be fine with handling, but now he has developed a flight response as of late. When I take a moment, and approach again afterward… he runs again. And won’t stop. Most often, his motive is to escape the tank on his own terms. He is on a Pangea diet, and haven’t hand fed before. But always drinks his mash. He used to hunt crickets when he was younger. Any ideas on how to re enforce trust? And prevent the need/want to escape? Thanks :)
I got my crestie less than a week ago and she's doing amazing! she doesn't mind handling at all, she rarely hides and likes to hang out in the open of her tank, and I had a bit of trouble getting her to eat on her own as she would ONLY eat directly off of my finger, but she's gotten better just over the last few days and I got her to eat a full serving out of a dish with just a little bit of encouragement, I'm very excited to see her grow and bond with my Lola!
What happened was kind of the opposite for me. My boyfriend’s crestie (Sticky, who is around 10 years old) was always hand fed but would try to run for the hills when you try to pick him up. Over the course of 2 weeks I managed to get him fully conditioned to handling. But after a week of not handling due to us being busy with life, he won’t even tolerate being finger fed anymore. Thankfully, he has never dropped his tail because we notice all the stress signals and leave him be. But I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place regarding what to do. Am I at a complete loss?
I kinda did this backwards..my crest Ambrosia will gladly eat food off my finger (after I've washed my hands of course) but is still flighty with my hands. I did get him recently, and Im looking forward to him feeling safe in my presence!
Okay, I've had My crestie for almost 3 months now. I try to feed him by hand each night and I try to coax him into my hand but he never wants to come near me 😅 should I just keep at this method until something changes? I never try to grab him, just offer my hand like a branch. He always runs and hides so I just leave him alone until the next day. He is very small, maybe like 4in long. No idea what his age is, but clearly he's a baby still. Any thoughts, tips, or ideas appreciated 😅
Mine bites a bit 99% of the time it’s a feeding response, it never hurts and he’s usually calm after he realizes I’m not edible But is it possible for you to be able to teach them to tell the difference between your hand and food? He is very friendly and social with me but it spooks my mom a bit
So I came here for the crested geckos And was gonna leave because i seen the tarantula BUUUUT THEN YO AHH HAD ME IN THE TANK AND I JUST KNEEEEWWW🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 This is the one ❤️🤣🤣🤣
I do not yet have any reptiles, but love your channel. I target trained my betta to make him easier to hand feed, and he seems to “enjoy” a few head pats sometimes. My Amano shrimp got wise to this, and started coming up for handouts. I can feed them with small tongs or toothpicks. Food is definitely the universal motivator! My husband just shakes his head
I currently have an 11 month old crested gecko and it like to hunt a bit too much. It sometimes mistakes my fingers for food, seems to be hungry all the time, and jumps out the tank into the cup of insects before I’ve had the chance to put them in the tank. 🤦🏼♀️😂
Last night I had a not so great handling session right when I was making slow progress before now. It scared my crestie and I felt so bad. It's tough to handle the leapers and runners without stressing them. She's 8 months and I'm not fond of handling her yet and she's not fond of me. Makes me feel bad. I've never dropped her even once but she runs from me and if she goes to the back of the tank, I won't chase her. It's so frustrating, she won't hand walk and just still races and jumps. I don't know what to do. Any suggestions? I move slowly, she never bites, just avoids my hands. Still has her tail. I move my hand in front of her and get her to step on it but she tries hard not to and just runs off. I try everything. Only very short handling sessions at this point.
If its aggressive, should i let it bite me until it realizes it cant do anything?? Mines 9 years old and just started being super aggressive towards me, normally hes super calm, but recently hes starting to become aggressive
I think my crestie is underweight. I’ve had him for a week and got him from someone who was rehoming him. He’s 4 almost 5. He looks like he’s 2 months old. Super slim and nothing like the white crestie. He lived in an 12x12x18 but I upgraded him. Do you think the small enclosure would stunt his growth? How can I fatten him up a bit? He won’t eat bugs btw
my male crested gecko was afraid of me from the start. I didn’t even do anything and he dropped his tail. He ran after I put him back in his terrarium that I had just cleaned and he found the hole in the mesh lid that I had cut out for the reptifogger tube (which was currently not in place at that moment) and he bolted for it got stuck panicked and dropped his tail
Hey buddy thanks for the video. I take my crested gecko out every morning when I wake up will it still dark. I used the end of a chopstick for feeding when she's hungry. She's an awesome pet
So I know this video is very old, but my gecko doesn't like eating out of the dish I have for him, and he gets scared, I've tried bringing the tong I feed him with closer to the dish so he starts liking the dish, but instead he just stops eating or runs off, what can I do?
Ladies, find you a guy like Dayan who is gentle yet firm with his ladies Pingu & Nona. Dayan now u made me want to get a Crestie! They are gorgeous & such personalities!
To answer your question: am a new owner of a crestie, so I am giving it (ain’t sexing the gecko just yet due breeders info, but it weighted enough and then some for a new home 🙂)and me some time to get used to its new surroundings ( and so on). But I do like to observ them calmly ( got fish experience as well 😅) in order to learn their body language ( even if not much happens when it is sound asleep 😂) and I probably will handle them enough for them to be relaxed in my precense and to be able to feed them, but will usually keep them in their terrariums and leave the cuddling sprees formmy other pets ( in other words; two cats that are laphoggers) Hope my thought put in writing makes sense 😂
I have a juvenile and now its impossible to put him back in his enclosure he "loves" or likes me enriching him so much, he just jumps on my arm when the enclosure lid opens! thank you, he hasn't jumped in years, (2 years later)
for some reason my creased gecko isn't running away when i rub gently my finger along his body, idk why but he just sits and do nothing or just walk away like nothing happened
28 дней назад
I built an artificial tree so he can climb and investigate and eat in it’s about 3 ft high so I can keep an eye on him while sitting on the ground after taking him out of his enclosure and treadmilling with him
I keep watching these type of videos but none of them work for young gheckos I can’t get my ghecko to eat alone I have to keep rubbing Pangea on his face to make him eat
I would give my daughter a small tong the she puts peach or worms on her hand then her crested gecko jumps to gets the meal, she has been doing this for 7 years...
I know males will occasionally mount and bite your hand while holding displaying the mating behavior. Have you ever seen a female do this? My female is approaching 30g and I don't see any sign of it being a male, but she has displayed that mating behavior a couple of times to my hand
Hey man you might not see this, but I have a question. Why is my crested gecko, BTW he's a phantom pinstripe if that matters, why is he not eating the gecko diet that I try to hand feed him. And for the response to the (Question of the day) I like to Interact with my crested gecko by talking with it
I'd live to get one, but I'm at work 5 days a week early hours of the morning till 5. So it would be difficult to give it time + attention and create that BOND
I got a crested gecko and i like calmly talking to him and strangely lick his eye. A couple days ago i went to give him water. He was in the top corner of his enclosure and i had to open the top to get in. I opened the top enough for my finger to go in with him. My intention was to politely poke him so he would get down. He is still very jumpy so i have to be supervised incase he tries to get out. Now he sat in that corner and i stroked his head a few times. He sat perfectly still. I never tried to touch him cause i didn't want to stress him out so i was a little shaky. But i calmly talked to him while i did this. Something i think i should mention is i am Autistic so being able to gain the trust of any type of being is a very big deal to me. I own 4 snakes and the first two i have had the longest both know me very well and understand that i am very happy when i hold them. My other two i have not handled much due to them being really wiggly. And one of them has a very high feeding response and always comes out of her hide/cave when i talk to her. The other one is always showing off. But thanks to this information i will start working with my gecko more. I did notice that my dad tried to grab him and he ran around scared. My dad was being very quick and impatient but now that i got to at least stroke his head i think i can start working with him more and strengthen our bond. I was surprised he didnt run away from me cause i was a little anxious. But i have put his food and water in by myself a few times. He usually stays on the bottom of his enclosure and watches me. I hope i can post a picture of me holding him in your comment section soon. I understand this will take time and patience so i hope to have him comfortable with being handled and hand fed at some point. I really hope we can grow closer. Thank you for the info man. You have a new subscriber.
I have a crested gecko and she is scared, i mean SCARED, her first owners had her in a wayy too small cage and nobody cared about her. She had it like this in about a year. When i got her we could not find a good cage so she had a bigger but not as big as they should have.(we gave her a better cage) Now she is scared of everything and every one, does this still work?
