I have a crested gecko who’s a male + 5 years old and somehow still has his tail. He’s extremely skittish when I try and interact with him at all, and I’ve accepted the fact that he wishes not to be held though the problem is I’m unsure how to clean his enclosure. Usually I take him while he’s in a hide and move him to a separate space with places to hide/climb temporarily while I clean his enclosure, but getting him in and out is very stressful for him and he ends up jumping out. I’ve been cleaning things by taking them out and washing them/wiping the glass but there’s certain things that hold up stuff I can’t take out without dismantling the enclosure and disturbing my crestie and changing the substrate is a large issue. I’ve thought of giving him to someone else who can take better care, but I don’t want to resort to that and want to know if anyone knows ways I can make him less skittish/get him in and out of his enclosure safely without the chaos and him dropping his tail out of stress.
Kobi is about 2 and skittish as well. She hasn’t dropped her tail, i was worried she would, even though i try to, i guess pet her is the best way to describe it. She usually lets me get a few little touches with one finger before taking off. Shes in a bioactive environment and im attempting to catch her to give her home a good cleaning. She keeps escaping lol, and still hasnt dropped her tail. Ive done it before but damn she got faster and smarter lol.
I use a small container with a snap lid to catch he on the glass or wherever its hard to escape from, carefully siide the lid on with as little space you can. Shes then transfered to her travel container with water, food and paper towel on the bottom. I just grabbed a good sized container from the dollar store and poked holes for her to breathe as well as mist for humidity. Clean her enclosure then take her back and she jumps back in. Ill probably empty her enclosure soon to catch her this time if i cant do it soon. Good luck!
Thank you! I’ll keep this in mind for when I next clean his enclosure
Is his enclosure bioactive?
As if so it’s more just cleaning the glass if you have a decent clean up crew.
I had a skittish boy, took a while to chill him out but then became a dream! Just got him out few times a week or sat with his enclosure open and putting my hands in to say hi x
Sterile atm (can’t take care of plants but starting with a pothos to change that)
Occasionally I leave the enclosure open and just got a book or something to hang around with him in, pretty sure he’s used to my presence however it’s difficult to interact during the day since he’s sleeping in a hide and at night he’s alert and skittish (if I were to reach my hand in his enclosure while he’s awake he’d usually bolt)
It’s tough when you get to a point of thinking of re-homing an animal, but if it makes you feel better, I’m sure that it’s a personality issue of the gecko and not you. This means that whoever you re-home him to will most likely face the same issue as you, so keep that in mind for your decision. As others say, it’s not a big deal if he loses his tail and it doesn’t say anything about you as an owner. It’s just something that happens. Just do your best, and if it get frustrating, just make sure to let the new owner know ahead of time about the situation, so they are prepared. I had a similar issue with my now almost 4 year old girl, Peaches. Around the 2 year mark she got really moody and didn’t want to be handled. She would squeak and shake her head. I thought about re-homing her too but honestly I think it had to do with her reaching maturity and laying eggs. I can handle her temporarily, but just accepted her preference is for the most part to be left alone. I handle her for a tiny amount compared to my other pets who are more tolerant. I had, at one point, thought of rehoming her except that I know she will not get a better home or better treatment than she has here, so I know that’s not the answer. Just like when you have children (human) you can’t predict how they will behave or look as they grow so you have to be ready to accept what you get. Hope this helps!
So all cresties are different but at least for mine he just has to get out of the enclosure. He acts all skittish in his enclosure but once he is out he is happy to just climb up to my shoulder and sit there for a long time. Just try and be consistent and he will eventually come through.
Try to get him out of the enclosure of 15 minutes every other day and keep that up for around a month. If he still seems super skittish keep it up but if he seems to be getting better try to bump it up to 20-30 minutes at a time.
Do you think it would be better to start with pets before trying to hold him/getting him outside the enclosure? Occasionally I’d be able to pet him before he moves but I didn’t think he was too comfortable
Do you have a pic of his enclosure? I only ask as this can be a stress factor.
That being said, I have a super skittish gecko. I cannot hold him, it’s just his personality. I’m a little annoyed as I got him from a very well known breeder!
I have him in a bioactive enclosure so I don’t need to clean it as often. But I am the same. I move him to a tub while I clean, or if it doesn’t disturb him, then I leave him where he is as it’s less stress.