Leopard Gecko Temperment

[Jotun]

I was just curious to know if there is such thing as a "bad tempered" leopard gecko. All the ones I've held or delt with were wonderful! They never bit and always just stayed put when in my hands. They never tried to escape and were overall just great to hold. Are all leopards like this or are there some "bad eggs" (no pun intended :) ) every now and then?

[Linds]

Well, if I recall correctly (big IF knowing my memory..lol) Joe and Melissa have some very grouchy leopards...lol! The worst I have experienced a gecko was to be skittish due to lack of handling. But gernally speaking one of the reasons they are so popular is because of their great overall temperament :)

[Joe]

http://imagehost.auctionwatch.com/preview/jo/joeandmelissa/reptilepicsthatMeltook_0558.JPG
our leo's are nasty but thats only because they don't get handled much....our leo's seem to think we are edible, even when we look in there enclosure they lunge at our faces I think it's sort of cute!!

[beyowulf]

I worked at a pet store in Ottawa where the leo turnover rate was pretty high, so I saw lots of them go through. Nearly every one we had was great as far as temperment goes, although there were a few nippers in there who never got handled much.

[sungazer]

one reason the are nasty cuz they dont get handled much the other big reason is cuz they are stressed out

[Jotun]

oh cool, thanks, i guess their temperment is no where close to a tokay though! that sucker bit me everytime i changed it water dish! thank god we sold him :)

[rakell]

all my leos are kinda nippy and skittish. their ages range from 1 1/2 yrs old to 2 mo old, but i dont handle them much either.
IMO aft's have 10x better personalities than leos, heck my 3 mo old albino aft is very pleasant to pick up and hold, as with my others.

[beyowulf]

Tokays sure ARE nasty, we had some at the store I worked at and they were mean little lizards. Beautiful colours though, if they were nice I'd have some.
Are marble geckos nice?

[Linds]

Marble geckos are very high strung in my experience. I work with them and they are quite flighty, too fast for my liking. Just got bit by one last week actually....lol :p Alot of the arboreal geckos like to make a break for freedom it seems, speed + the fact that they stick to virtually any surface makes it hard to compete. Also, like many of the other arboreal geckos, they have very thin, sensitive skin that tears quite easily, making them more a "display-only" type of animal.

[beyowulf]

Thanks Linds!! I saw one at a store a few weeks ago for the first time and wondered what they were like..... It seems I only like the arboreals, but I don't really have room for any at this point. Maybe in the future I'll get some.

[reverendsterlin]

Cool thread and great timing. A guy I'm trading some corns with has several morphs at good prices but my only gecko experience was with tokays and I wasn't really interested. Now I may reconsider.

[PetCrazy]

I find that most adult leos are really laid back, though babies screech etc etc etc...At least some of my babies are pretty bad, some of them actualy let me handle them if I need to.

The only ILL tempered leo I've ever had in my care was not feeling well what so ever, ever since I received it. It hadn't recovered from laying, so when it came here, it was thin, and didn't take the move well. Thus...she wasn't feeling in the best of states, and was HORRIBLE. I hated going in the cage for cleanups etc, because she was just...evil.

Though I'm sure she's better now, I must say, she was the only ill tempered leo.

I suppose if they aren't handled frequently, they keep that same defensive behavior. Which makes sense, they'd need that in the wild. And if they are feeling sick, they have to do the same...

Besides, I know that I'm not the greatest to be around when I'm feeling sick either.