When you own a Leopard Gecko, you do want to get along with it really well. If you love your reptile pet, you would also want it to love you back. But since Leopard Geckos are solitary in nature, it’s important to bond with them in a way that they like you back. But how to tell if your Leopard Gecko likes you after all of your efforts?
If your Leopard Gecko likes you, then it will be very active and reach out to you every time it sees you. Basically, your Leopard Gecko will show all signs of happiness around you by reacting to your touch, with active movements, having a good sleep cycle, and more. It will never hiss at you or run away from you.
If you want to know more about what your Leopard Gecko feels about you and what you can do to make your bond strong with it, keep on reading!
5 Signs That Your Leopard Gecko Likes You
Owning a Leopard Gecko means having a good bond with your all-time favorite pet. It is really important that you understand your Leopard Gecko well in order for it to like you back.
When your Leopard Gecko starts liking you or likes you in general, it will show some signs of it, which are the following:
- Very active in nature
- Smooth and effortless movements
- Licks and climbs on you
- Looks for you
- Does not hiss or harm you
1. Very active in nature
If your Leopard Gecko is happy and likes you just as much as you do, then it will be very active all the time. It will try to be around you and play with you.
Your Leopard Gecko will not sit in the hiding place or will not try to run away from you. Mostly it will be running to you whenever it sees you just like any other pet you have.
2. Smooth and effortless movements
When your Leopard Gecko is happy and healthy, it will have more smooth and more effortless activities.
Basically an unhealthy or unhappy Leopard Gecko can never try to make a bond with you. It will always be hiding in the terrarium or will never get interested in eating food or maintaining the sleep cycle. Most of the time your Leopard Gecko will suffer in pain.
Hence when your Leopard Gecko is healthy and happy, that’s the time when it will be very interactive which is a key sign of liking you back.
3. Licks and climbs on you
This is a basic sign that every Leopard Gecko does when it starts to like its owner. It might lick your hand, and your cheeks and also will climb on you to interact with you even more.
However, it is not always necessary that your Leopard Gecko will lick you only when it likes you. There are many reasons which make your Leopard Gecko lick you to convey its message to you.
4. Looks for you
When your Leopard Gecko likes you, it will always look out for you. It will never hide in hiding places or will not try to go away when it sees you. Rather whenever you come near the tank, it will immediately come running to you or you might see it looking at you from a distance too.
5. Does not hiss or harm you
This is a good and important sign to understand that your Leopard Gecko will never hiss at you or harm you if it likes you or your handling.
Whenever your Leopard gecko is unhappy or is stressed because of you or any other reasons, it will never be like being around you or anyone else. Hence to protect itself it might try to harm you or hiss at you.
That time try to diagnose the reason behind these behaviors and act accordingly. For instance: if you see your Leopard Gecko hissing whenever you are handling it, try not to handle it without any reason. Only handle your Leopard Gecko when you want it to give it a bath or when it’s necessary.
How to Bond with a Leopard Gecko?
In order to make your Leopard Gecko like you, you need to be very patient and treat your Leopard gecko with proper care. There are certain things you can do to bond with your Leopard Gecko:
- Create a proper environment
- Avoid unnecessary handling
- Feed your Leopard Gecko
- Talk with your Leopard Gecko
- Pick your Leopard Gecko properly
- Do not play with the tail
- Let your Leopard Gecko explore
- Spend time with your Gecko
- Make the tank playful
Create a proper environment
Having a proper environment is very important to make a good connection with your Leopard Gecko. As your Leopard Gecko spends most of its time in the tank. If the tank does not have the proper environment, such as if it has poop around the place then the tank eventually will stink.
Moreover, if alive insects which are responsible for parasite infection are present then there is a chance that your Leopard Gecko will become sick. This will affect its overall health and it might not be able to trust you or interact with you anymore. Hence it is important that the whole terrarium has everything clean and sanitized in it.
The parameters such as temperature and humidity should be kept at optimum levels. Too much warm or too cold temperature can cause a lot of issues such as impaction, burning of the skin, and more to your Leopard Gecko. Also if the humidity is not maintained then mold will grow inside the tank which will eventually affect the Leopard Gecko.
Hence all the parameters should be maintained properly as well. Thus, your Leopard gecko will stay in good health and will be able to interact with you more.
Avoid unnecessary handling
Leopard Geckos never like to be handled unnecessarily or for a long period of time. Handling can be only done when your Leopard Gecko starts to know you or gets comfortable with you.
But if you try to hold it for a long period of time, then definitely your Leopard Gecko will not like it and will try to get away from you. Hence try to handle less if not necessary, for instance- you can handle your Gecko while giving a bath or during shedding to help it remove the skin. But other than that, try not to interfere in any of its lifestyles by handling them excessively.
Feed your Leopard Gecko
Leopard Gecko loves to eat. If you give your Leopard Gecko enough food every day, it will surely start liking you even more.
You can gut-load the insects with sufficient nutrients for your Leopard Gecko. While giving the food, make sure that the insects such as – crickets are not alive. Then it will affect your Leopard Gecko by attacking its gut.
But for feeding purposes, do not give your Gecko a lot of food as it can harm your Leopard Gecko’s health due to overeating. Side by side, for proper hydration, provide clean water in the tank and keep changing it with time.
Since you will be giving the food always, your Leopard Gecko will start trusting you and look out for you when it’s hungry. Thus both of you will be able to make good connections with each other easily.
Talk with your Leopard Gecko
Even if it seems silly as Leopard Geckos might not understand what you are trying to convey, you just need to trust the process. If you start talking with your Leopard Gecko, it may not understand your words but will definitely recognize your actions and movements.
It will understand whether you are sad or happy at certain times. Try to talk in a soft tone and make this a regular habit. This way both of you will be able to connect and know each other better.
Pick your Leopard Gecko properly
This is also a part of the handling process. When you go to pick up your Leopard Gecko, that time you need to ensure that your Gecko fits your hand well.
This is important because without getting adjusted in your hand, your Leopard Gecko will never be able to remain comfortable. It will be irritating instead. Hence to help your Leopard Gecko out, you need to keep practicing this picking-up process.
For practicing the picking up, you need to choose a time when your Leopard Gecko is the most active, for example: at night. That time, keep your hand inside the tank and see if your Leopard Gecko is approaching you by itself.
If it does, let it explore your hand a bit. Do not suddenly pull out your hand if you see it licking you. Trust the process and let your Leopard Gecko get comfortable with the adjustment.
It is very normal to see your Leopard Gecko not trying to interact with you in the beginning. But slowly once it gets to know you, it will start understanding the whole process. You just have to repeat this process every night.
Also once your Leopard Gecko comes into your hand, you need to know how to pick it up accurately. You first need to warm up your hands a little bit then hold the Leopard Gecko from the middle section of its body. Pick it up using as many fingers as possible and do not let it go if it tries to lick you.
Using your other hand, hold your leopard Gecko for assistance. Do not hold your Gecko too tightly as it will make it uncomfortable. By trying these processes, you can ensure good bonding with your Leopard Gecko.
Do not play with the tail
Leopard Gecko stores their nutrition in its tail. Moreover, they use their tails for their defense by waving them as much as they can to distract their predators.
But the tails can get cut if you do not handle your Leopard Gecko properly. The tail will fall off easily and your Gecko will never trust you again.
To ensure safety, you should avoid picking up a Leopard Gecko with its tail. Try to handle it with proper care and never get too excited to see your Gecko’s response. Let it like you in its own manner.
Let your Leopard Gecko explore
The best way to bond with your Leopard Gecko is to let it explore you completely.
Because in nature, Leopard geckos need to be altered every time the predators roam around them. As a result, when they are kept in the tank, in a different environment, they feel threatened by every creature.
For this reason, when you start interacting with your Leopard Gecko, you need to be very patient while it tries to understand you better. It may lick you, crawl up your arms and neck, play with your hair, and more.
This way your Leopard Gecko will understand you better and will distinguish you as a safe place instead of a predator.
Spend time with your Gecko
This is the most important thing of all and this is important for every new pet you get for yourself. Every pet needs assistance for its survival and in the case of a Leopard Gecko, this is no different.
You need to spend as much time as you can with your reptile pet as this way it will be able to understand you and your actions better. You need to clean the tank, play with your Leopard Gecko, talk with it, and do funny activities with it.
Even if it’s not possible to provide a lot of time with your Leopard Gecko, try to interact with your Gecko wherever you can, for example: after office days or on weekends especially.
Make the tank playful
You can make your Leopard Gecko like you more by making its whole tank a fun place to live in. You can put on obstacle course-related items in the tank so that it helps your Gecko spend time inside the tank.
You can also provide some toys for it to play with such as your old toys which do not have sharp edges, paper rolls, hand-made crafts, and more. This way your Leopard Gecko will have a good mode every day and it will start appreciating your efforts too.
How To Make A Leopard Gecko Trust You?
You can actually make your Leopard Gecko trust you by spending time, talking, handling your Gecko with love and care, and doing all activities that make your Gecko comfortable.
Basically, you should never ever try to harm your Gecko. You should always feed and water on time, clean the tank every weekend, handle your Gecko when it’s needed, never play with its tail, and do those things that keep your Leopard Gecko really happy.
This way you can build trust between you two.
Final Words
Leopard Geckos are not social in nature but still, you need to try a lot of things to make a good connection with them. There are multiple ways to do that but you need to have a goal to win your Geck’s trust and never hurt it by any means.
You can achieve these goals by talking, spending time with your Gecko, helping it in exploring you, handling properly, and more. All these activities will certainly help you to build a strong connection with your Leopard Gecko and eventually it will start liking you too.
It will show you some signs such as it will be very playful, very active, and will always be interactive with you. Hence, try to read the signs of your Gecko to understand if it really likes you or not.
Meanwhile, keep making your Leopard Gecko comfortable by doing certain things (mentioned above) so that sooner or later you both can live in harmony together.
