How to Play with Leopard Lizards

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Leopard lizards (or leopard geckos) are quite curious creatures, and if you know how, they will love to play with you. Refer to the steps below to learn how to play with this little reptile, you will be surprised how much fun and interesting they are!

Table of Contents

Get to know and play the basics

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Start exposure when leopard lizards are young. When you first buy it, you need to give the leopard lizard some time to adjust to the new home. Leave the lizard alone in the tank for up to a day if it doesn’t seem too stressed, then give the lizard a little more time to begin exploring and acclimatizing. If, after exploring your home, the leopard lizard refuses to leave its favorite hiding place, that’s okay too. As mentioned above, you should get acquainted with leopard lizards as soon as possible because leopard lizards are exposed and played with people from a young age, when they grow up, they will often be bold and like to be held.

Ideally, you should start playing with leopard lizards when they are about 5 to 6 months old, although as long as you are comfortable you can start playing with them anytime, unless they are just right. newly hatched.

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Understand that leopard lizards will be a little scared of you. In the wild, lizards will see large animals like humans as a threat, so don’t be upset if it takes some time to get used to.

Don’t rush. If you are too eager to start holding and playing with leopard lizards, restrain yourself by learning more about them. When building a house for your lizard, don’t forget to create a hiding place so it can hide there. Sometimes lizards need time alone and remember, they are nocturnal animals so don’t disturb them during the day.
Watch closely to get to know your new pet. Find out where the lizard’s ears are (their ears are like two large holes on either side of the head); Count how many toes each lizard foot has, count how many spots it has and keep track of those spots (the leopard’s spots will change over time).

Talk to the leopard lizard. Getting your lizard used to your voice is another way to make it more comfortable with you. Talk to the lizard in a gentle tone, and at the same time, look at it with loving eyes through the glass tank. Do lizards look back at you? Make eye contact while talking to let the lizard know that you are making the sound to communicate with it. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Get the lizard familiar with your hands. This is very important, because otherwise the lizard will never be comfortable with you. Leopard lizards will be most active at night, usually when you’re getting ready for bed. During this time, put your hand on the bottom of the lizard’s cage and do not make sudden movements to avoid scaring it. Let the lizard explore your hand–it will probably lick your fingers, crawl onto your hand, and end up in the warmest part of your hand. You can encourage your lizard to lie on your hand by warming your hand before picking it up. When the lizard licks your hand, don’t pull it back. Before the bond is built, the lizard will treat you like a predator. If when it licks you withdraw your hand, in the future it will continue to lick you to drive you away and be alone. If humans don’t build friendships with lizards, it won’t have the need to make friends with humans either and will become unfriendly.

Don’t be discouraged if the lizard doesn’t crawl onto your hand right away. Each individual lizard will have a different personality – some will be more curious than others. Repeat this step every night and place your hand on the bottom of the tank. Gradually, the lizard will come closer to explore,

READ More: How to Identify Wolf Spiders

Know how to lift the lizard properly. After the leopard lizard gets used to your hand and happily crawls up, just lift it out of the tank. Be sure to pinch your other hand and place it under or next to the hand holding the lizard so you can catch it if it suddenly moves and could fall out of your hand.

If you want to lift the lizard without waiting for it to crawl into your hand, do so gently. Hold the lizard in the middle of the body with as many fingers as you can (using the maximum number of fingers to fit the body of the lizard will help you hold it more firmly), support the other hand underneath to prevent the lizard from falling out . Remember not to hold it too tightly because lizards are quite small and weak.

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Pay attention to the lizard’s tail. Leopard lizards may lose their tails themselves if they think their tails have been caught by a predator or when they are startled. Therefore, you should never hold the lizard’s tail to lift it. Avoid making your lizard feel pressured or threatened. If the lizard doesn’t want to play or is always trying to get out of your hand, stop picking it up and try again another time. You can easily tell if your lizard is scared or upset because they will raise their tails and wiggle in warning, if they do, you can try talking in a soft voice to calm them down.

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Know what kind of food to give your lizard. You can reward your lizard with a variety of foods, and most can be purchased at a pet store, such as waxworms, mealworms, and crickets.

Wax worms: One of the most common types of rewards for lizards. Lizards love the taste, however wax worms are high in phosphorus and fat so you shouldn’t feed them often (no. more than about every two weeks, especially when the lizard is more than 1 year old as they can become overweight or hate other insects). Do not mix calcium into wax worms because when eating worms, the lizard can bite your hand (because of the smell of calcium powder remaining on your hand).

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Know how to play with lizards at a moderate frequency. Each individual lizard has a different personality, but most owners recommend that for best taming results, you should hold the lizard for at least 15 minutes after it wakes up. If the lizard is stressed, shorten the time you hold and play accordingly.

Play with leopard lizards

Playground fence. Leopard lizards, especially young ones, are very agile and will run away if given the opportunity. When you first play with them, create a safe play space to make sure the lizard can’t escape, such as using a box or crate. You can also select an area and use pillows or other soft objects as a barrier to separate the lizard from other areas of the house. Be careful not to make a barrier with objects that can fall and injure the lizard. When away from home or when going from outside to the house, you should also close the main door and window because the wind is not good for the lizard, moreover other pets (if any) can come in and disturb them.

As leopard lizards get used to being taken out of their cages, they will become bolder and you will be able to play with them in bed, in chairs and on the floor, etc.

Let the lizards explore freely. In general, leopard lizards are curious, active, and exploratory creatures, so let them do it freely. Have the lizard crawl up your arm, ride it on your shoulder, or even curl up in your hair. Leopard lizards may end up lying in a spot on your body where they feel warm–they’re cold-blooded animals and to them our skin is like a heating stone. So don’t be surprised if they decide to hang on to your neck or the inside of your elbow. ^{[2] X Research Source}

You can roll up a piece of fabric (such as a towel or shirt) and place it on your bed, then let the lizard climb up and find a favorite hiding spot. Remember to keep an eye on it to see where it hides when you need to bring it back to the cage.
Let the lizard explore an empty room or your bed. Leopard lizards love to climb (although they are not very good at it) and find places to crawl inside, so let it crawl behind and around pillows and mattresses. You remember to pay attention to it and do not be subjective, otherwise it will go away without knowing it.

Create an obstacle course for the lizard. Find a large crate or box and put ‘obstacles’ in it. Obstacles can be paper tubes for lizards to crawl through, smaller boxes for them to crawl on, and many other objects. Feel free to be creative! You can put in the box a fake tree for the lizard to climb (can be purchased at the pet store) or old toys to make the obstacle course more unique.

Organize a festival for lizards. This is similar to creating an obstacle course, except that the lizard will not have to try to overcome the obstacle to get from side to side. Instead, pack a variety of ‘toys’ (climbing plants, rugs, tissue rolls, etc.) and let the lizards play freely. You will be surprised at the fun things they do. Some will enjoy climbing up trees and jumping down. Others like to get into the core of a tissue roll and roll it around. Having a lizard festival is a great way for you to find out what your lizard likes to do. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

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Watch movies with lizards. This isn’t ‘fun’, but it’s also a great way to spend quality time with your pet lizard. Let the lizard sit comfortably in the warm spot it likes on your body and watch a movie together. Many leopard lizard owners have seen their pets stare intently at screens. Others sleep soundly in their favorite positions. Remember not to make the volume too loud to avoid startling and nervous lizards.

Know when to return the lizard to the cage. Leopard lizards need warmth to maintain energy levels. When climbing or exercising in a place that is not warm like a tank, they will become tired. You need to remember a rule of thumb is to check the lizard’s belly after playing with them for about 10 minutes. If you feel the lizard’s belly is cold to the touch, return it to the cage to warm up.

Advice

Let the leopard lizard get used to human contact. You will need to be patient with them. They will not like being alone and suddenly being bothered every day.
Do not use old discarded items for your pet lizard. Instead, buy them new items, such as fake logs and objects for hiding. The lizard’s habitat will be nicer and they will like it more too.
Leopard lizards don’t have sticky pads on their legs, they can’t crawl on vertical surfaces and fall easily. Therefore, you need to be careful and do not let them climb to places that are too high.
Always be gentle and never touch or handle their tails, or they will lose their tails on their own.
Always be gentle with leopard lizards as they are a rather soft creature.
When startled, the leopard lizard will make a rat-like sound and appear flustered. If you want, you can cover up your room and let the lizards roam freely.
If the lizard is very scared of you, don’t frighten it further by picking it up. Instead, put your hand in front of the lizard’s burrow every night, it will gradually get used to it and crawl onto your hand.
Do not force the lizard to do anything.

Warning

Do not feed the leopard lizard too much wax worms, they can become obese and become weak.
Do not feed your lizards acidic fruits (oranges, lemons, grapes, etc.). These fruits can put their lives in danger.
Never put your hand under a leopard lizard’s jaw. They will bite because they feel threatened and injure their jaws.
Never pull or touch the leopard lizard’s tail, or they will leave the tail on their own.

Steps

Get to know and play the basics

Play with leopard lizards

Advice

Warning

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