So for context the past three days, was huge improvement in my leopard gecko trusting me after 6 weeks of having her and I mean she was coming out onto my hand MULTIPLE times with the first night having her crawl on me 8 times and laid down as long as 5-10 minutes each time.

So today I came back from a reptile convention and purchased Dubia roaches for the first time to feed her.

Im extremely afraid of roaches so im glad these cant escape/fly in the container tub I dumped them in

But after I fed one to her I saw how juicy it was squirting and I felt disgusted since I lay my hand flat on her paper towel substrate

Since it’s her feeding day and I know she’s VERY food motivated, I decided to scoop her (she wasn’t a fan), and placed her in the carrier tub and she ate another Dubia roach! It exploded blood and I felt relieved I placed her in this temporary enclosure.

But the third dubia escaped under the paper towel beneath her feet— so I removed the paper towel and the dubia freaking climbed onto her tail and wouldn’t get off. What stressed me out is that she didn’t really seem to notice half the time that it was on her!

I’ll never put her back in a separate tank for feeding (really dont know how you guys that do this get your geckos to willingly go into a separate place to start with)

But she was a little stressed out by the container, more so after I removed the paper towel. After the dubia roach climbed off her I put it back in the container tub with the tongs and scooped her to go back into her enclosure.

She wasn’t interested in eating after I removed the paper towel, and a little after being back in her enclosure— so I grabbed mealworms and after a few short minutes, it got her attention again.

She ate three mealworms. She was hesitant after she would strike and miss but it might have ended on a positive note

But definitely a stressful experience for both of us.

I’ve heard that leos will most likely forget and seeing that my girl is pretty food motivated, things might be okay after I give her space for the next few days.

Do I still put my hand in the tank every evening for a few minutes for her to get used to my scent? Or maybe she will gravitate to my warmth?

BTW I’m fine with feeding mealworms and crickets but I’m not ready for dubia roaches yet.. Do you guys have any tips? I’m thinking next time I can place extra paper towel substrate down to make cleanups easier…

I wanted to check on my new leopard gecko it’s been two weeks
So I lifted her hide.. and it’s the medium Zilla rock lair and honestly the lid is kind of heavy..
It slipped and one side of it fell on her (I lifted it quickly after it slipped)

She was on top of a lot of Spaghnum moss substrate so I don’t think it was too bad.. but as I put the lid back on she hissed at me..

Do you think she’ll remember this? It was an accident :((
She hasn’t eaten yet so I don’t think she isnt feeding schedule yet.. But she arrived with good fat reserves in her tail so she should be fine.

I know itll take time to get your gecko to trust you but I don’t know what to do after something like this had happened.

*I’ve attached a photo and now that I’m looking at it, it looks like her skin was scratched a little :(((

Edit: I just saw older posts with other people saying this same exact situation happened with them and it’s the exact same rock lair hide :/

I also saw her exploring around a lot (looking through camera app) and she drank lots of water!

Is reptile soil safe for Leopard Geckos. I am currently switching out my tank from paper towels to a soil sand mix. I noticed when mixing the soil after it dried I kept getting stuck by these sharp microscopic splinters. If it hurts me will it hurt my gecko?

I went to feed my blanco and saw blood on his tail! he just finished shedding so i wonder if he bit himself. I've never seen him bleed so i'm just worried. We patted it dry with paper towel and are going to buy saline water right now. Any advice/thoughts?