afraid of my hand

Question
hi, i got my leopard gecko from my uncle and ever since he got
him he has been afraid of being held, he said to just put my
hand in his tank for like 10 min a day so he gets used to it
but that seems to be making it worse, what should i do?

Answer
Hi James,
It's not so much that he is afraid as it is he just doesn't want/like to be held which is normal for many leopard geckos. You may find that no matter what you do, he will never be comfortable being held.  What you can try is to do your best to not hang over his tank but place your hand inside the tank, palm side up.  He may walk onto your hand that way. If he flat out does not want to be picked up, another "trick" is to use something such as a folded towel.  Place it in the tank and when he climbs onto it, pick the towel up so that he is in sort of a hammock.  Do be careful so that he doesn't fall/jump out of it though.  Place him on a bed or on your leg and allow him to climb on you.  Again, care must be taken so that he does not fall.  Since some leos will actually lick at fruits, try holding a piece of watermelon in your fingers and give him time to come to you to investigate what you are holding.  Always talk softly to him.
You may find that he never wants to be touched...but the goal is for him to allow you to pick him up.  Also, don't try touching his tail because as a rule..they HATE to have their tails touched!!
One other thing...most leos do not do well in real bright lights so when taking him out you don't want to have a lamp glaring down on him...normal room lighting is fine as is sunlight just so it isn't directly in his eyes.
I had one leo that loved to be held and petted..as long as I stayed away from her tail...my other leo...forget it!! she wants nothing at all to do with being touched in any way.