friendliest kind of gecko

Question
QUESTION: Hi I am Kat, and I need your advise on what to pick.

I am getting a gecko but i cant pick between a leopard gecko and a crested gecko. The catch is that i wont the most friendliest one that i can hold for hours and wont his or bite.


thank you


ANSWER: Dear Kat,
thank you for your question.
Both species are quite friendly and won't bite, most of them allow themselves to be handled without problems, there's not much difference between the species in that respect. They are still wild animals, though, and it's possible that your gecko won't get that tame, it really depends on their personality. But real aggression is extremely rare and even shy geckos of those species give a clear warnign before the bite. They also shouldn't be out of their enclosure for longer than half an hour or so because they will cool down too much and this may cause respiratory infections and other problems. So if you really want a pet that you can handle and interact with, geckos or other herps may not be the best idea.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What gecko species would you recomaned as a house hold pet that would sit on my shoulder an is there one kind of lizard would you recomand.

Answer
As I said, if you want a pet that will sit on your shoulder for longer than 10 minutes or so, I wouldn't recommend any lizard/herp at all. They will keep sitting on your shoulder, but that's because they loose warmth rapidly and then get too sluggish to move, the average room is just too cold for them. Herps are for watching and not for handling. It's fine to interact with your leo/crested gecko/bearded dragon for 10, 15 minutes but after that they shoudl return to their enclosure. Most species won't allow themselves to be handled at all.

Big species like green iguanas can be allowed to roam freely, but you need to install basking areas for them outside their eclosure so that they can keep warm. But they are not suitable for beginners at all and need more or less roomsized enclosures even if they can leave it for some time during the day.

No animal will just keep sitting on your shoulder, they all want to explore. The animal that will enjoy interacting with you most apart from dogs) are rats, they just love to be entertainwed by their owner and need to be, they are highly intelligent. But they also need a big cage (30x30x60" long, wide and high for 2-4 rats), must not be kept alone (pairs or groups of the same sex) and they are a real comittment because they need time outside their cage every day for several hours so as not to become bored.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer