Mastering the fine art of sleepytime cuddles

Pooka (baby beardie) has now been with me for a little over a week. She is now eating and pooping regularly, and starting to settle in. I decided to take her out for some handling right after the lights went out.

At first she was pretty anxious (I was afraid she would jump off my shoulder at one point!), but then she calmed down to the point that I had trouble getting her *off* once I put her back in the tank.


(Really, I had to peel her off of me!)

Now she's completely sacked out in the same place I finally put her down. She'll open an eye if I approach the tank, but that's about it!!!

A few things:

1. With my leopard gecko, if she gets really, really stressed she'll eventually just freeze. Is that what is happening here? Or is Pooka either 1) getting really sleepy 2) just less freaked out once she's outside of the tank?

2. When the lights go off, how quickly does it take for them to get sleepy?

3. If I want to slowly acclimate Pooka to handling, is it okay to do it about 20 minutes after lights out? Or will this disturb her sleep and ultimately stress her out more?

Thanks as always! It's great having this board as a resource.

Enjoy .... she has discovered her human mommy is toasty, comfy and going to sleep on you is the ultimate compliment (it shows she feels safe and secure on you - ie you are her safe place).

One point, only allow her on your shoulder IF you are seated , if she leaps off or falls off, she'll not fall far and will land on something soft. But be careful if she crawl over the crest of your shoulder onto your back that you don't accidentially squash her when you sit back or turn around.

kingofnobbys":d59b1909 said:

Enjoy .... she has discovered her human mommy is toasty, comfy and going to sleep on you is the ultimate compliment (it shows she feels safe and secure on you - ie you are her safe place).

One point, only allow her on your shoulder IF you are seated , if she leaps off or falls off, she'll not fall far and will land on something soft. But be careful if she crawl over the crest of your shoulder onto your back that you don't accidentially squash her when you sit back or turn around.

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Noted! It's funny, my leopard gecko does the exact same thing with crawling onto my back :roll:

For the last two days now, I've taken her out about 15 minutes after lights out for about 5-10 minutes at a time. I'm hoping this slowly acclimates her to me, and that eventually she won't get freaked out when I take her out during the day.