melissamott124
Member
Hello all!
My name is Melissa and I'm pretty new to this forum and brand new to lizards. I did a ton of research before I adopted my little Cleo, and I've been anxiously waiting for years to graduate college so I could move home and set up a terrarium in my bedroom. Well the time has finally come and I adopted Cleo and couldn't be happier with her! She's beautiful, healthy, eating a ton!
The one problem is, I'm pretty scared of her. I didn't anticipate this happening, but now that she's here I'm genuinely pretty nervous/scared to handle her. She's about 3.5 months old and I only got her 2 days ago, so I'm hoping this is something that will go away with time. She's extremely timid around people (darting to get away from us, hiding under her logs when we try to pick her up, etc.) and when we finally do manage to take her out of her tank, she puffs up her beard.
I know I'm being irrational and the odds of her actually biting are slim, but yet I'm still so nervous! I can't pick her up out of her tank (my mom has been the main one handling her, she's much better with this sort of thing than I am), but I'm okay to hold her once she's out of her tank AS LONG AS she's not puffing up and seems to be calm.
I know that in order for me to get used to her, and possibly more importantly for her to get used to me, I just have to bite the bullet and handle her. I don't want her to become aggressive and grow to hate being handled. Does anyone have advice on how to get over this fear, or even stories of similar experiences? I'm a little embarrassed to be admitting this, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt this way!
My name is Melissa and I'm pretty new to this forum and brand new to lizards. I did a ton of research before I adopted my little Cleo, and I've been anxiously waiting for years to graduate college so I could move home and set up a terrarium in my bedroom. Well the time has finally come and I adopted Cleo and couldn't be happier with her! She's beautiful, healthy, eating a ton!
The one problem is, I'm pretty scared of her. I didn't anticipate this happening, but now that she's here I'm genuinely pretty nervous/scared to handle her. She's about 3.5 months old and I only got her 2 days ago, so I'm hoping this is something that will go away with time. She's extremely timid around people (darting to get away from us, hiding under her logs when we try to pick her up, etc.) and when we finally do manage to take her out of her tank, she puffs up her beard.
I know I'm being irrational and the odds of her actually biting are slim, but yet I'm still so nervous! I can't pick her up out of her tank (my mom has been the main one handling her, she's much better with this sort of thing than I am), but I'm okay to hold her once she's out of her tank AS LONG AS she's not puffing up and seems to be calm.
I know that in order for me to get used to her, and possibly more importantly for her to get used to me, I just have to bite the bullet and handle her. I don't want her to become aggressive and grow to hate being handled. Does anyone have advice on how to get over this fear, or even stories of similar experiences? I'm a little embarrassed to be admitting this, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt this way!