Dear HC-ers,

I have a problem that's more in the emotional vein, but your experience might help the situation. The gist of it is that my 7 year-old daughter startles the Leopard Geckos every time she tries to help with their care. This problem primarily occurs when she reaches into their cage to feed them or change the water or replace moss in the wet hide, etc. She tends to bump into the lid & the rocks, which makes a noise. And she moves too quickly around them when putting the worms in. And sort of knocks things around too much when doing maintenance cleaning. So, their overall feeling towards her is hesitant. They 'trust' me a lot more.

When we get them out to play, the one is characterically skittesh, the other is pretty low-key for a while, then starts to wander. So our non-cage time with them usually only last about 10 minutes.

I feel really bad for her because, in her 7 year-old way, she really tries to be smooth and gentle. She really wants to help, and, technically, one of them is hers; the other mine. Because she startles them, they go hide and she has a feeling of non-success with them. So I'm worried about her self-confidence in this area. At the same time, it doesn't seem right to refuse to let her do anything, nor to overly control what she does. To a certain extent, she needs to learn through experience.

Incidentally, we don't have this problem with the AFTs, who are much lower-key.

Suggestions? Should we go to pet-family therapy? (jk)

Any and all input would be appreciated (unless, that is, someone tells me to go jump in a lake or get lost, which would not be appreciated )

Jennifer

My suggestion would be for you to do all the work inside the cage and have your daughter clean the items that you are removing. Hand her the water dish and the moss and have her clean them (it'll include her in the activity), and let her put in the worms into the feeding dish outside the cage. Explain to her that loud noises and sudden movements can scare them.

That's my two cents.

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Grammostola rosea 0.1.0
Pandinus imperator 2.0.0
Lampropeltis getula nigrita 0.1.0
Uromastyx maliensis 0.1.0
Rhacodactylus ciliatus 2.2.2
Uroplatus henkeli 0.0.1
Eublepharis macularius 1.0.0

Simple remedies often elude me as a parent. I guess I just lose perspective. For instance, we were having trouble with my daughter leaving clothes on the floor in her bedroom, then when I asked her to clean them up, she'd move them to the laundry en masse, regardless of whether they were clean or dirty. This was very frustrating until I ran it by a friend who suggested that we put a hamper in her room, so dirties never make it to the floor. You'd think I was a true idiot not to think of these things. Maybe I am. Oh well, I still have lots of fun.

Anyway, your advice is well taken.

Jen

Thanks. I always like to help out.

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Grammostola rosea 0.1.0
Pandinus imperator 2.0.0
Lampropeltis getula nigrita 0.1.0
Uromastyx maliensis 0.1.0
Rhacodactylus ciliatus 2.2.2
Uroplatus henkeli 0.0.1
Eublepharis macularius 1.0.0

This rememdy didnt seem to help my 15 yr old son, lol...the dirties still make it to the floor

Great idea for the gecko help thought. If that doesnt appease her, maybe you could put the geckos in another container so she can still do th work on the inside of the tank. Let us know how it goes.

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

Hello,

Your not an idiot. lol The most rational explanation and ideas are often overlooked because we all have a tendancy to over think things when they pertain to us. Its easier to answer other peoples questions than it is to answer our own for that very reason.

I agree with Mike on this one. Remove her from direct contact with the Leopard Geckos, but not from the equation itself. She will be participating fully, but with limited actual access.

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.:: Rich ::.

+ Spread The Info

since you do have outside time, can you move the Leopard Geckos to a separate place and then she can clean the tank out? even if its just a 5 gallon bucket or a separate critter carrier.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Kids tend to get excited and not pay much attention to what is going on. You could always use this situation as a teaching tool. Simply explain to her that she is seriously frightening the geckos and that if she wants to be able to help she has to slow it down! Explain to her that it would be like a giant coming into her room and slamming things around. She wouldnn't care for THAT!
If she refuses to slow down and ber careful, restrict her from to helping for a cleaning. This tends to get their attention since at that age they do not want to be excluded from things.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

This might be one of those really "simple" things, but I had a student helper when I had a snake in my classroom, and he had a similar problem. Our solution was: we added a stool so that he could reach better! Sometimes kids in their excitement and whatnot forget that they're not close enough to reach something carefully, and it ends up with the bumps and knocks. Once my buddy had a stool, he could be slow and careful.

Another idea is to have you take the lid off, and have her go for one thing at a time - talk with her about which one she is getting, and then go take care of it. You can take turns so that she is "in" less, and though it might slow things down a little, it still lets her be on the "inside" with the geckos - which is probably the exciting part for her!

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the input. I got several good ideas from the collective input. Oddly enough, I think the 'she needs a stool' problem might be a major factor in this. The 'giant' analogy is great - I'm sure she'll tune into that.

Well, I'm glad I threw it out before you guys. I now have a much better grasp on how to proceed.

Jen

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Leopard Geckos: Gravy & Noah
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Russian Tortoise: Dude
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