She tried to get me

[Gail]

Happy does a fair amount of glass dancing everyday. Generally I take her out for a couple minutes, she doesn't like to be picked up and will flatten out and curve her body away from me. Tonight it was no different except this time when I put her on my chest, she open mouth lunged at my face. I pick her up and she immediately opened her mouth wide and tried to bite my hand but I was holding her in a way that she couldn't turn her head enough to get me. I held her for a bit longer before putting her back in the cage, I had to jerk my hand back quickly as she went after me again. I sat with the cage door open talking to her and if I so much as twitched, she was lunging at me again.

I'm sure most of this behavior is due to her being a new arrival and still being scared but I'm unsure how to approach her now. Do I continue to just reach in and pick her up or should I go slower and just get her used to my hands being around her?

Cy is complete opposite, he is still a bit skittish but he has no desire to bite. Pretty sure the only reason he would ever bite a person is if he though they were edible, he is a garbage gut.

[Katrina]

You haven't had them for very long, so I'd just leave them alone to settle in for a while. The couple new juvie Northerns I've gotten have been very defensive when I first got them and settled in completely within 2-3 weeks, but this is just the stress of moving / new environment etc.

If you keep your hand flat, fingers together and show them the flat side they can't bite it but can still get a bit used to your smell. But definitely give them both a week or two to settle, you probably won't see this again after they are used to their new environments.

[Gail]

Thank you, I will let them settle more before handling. Is it ok if I keep touching Cy though? He really doesn't seem to mind and I want him to learn that my hand doesn't always mean food is coming.

Is the glass dancing due to being in a new home too? They have plenty of room and places to hide but happy seems real unsettled, especially in the evening. Sometimes a couple bites of food will settle her down but not for long.

[Katrina]

There are no real rules, just use your judgement for touching / handling and don't stress them out too much.

For the glass - are all sides glass? Does she have lots of really snug hides where she can be completely hidden? It is generally a sign of stress or else I see it pretty much always in males.

[Gail]

No, she is in a wooden cage with only the front doors glass. She has 2 very short, snug hides that she uses quite often. The aspen is over 2 inches so she can burrow completely in it and hide if she wants. I can try adding more hides, see if it will help.
I'm not positive on gender, she is supposed to be female but is still young, only 6 months.

[Katrina]

The first couple weeks are too early to tell much, don't stress, some scratch on the glass. As long as conditions / temps are fine and she has snug hides then she is fine. She might grow out of it, if she continues to scratch often for no reason I'd put money on male.

[NennaMeerkat]

That would scare me if mine lunged at my face while holding him on my chest. He has made a few attempts at my hand when I first got him, but never at my face >.< Good luck in the future! I am sure after he calms down a bit and sees you as the "deliverer of the food" he might calm down a bit. Sometimes "tough love" is needed to get them used to being handled. That is what I did with mine (especially since he had some scale problems that I checked every so often). He came lunging at my fingers, hissing and puffing, I just had to be faster than him. Now he generally just flattens slightly but lets me pick him up and cradle him in my arms and on my chest. Was even allowed to help get some stuck shed off around his eye the other day <3

[Gail]

It startled me a bit but she is only 12" so it was kinda funny seeing her trying to act so tough. She has been handled daily since birth by the breeder so I'm not worried she will be aggressive, I was just taken by surprise. Even my WC indo doesn't lunge at me like that.
I'm going to try covering half of her cage door tomorrow, maybe she doesn't like everyone looking at her.

[Coomassie]

I haven't seen this in Coomassie but all of my leopard geckos glass dance in all glass enclosures. As soon as we moved them to their new enclosures (opaque plastic), no more glass dancing even though they can see out of their enclosure through the front. Of course, they will scratch at the front of the enclosure when they want to come out, even if it is the middle of the night . I think covering the enclosure is a really good idea.

[Richard.C]

they look pairish to me,still young,but from the look of them id say u have them right,sex wise,also females do the glass climb to,my 2 female kimberley northerns are shockers for it,especially if they can see me,theres a good chance your 2 werent overly handled ect by previous owner,being a breeder,so im sure she will settle in time,northerns are usually quite tame as a species,you get the odd one that doesnt play ball,but over all they generally settle fast,id leave her be for a bit,let her get used to you through food,maybe the odd handle of her,she will learn you are no threat pretty quick,if the males mellow,then you are right to handle him

dont think of it as aggression,its more a timid skink thinking she needs to defend her self