Any ideas for a leopard gecko trap? (live catch, of course)

[Melissa Trible]

My leopard gecko has gone missing (I stupidly left her on the table to soak, then went to bed).  I've looked around, and can't find her, probably not helped by the fact that my condo is an unholy mess, and that she is small and nocturnal.

I've left the little caves from her terrarium on the floor, in the hopes that she would consider them a nice cozy familiar place to hang out, but no luck so far.  It occurs to me that she might well go into them, then wander off again.  So it would be a good idea to try to set up something that, once she walks into it, she can't walk out again (without, obviously, hurting her).

They make little live-catch mouse traps that are basically a rectangular box, open on one end, balanced with the open side slightly down, that snap shut if you tilt the back end down, afaik (like this: http://www.victorpest.com/victor-live-mouse-trap-bm007-4 ).  Problem is, I'm pretty sure Terry is longer and possibly a bit wider than a mouse (about 20 cm long, I'd ballpark her as maybe 3 cm wide and 2 tall, but I'm guessing; mice run around 10 cm long not counting the tail, and weigh up to 25g).  Rat traps would be long enough, but she likely doesn't weigh enough to set them off.

So, any ideas for making a leopard gecko trap?

[Ryan Mcdermott]

https://gfycat.com/ImpureScientificIrishsetter

But with a bigger hole in the top.

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[Melissa Trible]

She's... not climbing very well right now, so I'd *really* prefer something as low-effort as possible for her, especially since I can't really bait it (roaches, or even waxworms, won't stay in place very well, and she's not eating well now anyways).  Cool idea, though.

[Corey Renner]

All the geckos that live around my house are always on the ceilings at night.  When it's dark I'd walk around (carefully) with a flashlight looking up.

cheers,

c

http://www.thesaltedearth.com/

Blog:

http://coreyrenner.tumblr.com/

 

YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/vandal968

[Melissa Trible]

Leopard geckos can't do the wall climbing thing, they're pretty purely terrestrial.  And, right now, she's not climbing as much as she used to, she lost some toes in a couple of bad sheds.

[Jasper Nance]

When I was 13 and my pet lizard got out, we put out a heat rock and a lamp in an open spot of the floor. My mom woke me at 2 AM to see him basking and we were able to get it back into his home. But this was not a gecko :( 

----------------------------------------------
Jasper Nance - KE7PHI
Creative and Scientific Imagery
http://www.nebarnix.com/

[Melissa Trible]

On Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 7:14:27 AM UTC-7, Nebarnix wrote:

When I was 13 and my pet lizard got out, we put out a heat rock and a lamp in an open spot of the floor. My mom woke me at 2 AM to see him basking and we were able to get it back into his home. But this was not a gecko :( 

And my condo's warm enough that a hot spot likely wouldn't be all *that* attractive, at this point.  (though, for future reference, heat rocks are Seriously Bad News, and shouldn't be used for pretty much any reptile... under-tank heat pads and/or heat lamps are *much* better)

[S.M.P. Newstead]

A tiny gecko-sized book entitled "How to Harness your Regenerative Properties for Evil" with a GPS on it. That should do it.

Or you can use the methods in the book "How to Catch a Leprechaun;" just change "leprechaun" to "leopard gecko."

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-catch-a-leprechaun-adam-wallace/1122457300?ean=9781492632917&st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP346&k_clickid=3x346

But seriously, leave little dishes of water around, and maybe a bunch of tupperwares that she can't escape out of. Here's a site with a really old dude who also lost a leopard gecko.

http://www.geckotime.com/finding-an-escaped-gecko/

[Melissa Trible]

The basic idea I was thinking of was, in essence, a box (probably cardboard or paperboard), probably about the size of a box of girlscout cookies, balanced on some sort of pivot, with an open end with a hinged lid that can stay propped open when the box is pointed downwards (that is, open-end down), but somehow closes if the box tilts upwards.

Possible mechanisms that occur to me to make the lid close:

Props--have the lid held up with little props of some sort, that will fall away if the lid lifts away from them or tilts too far

An independent structure that will knock the lid down if the box points upwards

Something to do with a pulley attached to the back of the trap


Anyone think any of those would be easier than any of the others?  Would magnets help me here?  Any other thoughts?

[Melissa Trible]

She hasn't been well.  At least at this point, I think anything that she couldn't climb out of, she also couldn't climb *into*.  Unless it is some kind of trap that closes on her, which... brings me back to the "how do I make a leopard gecko trap?"

[S.M.P. Newstead]

You can surround a container with something much easier to climb into than climb out of, like a shirt around a mixing bowl.

On Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 8:49:11 PM UTC-7, Melissa Trible wrote:

[Aaron Hicks]

Perhaps something like this hinged mousetrap:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABffYDM9EwU

My only anecdote involves a red-tailed boa that escaped, tiny little thing maybe 8" in length. I put a lamp on the floor, pointed it at a piece of black construction paper, and turned the heat down. February in Pennsylvania made that easier.

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[Melissa Trible]

Part of the problem is, well, like I said, she has *not* been well.  I'm not sure she'd climb *anything* that took any significant effort to get into.  I'm not even sure she'd climb into a box trap like I'm describing, but it seems... likelier than anything steeper, at least.

[Melissa Trible]

Only problem is, I can't see how to build something of that general structure without, well, making her climb more than I suspect she's willing to in her present condition.

[desertsi...@yahoo.com]

You could threaten to change car insurance companies, that should bring him out.

[Eric Ose]

OK I like the creativity of this suggestions. Anyone consider using night vision. Oh right cold blooded...

How about temporarily cooling the space to draw them out. Or maybe look in the warm spots in the morning when it's cool.

-Eric Ose
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On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 9:07 AM, desertsingletrack via HeatSync Labs <heatsy...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

You could threaten to change car insurance companies, that should bring him out.

[Melissa Trible]

She's not a day gecko, much less an anthropomorphic one.

[Larry Campbell]

Being a "she" would she respond to a set of speakers playing a mating call? there are several youtube vids with gecko mating calls (be aware, one that is vulgar with the owner narrating some stuff that is inappropriate for underage viewers )

Seeing as how Skippy has nothing better to do with his day he should have been able to do a complete search of the entire place in the time Terri has been lost....

[Melissa Trible]

I don't *think* so, but it might be something to try.

Any technical ideas on either my trap idea, or some other sort of trap?

On Friday, May 13, 2016 at 12:36:25 PM UTC-7, Larry Campbell wrote:

Being a "she" would she respond to a set of speakers playing a mating call? there are several youtube vids with gecko mating calls (be aware, one that is vulgar with the owner narrating some stuff that is inappropriate for underage viewers )

Seeing as how Skippy has nothing better to do with his day he should have been able to do a complete search of the entire place in the time Terri has been lost....

He *does* have a job now.

[Melissa Trible]

Sadly, the internets seem to suggest that leopard geckos don't really do the mating call thing.  They're not *nearly* as chatty as a lot of other geckos.  I've occasionally had her "geck" at me when she's annoyed (eg if I'm holding her when she doesn't want to be held), but beyond that, I don't think she's made any other vocalizations.

However, apparently, boy leopard geckos shake their tails like a rattlesnake when they see/notice a girl gecko...

On Friday, May 13, 2016 at 12:36:25 PM UTC-7, Larry Campbell wrote:

[Aaron Hicks]

If the gecko can't climb and you were super-determined, you could lightly dust the floor with flour and check for tracks every so many hours. You might be able to narrow down where she was last detected, anyway.

[Melissa Trible]

I might at least do that on the tile near where she was last seen.  Probably not too productive on the carpet, however <g>

[Corey Renner]

A friend of mine had a cat that would have been perfect for this.  The cat used to catch lizards by the head, not harming them, just holding them and would leave them under the living room couch.  Every couple of days my buddy would remove all the perfectly healthy lizards from under the couch and toss them back in the yard.  Repeat.

cheers,

c

http://www.thesaltedearth.com/

Blog:

http://coreyrenner.tumblr.com/

 

YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/vandal968

[Melissa Trible]

Poor (presumably terrified) lizards.  Though at least not *dead* ones.