When it comes to sound sensitivity, some species of animals can hear a little better, while others, hear a little worse. Which makes complete sense because when out in the wild, certain animals have to be more alert than others in order to survive predators that may be on the hunt for their next meal. But what happens when certain species of animals with very sensitive hearing are put in a louder and more chaotic environment than what they’re used to. Let’s find out.
Are leopard geckos sensitive to sound? Yes, they are. Leopard geckos use their sensitive hearing to not only protect themselves from predators out in the wild, but they also use it to hunt prey at night when they’re hungry and it’s time to feed.
When in the wild, this is a very important sense to have for the sole purpose of surviving and hunting. But in a tank where there’s no threat and no prey to hunt aside from the little crickets that hop around during feeding time, it’s not as useful, and can actually be a little harmful depending on the environment they’re in. Here are some disadvantages, advantages, and consequences of living in an environment that may be a little too loud for your gecko.
More Responsive
Believe it or not, but their sensitive hearing can actually aid as a good tool in bonding and building a better and closer relationship in the early stages of owning your leopard gecko. Creating an identifiable sound, which I mention here in this article that I wrote for new gecko owners, is an important step in building trust with your gecko and can be used to bring them joy whenever they hear it.
Their ability to hear sound easier will allow them to pick up on your voice easier whether you’re right next to them, close by, or even across the room. This can be useful if your bed is far away and want to communicate with them at the end of the day as you lie down, if you work from home and want to say ” hi ” every once in a while, or even if you want to practice your identifiable sound with them when farther away from the tank.
As your gecko gets more used to your voice, you might find that whenever you make your identifiable sound or call their name, that they’ll look in your direction or pop their head out of their hide as a reaction to the sound you’ve just made.
This is awesome because not only can this be used to lure them out during feeding time, but also help them with any tension they may be experiencing as well.
Losing Trust
Whenever your leopard gecko associates you with a bad experience, noise, or occurrence, they tend to lose a lot of trust with you. Trust is a key factor when it comes to the relationship between them and their owners, so without that, it’s harder to care for them.
An experience with loud noises can easily be attached to you and should be avoided at all costs. For example, if you have music blasting to the point where it’s piercing through the house or shaking the items in your room and then proceed to go pick your gecko up, then they might attach you to that loud noise.
Lost trust between you and your gecko can make them feel very scared whenever you come around and that’s the last thing you want as their owner. This can make it hard to feed them, hold them, and you might even find that they’re running and hiding any time you are trying to interact with them. So it’s never a good idea to having anything overly loud around them because there will be nothing but negative consequences associated with it.
In order to prevent this from happening, I recommend trying out some soundproof foam blocks. Cutting and sticking these to the sides and back of your enclosure with some rubber cement (washes off glass easily) could help absorb a lot of the noises that go on outside of the tank and therefore ensure that no trust is lost between you and your leopard gecko.
Cricket Detection
Leopard geckos usually have no problem catching crickets despite how quickly they tend to hop around the tank, but sometimes, there will be a few instances where some of the crickets will try hiding behind equipment in the tank such as any accessories you might have in there, in the food or water bowl, or even in the hide.
So whenever this happens, there hearing will be their best attribute in assisting them in finding the little chirping crickets that they may be unable to see. Not only will this allow them to eat, but will allow them to stay safe as well.
Crickets tend to like to bite at your leopard gecko, which can sometimes be harmful due to the chance of causing an infection, so it’s important that they’re able to find and eat the crickets before they have a chance to eat (or bite) at them.
Obviously, a leopard gecko should be supervised in a tank full of crickets, but just in case you may have gecko that is a little on the slower side and you feel that the crickets are teaming up on them too much, then it’s important that you remove the crickets or lizard from the tank to prevent any serious damages to the geckos skin.
Keep in mind that not all crickets chirp, only males, so it’s also important that you keep track of them whenever they are in the tank just in case there are a few that decide to hide and come out later whenever you’re not around.
A leopard gecko can be slow moving for multiple different reasons, so it’s best that you stay tank side if you feel that yours is or if there are too many crickets in the tank at once.
Environmental Changes
Sometimes when getting new pets, we have to change what we do and what we have in our environment in order to keep them safe and out of trouble at all times. One, what seems like a bad disadvantage but is really a good one for not only your gecko but for you as well, is making sure you keep music and television volumes down to a minimum.
Reptiles with sensitive ears don’t appreciate this and will even become very stressed out if the music or volume on your TV is blasting way too loud. Not only that, but it will also cause you to lose your hearing much quicker in the long run as well.
In order to successfully be a great pet owner, it’s best that we make accommodations and lifestyle changes in our own environment so that we don’t make our leopard gecko feel worse than it ever should.
Changing the way you do things in your own personal space may be a little challenging to do at first, but over time, you’ll get the hang of it. Many new reptile owners make the mistake of overdoing things that may be very stressful on their new pet. So in order to not make those same mistakes, it’s best to make the changes necessary so that your gecko stays happy and healthy in its environment at all times.
Helps with Sleep
There are many disadvantages that leopard geckos are prone to when living in a bad environment while having sensitive hearing, but luckily, this is not one of them. Not many people know this, but it has been said that playing nature noises are great for getting your geckos to sleep. And with them having sensitive hearing, this can be a huge advantage to you because you won’t have to turn the volume up too loud in order for them to hear it.
Their tanks probably do a good job at blocking a lot of noise out or at least muffling it a bit, so with their naturally great sense of hearing, being able to play music at lower volumes is completely safe and in no way disruptive to anyone else that may be in the house.
Not only are nature sounds good for them, but they are also very soothing for us humans, too. So whenever you’re relaxing or want to turn something soothing on to help you fall asleep, your gecko can appreciate those sounds as well.
This makes it a win-win situation for everyone and will be great for not only relieving stress from your life but from your gecko’s life as well.
Conclusion
Your leopard gecko has sensitive hearing for survival reasons, so be sure to exercise a bit of sense when bringing one home. Loud noise can cause more bad than good and should be something you should always be aware of before turning that radio or TV up too loud.
Does this mean that it has to be so low that you can barely hear it? No. But it does have to be at a reasonable level. Stress caused by anything can be displayed by a leopard gecko in many different ways and will cause you to have a harder time caring for them and, therefore, destroy a lot of trust and respect that you may have earned up until the point of losing it.
If you want to be a great owner, then it’s always best to respect their needs. And in return, they’ll love you for it.
