When cleaning the viv

Hi, I'm new here ^^' and since cleaning my vivarium today I decided to join this forum at last!
So, while I do it, I put my gecko Sunny in a faunarium with tissue in the bottom and his hide in there too. When I put the lid on it he freaks out a bit - I know having a shadow over them frightens them and I try to be as non-scary as possible. When I take the lid off when I'm done he makes a mad dash out of the thing too.
Does anyone else have a gecko that freaks out like that? What do you put them in when cleaning the viv? Also, when he's in there, he gets a bit cold. How can I prevent that?
Every reply will be much appreciated ^_^ x

When moving them from their home to a smaller container, they'll most definitely freak out. They freak out a bit less once they've gotten used to it, but they'll still try to climb out. But cleaning is necessary and it's something you have to do, so there's not much you can do to avoid that.

I use a critter tote, like the one you are using. Mine are high enough they can't climb out so I don't have to close the lid. Might not freak them out as much if you don't have to close the lid on them. You can also place something in there for them to hide in temporarily. I've found that helps.

As for heating, generally you don't need to worry about them being a bit cold while you clean out their tank. But you can always just get another under tank heating pad and hook it up when you are ready to do full cleaning.

Thanks for the reply I'll just be patient he should get used to it.

i put all of my animals, even my adults in extra tubs in my baby rack, and none of them have ever freaked out... maybe it is not going into something smaller, but maybe it is the sharp noise and motion when you snap the lid shut??? that would be my guess. there is really nothing that you can do about it, as mardy stated, but probably in time, the gecko will get used to this as 'ordinary' interaction, and chill out a bit...no pun intended. about the animal getting cold, it should not get that cold in the amount of time it takes to clean out a cage, unless you keep your home really cool...i have a gecko room, that i keep at 76 degrees, so that is as cool as thier cool sides get, and i sometimes take them up to the living room,(that stays at 70 in the winter, and 68 in the summer{love that central air}) and have them up there for over an hour in some cases...and they never get too cold. remember that in the wild, where leopards are naturally, it can get REALLY cold at night...so i doubt that you home is too cold to expose them to for a little while.

I put my leopard geckos in a cardboard with air holes in.. in the box I put a hot water bottle with a hand/face towel over it they like it to be dark, it calms them down oh, and I put their hot side hide in the box, too

All geckos are different, and some aren't used to going into new environments. With time, and if you keep a routine for cleaning, your gecko will be more secure with moving over.

Thanks, I think I'll try making it darker next time and use a hot water bottle if I can get one