Male and Female get along together year-round?

CatMarie

New Member
Messages
1
Location
NH
Ok so I have two geckos in a 20-gallon tank. Originally I was told that they were both females, only to later discover that my albino is in fact a male, while the other is female.

Luckily, both get along extremely well. I am constantly monitoring them, checking them day and night. I feed them separately to avoid fighting. They are checked regularly for wounds, and i have found no evidence of fighting on either of them ever.

The female has laid fertilized eggs before, but given that it wouldn't be fair to hatch eggs I don't have room for, I freeze them overnight and throw them away.

Basically, they sleep together but pretty much ignore one another otherwise. I only ever caught them doing the do once when I first got them, and since then there has been no fertile eggs.

My question is, has anyone else experienced the same thing? Or are my geckos just weird?
 

SCGeckos

New Member
Messages
99
Location
South Carolina
I would suggest separating them regardless of weather they fight or not. While they may not breed constantly they will likely continue to breed. If he wants to mate and she is not receptive it is possible for injuries to occur. Even if it has not happened thus far, it only takes a split second for things to go bad. If you are not planning on keeping the eggs it is simply unnecessary stress put on the females body producing these eggs so separating them would be in the females best interest.
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,156
Location
Somerville, MA
You just have to keep an eye on them. I had a pair of leopard geckos living together for several years. The main reason I did this was because the male seemed much more agitated (constantly trying to "dig" his way out of the cage) when housed individually, and the female no longer ovulated and was very reclusive (she'd spend all her time in the magnet hide). It worked well for a number of years, with the male trying occasionally to mate, being rejected and backing off. Eventually, though, he became more insistent (and she was getting less reclusive, so he had opportunity) and I had to separate them.
I keep my breeders in 1.2 groups most of the year and rarely have a problem. I have also found that when male/female geckos are kept together, they do not try to breed all year. Typically my leos (who are kept together except for 6wks to 2 months in the winter) get excited about breeding when put together and then it pretty much stops by mid-summer. My fat tail geckos are kept together year-round and only try to breed in the spring. They are completely ignoring each other at this time of year.

The most important thing is to be sure that the geckos in question are healthy enough to recover from egg-laying and are watched carefully in case their situation changes.

Aliza
 

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