Juvenile Male wont let Juvenile female eat?

JennLP272

New Member
Messages
33
Location
Wilkes-Barre PA
I have two juveniles in the same tank. Usually they do well together, except at feedings. The male wont let the female eat. He will chase her instead of the crickets if she chases the crickets. I have to separate them other wise she wont eat and becomes very scared and tried to hide from him. Anyone have this happen before and is there a way I can fix it?
 

laurahlove

New Member
Messages
410
Location
Florida
Honestly there isn't much to do to fix it, its just a dominance thing. The only thing you can do for now is take him out of the tank and let her eat. It might go away when they get older though.

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DrCarrotTail

Moderator
Messages
3,590
Location
Ridgewood, NJ
What we interpret as protective may actually be dominant behavior. Leos are solitary and territorial animals it's not natural for them to cohabitate for long periods of time. Feeding issues are usually the first to crop up since that is the most valuable resource they have. If I were you I might try providing several more hides (so there are 3 on each side minimum) just to make sure they have choices and aren't forced to sleep on top of one another if they don't want to. If any behavior escalates I don't know there's much you can do other than separate them.
 

JennLP272

New Member
Messages
33
Location
Wilkes-Barre PA
I separated the two juveniles, the female is now doing much better, very active in her tank and eating well. :)

The male on the other hand was doing good in his new tank, but the last two days has been hanging out in his moist hide and wont eat anything I offer and his tail is looking a bit skinnier. Normally id shake a day or so off to him shedding but he doesnt appear to be lightening up to get ready to shed... Any suggestions on why hes acting so different.
 

DrCarrotTail

Moderator
Messages
3,590
Location
Ridgewood, NJ
How big is your male? I find mine really slow down eating around 40-50g when they're about 75% grown. I have had a couple pairs of females live together that ate more than well when they were together to the point of being super obese. Once they were separated the one stopped eating completely. I think she was just relieved not to feel like she had to compete for food anymore and was okay with relaxing more. We humans tend to read a bit too much into their behavior sometimes and worry. I think I would monitor his weight and if he's not losing a ton and is a healthy weight I would let him fast. Most of my adult males eat 5-10 mealworms once every week or two and are a tad more hefty than I would like them. They are energy conservation machines.
 

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