Female mating with another female?

I have a dilemma and I didn't know which area this would best fit...

I purchased two TSF geckos from a breeder about 10 months ago. Knowing that TSF can be a crap shoot, I have been monitoring their behaviors to ensure they are getting along being housed together. I noticed Ziggy, Jungle Stripe, having a lack of appetite a few months ago and losing her thickness in her tail. Worried, I started making a wet slurry for her to lick up which didn't really go as well as I'd hoped. I then noticed she was gravid and put her in a separate area with a lay box. Ziggy laid one egg and began eating solids again, so I put her back in the big tank with Mango, my RRS. For the past week I've been monitoring them to ensure that they are getting along and not fighting. Last night, conveniently on Valentine's Day, I saw Ziggy trying to mate with Mango! Ziggy was biting mango in the back of the head and gripping her like a male would. I'm not sure if she was successful in copulating because I couldn't see her able to have much contact, but Ziggy was feverishly trying and Mango was accepting. I have removed Ziggy from the tank again, just in case this is a dominance move, and noticed Mango slithering around on all the surfaces looking like she's spreading scent.

DO I HAVE A PAIR OF LESBIAN GECKOS?! Because that would be neat if I did.:main_thumbsup: Or, do you think Ziggy may have hermaphroditic genetics? Here's some pics :main_robin:

ZIGGY


MANGO



Thanks in advance!

Welcome to GF! My eyes aren't so good anymore, so I can't be sure, but it's possible that I see bulges in Ziggy's picture. Female geckos do lay eggs without benefit of a male but they aren't fertile. I have no idea if Ziggy is actually a male or if there was just some dominating behavior going on. It sure sounds as if it's a male. You should think about separating them.

Aliza

Thanks for the reply!

If Ziggy is a male, how did he lay an egg? It's confusing, because I think I see bulges too, and pores. The pictures on my phone show them a little better. It just doesn't make sense because Zig DEFINITELY laid an egg.

Ziggy can't be male if she laid an egg. =P

Both of those geckos definitely look female to me. Females have faint pores. It could be dominating behavior. I've never heard of a females trying to mate with other females.

Are you positive you weren't observing aggressive behavior rather than mating behavior?

Either way, it might be best to separate these geckos.

You might have what they call a 'hot female' on your hands. A female that comes out of a clutch that was incubated at high temperatures. (which would normally result in males)
They are more dominating than normal females and may even exhibit some of the male traits like a wide head, or in this case what appears to be tiny bulges.

Can't be sure this is the case though, whether or not she's a hot female, she's definitely not good to keep with other geckos.

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OP said they were both TSF, so she can't be a hot female.

These are great reply's thank you! She was definitely trying to mate. I researched mating between geckos and also dominating behavior. It was definitely mating and definitely odd. I could see that she was trying to insert herself into Mango. I have not placed her back in the tank with Mango, and will not again.

Even if she was TSF, maybe the breeder had the heat hotter than normal? It is Florida, and it was a pretty hot spring.

I wanted to post here to see if anyone else has seen such behavior before as I wasn't able to find any documentation about it.

Oops, missed the part about them being TSF.

What's interesting is that this happened between my two female bearded dragons once. She pressed her cloaca to the other female's while biting on the back of her head like a male would. Everyone just ruled it out as strange dominance behavior or too much testosterone.

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I actually just adopted a pair of malnourished geckos that the owner claims are male / female, but after taking a good look at them, I'm certain they're both female. Neither show any signs of pores, and slight bulging in their tails are both the same size. Being an artist, I'm well practiced in paying attention to small details - there is NO pores on either of them that I could see after multiple close inspections.

None the less, said previous owners claimed that they've been mating, and that only the one they said is female has ever laid eggs.... I figure it's probably a dominance behavior, since the "male" is certainly more active than the reserved, submissive "female".

(Sorry for reviving an old thread - it was relevant to my concerns!)

Sounds as if you could be right about that.

Aliza