female 8 months old 49 grams walking like she is in slow motion

[kjsmith]

Well last night I was watching her go from one side of the terrarium to the other and she was literally walking in slow motion. Any ideas on why she would do that?

Also today she saw her cage mate (another female) walk towards the other side and she practically ran after her and tried to nip her tail. They have been together for 4 months always cuddling together. So I know they get along.

Any reason for this new behavior?

Thank you

 

[kjsmith]

Oh, she also had her tail up and waving it when she was in slow motion. There wasn't anything threatening in the terrarium.

 

[indyana]

The slow motion walking and tail waving are typical defensive behavior, basically gecko high alert.

I don't have any experience housing geckos together, but at eight months, she's starting to mature from a juvenile and her relationship with her cagemate may change. If her harassment of the other gecko continues, you may find you have to separate them.

 

[kjsmith]

I hope I won't have to do that, but I will if necessary. They were just cuddled up together last night quite a few times and no issue. One is 8 months old and 49grams the other is 7 months and 71 grams. Do you think they will ovulate or lay eggs this year? I do not have a male and do not plan on breeding. So I was wondering what to expect.

 

[indyana]

I would not expect yearling females with no exposure to a male to produce eggs, but I suppose it could always happen. As long as they have a place to lay eggs if they need to and good diet/supplements, you're set.

 

[Ruvik]

Whoah whoah whoah. The weight diffence is waaaaay off. You should only house females together of the same weight or close to. If one is bigger than the other bullying can happen. I house two females together and they are only 5 grams off in weight from each other. Keep a very very close eye. If the bullying keeps up, you'll have to remove one. Just be careful.

 

[kjsmith]

They were the same weight when they were put together originally. The one month younger one just grew bigger than the one who is showing a little aggression now. I stayed up all night watching them and no more issues. Going to keep an eye on them though to be sure.

 

[JoulesBurn]

Another thing to note is that geckos don't want to snuggle together. Usually, when people are humanizing what looks like snuggling, it's actually a low grade constant harassment. They may have not been getting along too well the whole time, which could explain why one grew so much more quickly than the other.