Housing multiple leo geckos together

[forgivenick]

What is your experience and/or opinion on housing multiple leos together?

I want to know specifics about your view on

1) hatchlings: do the pros of housing clutch mates (and additional hatchlings?) together, outweigh the risks of competition, possibility of nips, etc?
2) sub-adults: since they are not quite mature, is there a benefit to housing them together to free up other enclosure space and allow sharing of other resources?
3) adults: Is the colony approach beneficial enough for good for socialization, mating with 1 male to many females, and sharing of resources to outweigh the risks of competition, fighting, lack of specific knowledge on feeder consumption per individual, fecal regularity per individual, etc?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

 

[acpart]

I group this way:

--hatchlings housed in groups of 2, either clutchmates or similar sized hatchlings
--juvies housed in a larger enclosure in groups of up to 4
--breeding groups housed together, usually in 1.2 from about Jan.-Oct
--females housed in groups of 0.3 usually from Oct-Jan

I house separately under the following conditions:
--hatchlings with special needs
--adults not getting along or getting bullied (happens rarely, but I keep an eye on it so I'm prepared to separate)
--males during the off-season

Works for me.

Aliza

 

[Russellm0704]

I personally house everything separate. Clutchmates are never even housed together for me. The only time i have geckos together is when breeding. And i only keep them together for a week or 2 at a time

 

[Astrael]

My boyfriend and I got two females at the same time, they were clutch mates, and they share a 40 gal breeder with 6 huts. Usually they share a hut, sometimes they'll be in different ones. We've kept an eye out, never seen a bite mark or anything. It's really cute when they snuggle into a lizard pile, or both stick their heads out of the hut to see what we're up to. We have two male beardies, and know how territorial lizards can get. However, the girls seem quite content to stay together. And yes, we feed them separately just to be sure.

 

[katie_]

I also would never house my geckos together.
The risks "we" take arent worth the unfortunate accidents that may occur.
The only time geckos come together in the wild is to breed, and I like to keep it that way.
Some people house geckos together for convenience and thats just bad gecko keeping in my opinion.


Also when geckos lay on eachother, they are not snuggling. The one on top is dominate and is being a bully to the one on the bottom.

 

[ian_bean]

my geckos are kept together i have two pairs....one pair in each tank and they NEVER lay on top of each other or fight or even bother each other and they are male female pairs! i also have no problem knowing who eats what cus i take em out for feeding or i will sit there and watch and make sure BOTH get a good amount of mealworms even if i have to put more in to make sure that happens. now if i feed crickets i just watch to make sure both at least get a few before i walk away but they wont even fight during feeding time or show any sign of stress that they are together

 

[CNest]

The only ones that I housed together were the breeding pairs. I prefer the hatchlings to be housed separate so I can monitor just how much food each is getting. I'd also like to avoid any tails being dropped. That also kind of goes for the adults as well. I have housed two females together but always fed them separately and kept them in a terrarium that was over 20gals with multiple moist, warm, and cool hides. But those were the only two girls I did that with outside of breeding. It was, for me anyways, much easier to introduce a single female and male for breeding. It all required more room but I feel you can keep better records without any guessing, breeding or not. I like to know the habits and normal patters of each individual gecko I have.

 

[ForTozs]

I used to keep adult breeding pairs together all the time, but I noticed the females could get pretty skinny during breeding season. Of they'll lose weight anyway, but they all seem fatter now that they have their own cages.

 

[mudskipper]

I just separated mine because I was noticing some tail twitching. They are all housed separately now.

 

[marauderhex]

I house all of mine seperately. I look at it like this, you need a single unit and a backup unit just to house two together (always have to have the contingency plan in case the grouping doesn't go well), so why not just give them their own mansions to begin with?

 

[forgivenick]

That has always been my perspective too Justin. I am very curious about housing multiple leos together though. Sasobek and David's Fine Geckos both house some of their geckos together and I posted some of their videos in my blog post (http://latitude33geckos.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/housing-multiple-leopard-geckos-together/)from today. I also posted a link to this thread for people who might want to vote and/or contribute.

 

[brookside_gecko_farms]

I keep mine separated. With the babies, I keep clutch mates together and occasionally up to four or so if I get too many. But I can see that they don't all like it. Some are timid, scared of me or the other baby eating, and they don't eat readily until I isolate them and then they eat like crazy and do perfectly.

I think they get used to their private enclosures and become less tolerant over time. I know that adults can be kept together sometimes, but not mine, not any more. Even the females posture and act agitated around each other. Do you think they change their behavior based on their circumstances?

Leopard Geckos | Brookside Gecko Farms

 

[ptbmaniac]

Most people would love to house their leo's together,but it is just way too risky! Just because all seems right does not mean they are happy. Leopard Geckos should be housed by themselves unless they are breeding!

 

[LECor Reptiles]

My Leopard geckos are housed separate. When breeding i introduce the male for 7-10 days then remove them. I find that the geckos are less stressed when they have other geckos in their enclosure. As adults when kept together there is room for bullying. When bullied and stressed, they won't eat. As hatchlings, i keep clutch mates together with about 3 different hides facing away from each other. This keeps the stress down. i keep them together until they are 8 to 10 grams . Then i give them their own enclosure. This also helps my tracking for each gecko(husbandry). I find now that my geckos are healthier.

A lot of breeders have their own way. Personally, this is what works for me.

 

[Tavaris Young]

Ok I currently have four females, three that I adopted that were housed together in a 10gal that I quickly upgraded to a 40gal standard and another that I bought a year or so later as a juvenile. After a six month quarantine I then did a couple introductions in a 10gal, just to see how they interacted, once I saw that there were no issues I moved the younger one into the 40gal with the other three adults and they all seem to be doing just fine. For feeding I hand feed the older ones three or four meal worms/crickets, depending on which feeding it is, and the younger one five or six just to make sure they are all getting some then it is a free for all with the rest of the food. I recently started the hand feeding when I noticed that one of my geckos seems to be a little slower and a little less accurate at striking than the rest and I just wanted to make sure she was getting her fair share. The tank has two hides on the cool side, one large and another small one, a gecko condo in the middle (that's what I call this three tier hide I got from +++++) and another small hide and large moist hide on the warm side along with a water and calcium dish. They all seem to hang out on the warm side either inside the moist hide or on top of it and they don't seem to mind it at all. They all get along aside from the occasional accidental nip during feeding if two of them try and go for the same feeder at the same time. When I eventually start breeding I do intend on housing two maybe even three hatchlings together, most likely two, while monitoring feedings closely to ensure they are getting enough food. Juves/sub-adults I will more than likely house separately but maybe even pairs and adults will be separate unless they are hold-backs at that point I will house them no more that four to a 40gal. As for adult breeding I like the harem method but my male will not be housed with the females constantly instead I will introduce a female to his enclosure a week or two at a time and rotate the females out. I feel that they are just fine being housed together as long as they are being monitored, I visually inspect my girls every two to three days just to make sure that no one has any bite marks or signs of any illness. I do not believe that they are solitary animals like I have read on other forum or on the internet. My girls seem to be doing just fine and I don't think that I will do it any other way.

 

[DoubleZ]

My two females have been housed together since they were hatchlings, the int time they've been apart was when one dropped her tail after my cat knocked their tank over. They've been together for seven years with virtually no problems. Keeping them together allows me to give them more space than if I had two separate tanks, they're in a 30gal breeder with four hides, three if which comfortable house both geckos.

 

[Nynecho]

I have two separate tanks, one for my male, and the other for my female(s).

My male is a juvenile, so he hasn't yet tried breeding with my adult female. They had one little fight where they wiggled their tails at each other at first, but then they got used to each other and haven't fought since. I sometimes house them together, mostly only on vacations when i only have one tank available, and they work fine together. I like to change it up a bit, sometimes I put him in her tank and her in his, just every two days, so they don't forget each other.

My female has been housed with other females most of her life, so she is used to company, but my male hasn't been around another soul for months. So i need to get him used to her so they don't fight when i need to house them together.

When my male becomes sexually mature, I will let him see her less often to avoid unwanted breeding in the off season, in adition to unwanted scars on my female.

 

[Lanem]

Never house 2 males together because they will fight. Never house a male and a female together unless you want them to breed. It's i deal that you house 2 females together.:main_thumbsup:

 

[Leogal]

I have 2 females housed together since they were very young (2 & 3 month olds). They are now almost a year old, what do you think if I put 1 more female around the same age in the enclosure?
Too many? I have a 20 gallon...I do not intend to breed any of them.