Juvenile Leo!

[stephanieluffsu]

I have two juvenile leopard geckos in a 10 gallon tank. I have a larger tank (20-35 gallon) for when they grow bigger. When i put them in their tank they were the same size. My one gecko, i call him Fluffy, has been growing larger at a normal pace. My other gecko, Fluffita, has not been growing she has been getting thinner and i suspect that she has not been eating at all. They are not aggressive towards each other at all. They sleep together but they have room to get away from each other if needed.
My tempature on the warm side, is usually about 85-89 degrees. The other side is room tempature. I feed mealworms and they are available at all times and i have a bottle cap of calcuim in their tank at all times.
My substrate is tile, and i have a UTH as the heating source, and they are handled usually every day to every other day.
When I first got Fluffita, she was very finicky and didn't like to be handled. But now shes just so weak that she doesn't do anything when i pick her up, she just lays there. I'm very worried and i want to seperate them, but i don't have a UTH for the bigger tank yet.
Is there anything I can do??

 

[stephanieluffsu]

help?? anyone?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

They should have been separated long ago, when one was growing and the other was not. When you have more than one gecko, you have to have more than one enclosure in case there is a situation. Do what you have to do to separate them immediately. If one is sick, they both are sick, even if only one is showing symptoms. Was there a proper quarantine prior to introducing the two geckos to the same tank?

There is a sticky at the top of this forum section, please fill it out so we can see what else is going on besides temps being a bit too low for juvs.

 

[roger]

I have two juvenile leopard geckos in a 10 gallon tank. I have a larger tank (20-35 gallon) for when they grow bigger. When i put them in their tank they were the same size. My one gecko, i call him Fluffy, has been growing larger at a normal pace. My other gecko, Fluffita, has not been growing she has been getting thinner and i suspect that she has not been eating at all. They are not aggressive towards each other at all. They sleep together but they have room to get away from each other if needed.
My tempature on the warm side, is usually about 85-89 degrees. The other side is room tempature. I feed mealworms and they are available at all times and i have a bottle cap of calcuim in their tank at all times.
My substrate is tile, and i have a UTH as the heating source, and they are handled usually every day to every other day.
When I first got Fluffita, she was very finicky and didn't like to be handled. But now shes just so weak that she doesn't do anything when i pick her up, she just lays there. I'm very worried and i want to seperate them, but i don't have a UTH for the bigger tank yet.
Is there anything I can do??

First off IMO all geckos should be housed seperately.The smaller one is being bullied,although your not witnessing it.Your temps on the warm end are too low.On the warm end it needs to be between 88-95 deg.You need to get another heat pad and seperate the small one.

 

[AMoriarty]

I'm very worried and i want to seperate them, but i don't have a UTH for the bigger tank yet.
Is there anything I can do??

Yes. Go to the hardware store, or your big home improvement store, or a sporting supply store, and get hand warmers to use as a temporary under tank heat source. Tape them on, or some have sticky backs. Then separate your lizards. Put the bigger guy in the new tank. He will be able to handle it better and won't be as stressed as the smaller gecko already is. Make sure they both have food and water and are separated.

Also, I might take the small one to the vet--like somebody already asked, did you quarantine them before introduction? If not there may be an illness problem.

 

[stephanieluffsu]

My leo passed away last night when the larger one went into a hide with her, and bit her on the neck.
I'm very upset about it all. I just feel there was something more i could have done. I was planning on getting another UTH today.
And the larger one has been more aggressive towards me. He is hissing quite a bit at me. This is unsual for him. he is usually calm.

 

[roger]

My leo passed away last night when the larger one went into a hide with her, and bit her on the neck.
I'm very upset about it all. I just feel there was something more i could have done. I was planning on getting another UTH today.
And the larger one has been more aggressive towards me. He is hissing quite a bit at me. This is unsual for him. he is usually calm.

These leos should've been seperated way back b4 there was issues.Someone suggested heat packs temporarily.Obvious this wasnt done.Another reason why leos of different size shouldn tbe housed together!! And unfortunately the leo suffers

 

[stephanieluffsu]

These leos should've been seperated way back b4 there was issues.Someone suggested heat packs temporarily.Obvious this wasnt done.Another reason why leos of different size shouldn tbe housed together!! And unfortunately the leo suffers

Obviously it wasn't done because 1 i didn't know anyone posted on here until AFTER. 2 i dont have any heating pads in my house. that is "obviously" why that wasn't done.
they were the same size when they were originally put together! I am a first time leo owner, sorry i don't know everything! The leo suffered and i feel terrible about it. But i don't know everything and i didnt know what to do, i didnt have any heating pads and there were no stores open where i could get a UTH. I didn't know that they had to be separated.
I didn't intentionally cause this to happen, and it wasn't because of neglect this is my frist time, i didnt know and nobody replied when i was online. i had no way of checking replies during the day so i had no clue what to do.
So obviously I'm dumb.happy? good.

 

[roger]

Obviously it wasn't done because 1 i didn't know anyone posted on here until AFTER. 2 i dont have any heating pads in my house. that is "obviously" why that wasn't done.
they were the same size when they were originally put together! I am a first time leo owner, sorry i don't know everything! The leo suffered and i feel terrible about it. But i don't know everything and i didnt know what to do, i didnt have any heating pads and there were no stores open where i could get a UTH. I didn't know that they had to be separated.
I didn't intentionally cause this to happen, and it wasn't because of neglect this is my frist time, i didnt know and nobody replied when i was online. i had no way of checking replies during the day so i had no clue what to do.
So obviously I'm dumb.happy? good.

I guess the only thing left to say is hopefully next time you will seperate all leos.There have been similiar posts where bullying occurs and ppl are stubborn and refuse to believe us when we say to seperate animals.This is a perfect example why we tell ppl especially if there is a size difference.Why take the risk

 

[stephanieluffsu]

I'm not nor was i being stubborn i hadn't seen your posts before i could do something about it. And obviously you didn't read my earlier post. They were the same size when they were housed together!.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

I'm sorry your baby didn't make it.

Anytime there are two geckos together and only one is growing, bullying is taking place. It is hardly ever witnessed, as the small one will try to sneak food when no one is around so as not to get caught. Eventually it will stop trying and get weak. If I have two housed together, there are always two food dishes. If there is even the slightest hint of any type aggression for any reason, they are separated immediately. Not a day or two later. Damage could be done and it would be my fault. Not an accident.

Even when two geckos are purchased together from a pet shop, that were in the same tank, should be quarantined separately. This way it can be determined beyond question what the eating habits are of each one. After the quarantine, if it doesn't work out for them to live together, there is already a temporary setup ready for one to be moved out.

I believe every reptile owner should have a human heating pad around in case of an emergency. There's a wealth of knowledge available on this forum in old threads. Willingness to put in the time researching is the key.