Leopard Gecko Behavior

[Shadowvail]

Hi,

I'm rather new to the world of leopard geckos. I purchased a pair of geckos from a breeder after doing a lot of research. I've read a lot of books, asked a lot of questions, and learned a lot as I have been going.

I have read a lot about sexing geckos. Clearly male leopard geckos should have a defined v in their pelvic region and the female should not. I've seen plenty of pictures depicting the differences and I'm fairly certain I can tell the difference.

Both of the geckos I had purchased were females. I made sure to check them out and look under them and I do not see any defined v "pours". Obviously putting a male and female together would result in breeding, which I do not think I am entirely ready for. But, considering they are both supposed to be females I need not worry about having them live together(in most cases).

Here is where my questioning comes in. I have noticed that on occasion, one of my girls starts to twitch when she seems "excited" , almost a rocking back and forth motion and very twitchy when she is stepping near the other female. In her twitchy like state, she will then bite onto the back of the other female and continue her twitching.

The other female doesn't seem to care and just lets her do it. I have NEVER seen the other female do this. It is only the one that continues to do it every so often.

Ok, this is what confuses me. I have seen videos on youtube of leopard geckos mating. YES that is a weird thing to watch, but I was curious as to if this is what was happening. Well it looks very similar.

The videos I have seen and the research I have done shows that the male is supposed to wiggle his tail and then latch on. Well this is not exactly what is happening. It's not a tail wiggle, it's more like an entire body twitching. Not severe as to be scary, but somewhat subtle.

I'm a bit confused because I haven't read anything about this type of behavior and I'm not sure whether this is related to breeding or not. I am almost 100% positive that both of my geckos are females, unless there is some strange cases where a male may not have defined reproduction organs.

I'm sure most of you will insist that I separate them, but nothing tragic seems to be happening here. It's not violent and its not causing any damage to the other gecko. Unless the gecko that I think is a female is actually a male, in which case I will definitely separate them asap.

Either way, any insight or information someone can provide would be appreciated. I'm just looking to see if anyone else has ever witnessed this with their own geckos before and maybe why they do it or possibly what I can do if anything.

And considering this sub forum is related to breeding, I figured this would be the most logical place to put this.

Thanks.

 

[acpart]

In order to be entirely sure it's not a male, either have an experienced keeper look at it, or take a picture (put it in a clear deli cup and take a picture from below) and post it on the forums here.

Many people strongly prefer to keep their geckos in solitary and these people will all tell you to separate your geckos no matter what. In my opinion if both geckos are gaining/maintaining a good weight, and no gecko appears scratched up, you could try keeping them together.

Aliza

 

[Shadowvail]

It's pretty hard to get a good picture of the one in question. I don't handle her often because she is rather skittish and likes to dive out of my hands. I'll see what I can do.

They both seem to be of healthy weight from what I can tell. Their tails aren't skinny or anything but you're probably right about separating them. They would probably both do better on their own.

 

[Shadowvail]

Ok these pictures are rather blurry because, well, its incredibly difficult to take a picture and hold her at the same time. But I think you can see well enough that there are no bulges or pores. She's a cute little bugger, but I'm still confused by the behavior...

Anyone else ever have this happen before?

 

[Blast!]

ive bought males that turned out to be females and vise versa,,i would go to my local reptile store and have someone look at it,,, ive had lots of geckos but still have trouble sexing them.