Tank Mate Questions

[Desdemona]

So, since I have found out that Darwin is a girl, the tank mate thing is an option. Do geckos in general get along with cage members or is introducing tricky business?

I don't really want to have to deal with two complete setups, so if there is a good possibility that she could reject then I might not.

Also, if I go and get a tank mate from my girls same tank at the petstore would that be safe as far as the 3 month quarantine go or not? If not then I will probably just stick with the one for now since of course 3 months means a whole new setup.

Lastly, if you wait till there older do they do worse? I have only had her for about a week so it seems like now would be the best time for a tank mate since she just came out of a pretty busy tank.

 

[Alex G]

Females might get along or they might not... and "get along" means more like "ignore each other rather than "enjoy each other". A male will harass your female to breed, possibly hurting her or breeding her too young. If you want to chance it go ahead, they're your animals. But wait a lot longer than a week, she needed about that long to be left alone to settle in.

 

[Jordan]

introducing is pretty easy with females, two females normally end up getting along just fine, a male and a female can bicker cuz of breeding though.

and if you guy by another leo from the same tank it should still be quarantined... you dont know whats been happening in or to tha ttank in the meantime. the owner may have added some new leos to it with parasites and what not, so just in case you should still quarantine it.

yes it can sometimes make it harder to introduce two leos when theyre older but i found with females its generally still easy enough.

if youve only had her a week then its not the best time for a tank mate. shes settling in still, and adding a tank mate could be stressful. and if she's just came out a busy tank she'll be better alone for a bit. and of course both leo's need to be quarantined from each other for a couple of months.

 

[Desdemona]

Thanks for the replies, I am just going to wait. I have already thought about getting a 20 log (right now I have tall) so that there is a better layout, so I will just wait until then and see how I feel. If she seems happy I might just leave her alone. I am used to pets that really do need tank mates (rats) so I've been trying to adjust my thinking to the reptile world (I've had rodents for a long time).

 

[Daedric1]

Well, I'm sure once she grows up, Darwin wouldn't mind having a little rodent tank mate, at least temporarily.

As far as the quarantine thing goes, if you've only had her a week and it's from the same place...I wouldn't worry about it. Quarantining (imo) is more of a preventative measure for reptiles that you've don't want a chance at losing, for reasons such as growing attached to them, being a rare morph, a breeder, not wanting to take time to raise to adulthood again, etc.

Also, it's pretty likely that the leo had cagemates before (maybe even the exact same ones as one you might get) and I doubt a new addition would cause too much stress as long as they are the same size.

Again just my opinion, but leos aren't very much work at all so two setups barely takes any more work than one, especially if you do maintenance at the same time. It sounds like you may get a 20L in the future, so even if you do have to separate them in the future, you'll already have two tanks.

I know you've probably already made your mind up here, and I'm not necessarily trying to convince you otherwise, but just putting my thoughts out there on the issue.

 

[Jordan]

As far as the quarantine thing goes, if you've only had her a week and it's from the same place...I wouldn't worry about it. Quarantining (imo) is more of a preventative measure for reptiles that you've don't want a chance at losing, for reasons such as growing attached to them, being a rare morph, a breeder, not wanting to take time to raise to adulthood again, etc.

its more so that if you buy a gecko with an illness your vet bill doesnt increase from one gecko to twenty geckos. lol

also why would a gecko enjoy a rodent tank mate...?

 

[Daedric1]

its more so that if you buy a gecko with an illness your vet bill doesnt increase from one gecko to twenty geckos. lol

Yeah that's another reason.

also why would a gecko enjoy a rodent tank mate...?

As in a temporary cage mate...say for instance, a pinky mouse.

 

[Jordan]

Yeah that's another reason.



As in a temporary cage mate...say for instance, a pinky mouse.

get ya lol, i was like whu...? a rat or something in with a gecko...? lol.