Female too young for male?

Fumbles · #1 05-09-2011, 04:14 AM

I just went to the store and picked up a nice looking female mossy. I have a full adult male mossy right now as well. Last time I put a female with a male it worked beautifully. That was with a pair of fimbriatus. They got along in a day.

I have two concerns about this one

1. The male is putting his tail up and twirling it around, inching towards her and smelling her (licking her). She put her head under his in submission. Im assuming he's asserting his dominance or wanting to mate (he just met her?

). That makes me concerned because...

2. Shes smaller than him by about 2 full inches. I didnt notice at the store because they were all the same size, but I'm assuming she's younger. I'm not sure exactly how young she is, but shes probably 4 1/2" - 5" tip to tip stretched out (sleeping). It's enough of a difference that she probably wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. However, the way they're interacting I don't see that being a problem.

Now I've read in caresheets that with the uroplatus species, the male will just give up if the female is not receptive as opposed to some other species like leopard geckos. So far, this is what I've seen - she doesn't really respond and he climbs up a stick in frustration. I'm also assuming she won't be receptive until she's physically ready.

Do I have reason to worry about this or will it sort itself out as she grows?

This is the female. I don't have a recent pic of the male I'll take one later.

jadrig · #2 05-09-2011, 05:00 PM

In my experience, female sikorae are usually always longer/a lot wider than the males...if she is smaller, that means she is a lot younger. I put a young female with a male and the male bit off her tail. A male is always going to try to mate with the female right away. I have had satanics jump off of my hand and right onto a female or male. I would suggest you keep them separate for a while.

uroplatus99 · #3 05-09-2011, 10:47 PM

Going to agree with jadrig on this one... Seperate till she has fully grown.

Bottom line, your question... "Do I have reason to worry about this or will it sort itself out as she grows?" ... I think so. I think you will be adding a lot of stress on the female to soon, too early. This stress may even cause a delay in your attempts to breed in the future. You want to base your female not just on length, but weight as well. She has to be healthy, and stocked up on calcium. I try to build calcium sacks up first before pairing mine. Make sure they are of good health, and fully grown.

Geckos don't really display dominance, as they are not pack animals, and the goal in such teritorial games is to ward off. This is deffinately a mating sign.

Fumbles · #4 05-10-2011, 01:15 AM

Thanks guys. Right to the point. I separated them. I have a tropical cage that I use mainly for display but also to put the other geckos in when I need to do things with their cages, so she should be happy.

Again - big thanks. This is why I joined here.

Fumbles · #5 05-10-2011, 01:36 AM

For the record, male: 23.3 g. / female: 10.6g.

About what weight could I reintroduce her at?

thehotchik1000 · #6 05-10-2011, 02:10 AM

Usually girls are ready to go at about 1 yr of age. I'm not familiar with these guys so I'm sure others can give an exact weight.

jadrig · #7 05-10-2011, 02:10 AM

Its tough to say...a lot of us dont really weigh them out. She should be big enough by winter time.?. Feel her out, figuratively speaking, and see how well she is doing/growing. The female that I talked about in my initial post ended up being a U.sikorae and the male was a U.sameiti. All of my male sikorae in the past have been pretty calm and cool...thats why I figured the two would be okay together. But this sameiti is high strung and was way too big for her...lapse in judgement on my part. He bit her tail off and ate it the first night.

tristan 92 · #8 05-10-2011, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fumbles

For the record, male: 23.3 g. / female: 10.6g.

About what weight could I reintroduce her at?

When she will be around the male weight or more, it will be OK, but for the moment I think it's really too small, females are adult between 20 and 35 grams I think, I've 7 females of U. sikorae sikorae, my smallest breeder female is around 23 grams after her breeding season if it can help you