question on introducing new animals

[lexx]

hello everyone,

i have a question about introducing new animals to one another... here's my situation.

i have 2 leo's. my adult female, Hex turned 5 yrs old a couple of months ago. my other gecko Hanibal (a juvenile, most likely a male due to his size compared to age, haven't visually sexed 'him' yet) 'he' is 7 months old and growing fast.

they are in seperate setups.

their personalities are very different. Hex is very docile and easily manigable, she prefers to be hand fed which i think might be a possible problem if she had a cage mate. on the other hand one of my major reasons for getting her a cage mate is to stimulate her more.

Hanible is hyper and scetchy, because he is young, but he's calmed down alot in the past month. he attacts anything that moves and is very fast and territorial, i'm not sure if he will be friendly.

what age should i introduce Hanibal to hex? i put a piece of hex's shed into hanibles setup and he was very interested. do you think it would be a good idea to introduce him to hex will she is larger? and at what age do you think that would be. Hex is slightly smaller then the average female and 64 grams the last time i checked.

thanks in advance for any feed back

 

[miss libby]

I would house them separately. To many issues can come up when housing males and females together. Best just avoid any stress, bullying, territorial issues, over breeding and more. Also you are aware of whom eats what and how much of it. As well as whos poop is whos. I would never put a male and female together unless i were going to mate them. and then i would watch the entire time. Better safe then sorry.

 

[lexx]

well i'm not sure hanibal is a male yet, i just think/hope he is. and secondly i know people house gecko's together successfully, so i would be more interested in hearing from them.

secondly i'm an industrial design student, and i have the knowledge, plans and facilities to build them one large cage with a divider that will allow the cage to be shared or become 2 seperate cages incase they need to be seperated.

and finally what if hanibal is a female, whould housing them together be "safer" and what age should that occur.

 

[miss libby]

I recommened waiting till they are near the same size. And knowing the sex of them for sure. Its more of a size and sex issue then an age issue.
After breeding season has ended as well.

 

[sarahjane85]

Lexx,

I'd wait until the male is at least 9 months (around puberty) and let him run with those hormones a while before introduction. The males also tend to lose a bit of weight during the first few months of placement (if you decide to house them together) so bulk him up well. And young geckos have a tendency to get excited at the first sign of movement, so Hex's tail could be mistaken for a prey item at any time (not just during feeding).

Whether geckos 'get along' depends on the geckos. First, your female is much older so there can be a variety of responses to his presence. Just be prepared as she may not tolerate him at all and continuously chase him, nip his tail, etc..... another reason to let him reach sexual maturity/bulk up so he can stand his ground.

If it's a female, wait until she's about the same size/weight and either the same thing could happen or they'll establish a heirarchy with one female being dominant over the other. This is ok as long as you make sure both are feeding and are allowed several optimal warm areas, cool areas, raised/climbing areas (which I'm sure you'll have no problem accomplishing) -- so they're not constantly 'on top of' each other and slightly decreasing the competition for certain spots in the enclosure.

Whether male or female, expect a few skin scrapes initially (no blood) from them nipping each other or in the case of the male, body gripping her while mating.

I feed ALL my leopard geckos by hand, and all but two know how to eat out of a food dish if I'm on vacation or just too busy. I don't think feeding
Hex by hand and Hanibal by dish is going to be a problem.

So, you can house 1.1, but the female may become overstressed b/c of the male's desire to mate constantly and she's his only outlet. I suggest no less than 2/no more than 4 females per male. I have had single pairs thrive, but I believe this is a rare circumstance. It's totally up to you.

I have a single female in a 20 gal. long tank who will not tolerate ANY gecko, ANYWHERE. She's not mean, just the opposite -- docile, slow-moving (lifts her feet slowly, methodically), fed by hand from 4 mos.........like Hex, she was also 5 before I tried to introduce another female. At age 6, I tried a very dominant male. No chance. On the other hand, I have had 5 females in a 45BR for 4 years now. They were all put in together, four of them were 2years or younger, the fifth, a retired breeder (7yrs) varying sizes/weights. They remain a healthy, thriving group.

A few other suggestions; introduce the female to the male -- allow him to scent mark 'their' enclosure for about a week prior to placing her in with him and prepare for eggs -- they'll breed year round if you let them. It seems like males never lose their vigor -- I've had 18 year old males go at it like no tomorrow.
You can also try short intros by placing both on a bed, separated, to see what their response towards each other will be.

At 7 months, Hanibal should be easy to sex. If you need help, post a pic of the vent.

Sarah.

 

[lexx]

wow, thanks Sarah for all the helpful info.

i don't plan on keeping them together all the time, more like 3 or 4 days a week. and when their enclosure is built i plan on housing them side by side until Hanibal is about 10 - 12 months old.

i'm more worried about their personalities. your description of your female in the 20gl long tank sounds just like Hex, espacially the way you decribed how she walks, but hearing you say that she would not tollerate any other geckos worries me. Hex is so timid, she's never displayed agressively. but the fact that she has never had a cage mate - i aquired her from a breeder at 2 weeks old, i Got Hanible from PJ's Petstore at about 1 month old, he was in a small tank with a couple of dozen other hatchling. i know not the best place to get a pet. but he's vibrent and healthy. i think being in the pet store enviroment kinda freaked him out for a while even after i got him home. he was so aggresive, now he's very curiouse. still a little skidish but he'll come out of his cave when i get home AND i've just started to hand feed him

weather they are compatable or not i'll let you know. i will not house them together if it means stressing them physically, mentally and emotionally. i just want them to be sitmulated, more active and make them use their minds more - we all know leo's are curiouse and smart

right now Hex's enclosure is all mesh, she loves to climb the sides. she has a "second floor" with a cave with a heat lamp over it. and a piece of drift wood. she loves to climp and has become extreamly active since moving to her new home. i often find her hanging of the side of the second floor with her hind legs and tail supporting her.

anyway i've ranted enough, thanks again for the info