Pachydactylus. rangei social structure and signaling

[Rhacodactyl]

At the recommendations of several of you, I pulled the trigger on a group of rangei and received 4 juveniles today. They're amazing and I can't believe I waited this long to get some-they certainly are little characters. I've already enjoyed watching them eat, dig, and otherwise settle in. I was surprised at the degree of social behavior they exhibit though.

I always heard that males could be kept together, so I just assumed they all acted relatively indifferent toward one another. In a few short hours, mine have signaled with their tails and body posture and croaked at one another in what I assume is an attempt to set up territories and/or a hierarchy. I even took a short video showing some of the interaction. I never read anything about this though, so I was hoping some of you who are more experienced with this species could clue me in on what the different behaviors mean? I think I've already figured out a few, but would like to be able to read what's going on with them as well as possible. Thanks.

 

[thorrshamri]

I would recommend not to house males together. I have never done this to be honest, but I would not take the risk. Males of other species of the genus will fight till death if they are inside the same enclosure.

 

[SelectGex]

I keep my males in groups with no issues. Obviously if you're seeing aggression i'd separate them.

 

[Rhacodactyl]

I must have phrased my post in a confusing way. I'm not deliberately keeping males together-I have 4 unsexed juveniles in a tub with 23 x 14 inches (58x36 cm) of floor space. I haven't noticed this signaling since their first day here when they were investigating their new surroundings. They've been more secretive since that first day as well, so maybe there is some territoriality at work and I should look into splitting them up?

 

[thorrshamri]

Definitely. Keeping them in small individual tanks will certainly be better until you can sex them

 

[Mantisdragon91]

Definitely. Keeping them in small individual tanks will certainly be better until you can sex them

I disagree. I find that in many species of geckos and other reptiles, individuals kept isolated have poor social skills and do not integrate as well as animals raised in groups. My advice would be to house them together, only separating if you see significant growth disparity or skin tears.

 

[thorrshamri]

Isolating geckos from one another helps monotoring their food intake, which is usually better than when you house them in groups. Just saying.

 

[Mantisdragon91]

Isolating geckos from one another helps monotoring their food intake, which is usually better than when you house them in groups. Just saying.

It does, but much like in the wild, they also need to be exposed to others of their species early in life so that proper social behaviors can be learned and imprinted. You see this with Chameleons, where Panther males if raised by themselves simply don't know how to approach a female and tend to be overly zealous in attempting to mate, frequently resulting in failure and aggression.

Like everything else in life this is a tradeoff and each keeper should make this decision for themselves, I just want to make sure that people understand the potential drawbacks to raising solitary animals in sterile boxes before making that decision.

 

[thorrshamri]

I am not a huge fan of rack systems, unless I can avoid it, I prefer by far naturally-looking setups.
I will not applaud at all at people breeding leopard geckos or whatever in a shoebox or plastic drawers.
That said, I agree with you: there is no ultimate truth about reptile keeping/breeding. Methods which work for your animals, are the methods you should use.

 

[Molokai]

I got four of those guys too awesome gecko! and I have them together since I first got them ( babies) now Juvies no aggressive behavior toward each other .. But if I notice any aggressiveness toward each other i will separate them .. Good luck man

 

[Molokai]

Pics

Here more pic