Male Fimbriatus Not Happy About Newly Introduced Female

[Fumbles]

I have just introduced a new female fimbriatus into the my male fimbriatus' cage. I'm seeing exactly what I saw last time with this male and his (late) female partner. The female acclimates immediately - eating, moving about the cage, etc. However, the male is more than not happy. He displays extreme stress. He hops around the cage trying to get out as soon as the female gets near then he lays on the ground in a corner. All bad signs for a uroplatus. I let him out as he was jumping around and he hopped right out of the cage and froggered half way across the room before I got him. This particular uroplatus has never been quite right which is why I originally dubbed him Fumbles.

Is there any way I can relieve the stress of this introduction? I've taken her back out of the cage and put her in a cage right next to his so she's within an eyeshot but not sharing the same space. She used to be across the room from him before I put her in his space. He doesn't seem the least bit interested in her to mate - he wants as far away from her as possible. Anyone else see this behavior before during an introduction?

 

[Aimless]

I do not keep Uros, OK, so please take this with a grain of salt!

have you tried introducing him into the girl's cage? maybe then he'd be less inclined to be worried about territory and could just focus on the lady?

 

[Tamara]

We where thinking something like Aimee too, maybe you can take them both out, redecorate the whole tank and put them back in so it's a different evironment for both of them. Just thinking though...

 

[Pirarucu]

I agree, try introducing him to the female's cage or in neutral territory (breeding cage). How big is the cage you introduced the female into?

 

[Fumbles]

Thank you all for the info.

Aimless / Pirarucu - The cage I am putting her into with him is a 24x24x48 tall 110 gallon. She was being acclimated in a 30x17x12 tall which is cramped for this species. I don't have anything in the middle - only two smaller cages and the big one.

Tamara - I did a cage rearrangement a few days before the introduction. I could tell it shook things up because he changed where he sleeps.

The idea was to house them together, I wasn't planning on introducing them short term just to mate.

 

[Pirarucu]

For what it's worth, that is actually a 120, not 110. I wouldn't redecorate the cage, the idea would be to make the male feel more at ease, so messing with the environment he has become used to, then adding the stress of another animal is not what I would have done.
I realize you are trying to house them together, I was just saying you might have used something along the lines of a breeding cage to introduce them.

 

[Fumbles]

For what it's worth, that is actually a 120, not 110. I wouldn't redecorate the cage, the idea would be to make the male feel more at ease, so messing with the environment he has become used to, then adding the stress of another animal is not what I would have done.
I realize you are trying to house them together, I was just saying you might have used something along the lines of a breeding cage to introduce them.

You're absolutely right, that is 120 I'm not sure why I put 110.

I did redecorate in lieu of not having a breeder cage. This could be why he's even more aggressive than the last time. A few years ago I did this introduction with the same result so I should have been prepared with at least a 40 gallon. He's just not as easy as most - he generally does the opposite of what I would expect from a uroplatus. I'll try this again tonight and see how they do.

He doesn't seem to want to attack her, he just seems to aggressively want to be as far away as possible. If this doesn't work I might end up keeping them separated until I figure something else out for them like getting a used fish tank and converting it into a simple naturalistic setup, then try again.

 

[Pirarucu]

Have you tried seeing how they react to each other while out of the cage?

 

[Fumbles]

Have you tried seeing how they react to each other while out of the cage?

Yes, he just stares at her. He doesn't seem to move, just looks. I put her back in just now and he's mellowed out a little bit. He's on the bottom corner branch looking up at her, not showing aggression. I have time to monitor them tonight.

The last female I had with him ate all the food first and it pretty much stayed that way. She made herself at home right away which is what I'm seeing here. I'll have to watch him. He's not very assertive.

On an unrelated note, I find it interesting he's aware of the borders of his space when it comes to another gecko but I can't seem to keep him from jumping into the glass.

 

[mister3]

i have fimbriatus and have added and added to the colony and everyone gets along just fine. did have couple males i thought wern't getting along but on further exam they seemed to be playing.... one larger male was chasing a smaller male around all night long, stalking and such but then the smaller male would do a "fly by" on the larger male and instigate. haven't seen them chase each other in quite some time now

 

[Fumbles]

This is starting to look slightly more promising. Last night I found the male on the ground again, facing away from her. However, this morning I found him in his newly established resting place, and her on the background shown below. Last time I did an introduction he was on the ground for three days. I don't think he was eating during that time which I need to keep a sharp eye on because his new roommate is a voracious eater.

 

[the moof]

If you're worried about him doing himself a mischief by slamming into the glass, you could place cork bark similar to the back wall on the sides as well. It will also have the added benefit of giving them more roosting space to feel properly hidden. Of course, that reduces the angles from which you can see them, so cosmetically it might not be the best.

Just my two cents. I hope things have mellowed out somewhat now.

Best,
Mark