New geckos with old ones?

[Coubunch2530]

So I have had my gecko Luci for over a year now and I have no idea how old she is due to buying her from someone off craigslist who bought her from someone on craigslist and so on. She isn't aggressive at all and usually lays around and "chills". I recently came into possession of two geckos that were in need of a new home. They are in a 40 gallon tank with live plants the whole shabang. From what I have observed they seem to be nice and loving one is more active than they other and they don't have a particular spot they lay in. Having two large tanks in my small room is very hectic. Would I be able to add my gecko Luci in with them. I don't know the sex of the two new ones nor how old they really are but they are the same size in length, on is just fatter than the other two. Would it be safe to put her in their tank and if so how should I go about that?

 

[Yoshi'smom]

I would really recommend that you house them all separately. Leopard geckos are not a communal species and don't benefit from being with others of their kind. Often cohabbing often leads to injury. Even geckos that have been together for years can suddenly have a bad day and often violently bully the tank mate.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

In addition to what Kelly mentions, 2 males should never be housed together. The dominant one will injure or kill the other one.

Leopard geckos become sexable at about 6 months old. Males can be distinguished from females by a distinct v-shaped row of pores and by bulges right under the vent.

• Click: Sexing Leopard Geckos

 

[Coubunch2530]

As I said I do not have the room for two cages. This is due to me moving into my new home. I have had geckos in the same cage in the past but they had grown up together so would this be any different?

 

[Coubunch2530]

I sexed them to the best of my ability and i am pretty sure they are all females.

 

[Zux]

If you don't have room to adequately house the Geckos safely, then you do not have room for the Geckos.

We as humans can have no idea whether one is aggressive or not until its too late and we certainly should not humanize their emotions or behaviors as loving, they are not capable of such deep feeling, they lie on one another for example out shows of dominance, its not the cuddling many keepers presume it is.

The advice you have been given is not because the above posters get commission if you buy enclosures, it is because the Geckos need them to live happily and safely.

Your housing them together in the past without it resulting in serious physical harm should be looked upon as lucky but not proof it is a good practice, that coupled with the knowledge we can have no idea of the undue stress it caused throughout their lives together.

 

[Magnum Geckos]

Cohabbing geckos not recommended

Absolutely, you also don't know the indirect agression that happens or could be happening causing stress as we speak. They can't voice this to you until it is too late. We're not for cohabbing and yes, it means more space and enclosures, but its just the responsible way of keeping leos. JMHO

When I started breeding, back when, we took advice from the bigger breeders that do cohab but we could see the suttle dominance issues and one female even lost a ton of weight due to it. We now are very anti-cohab and it rarely works out where you can house a couple females ( adults) even for breeders. The more you add the riskier it gets IME.... We house separately our adults now.

You can set up a simplistic enclosure to remedy the situation easily... also keep in mind you should quarantine new additions before ever introducing anyways - in case this hasn't happened. Unfortunately the responsibility financially and space-wise rests on the owner and before acquisitions, this truly needs to have been something you considered beforehand.

Please feel free to let us know how further we can help, perhaps with some basic set-ups that you can house separately until you can find means, space etc for the set-up style you have going on now. :wink:

 

[Zux]

Absolutely, you also don't know the indirect agression that happens or could be happening causing stress as we speak. They can't voice this to you until it is too late. We're not for cohabbing and yes, it means more space and enclosures, but its just the responsible way of keeping leos. JMHO

When I started breeding, back when, we took advice from the bigger breeders that do cohab but we could see the suttle dominance issues and one female even lost a ton of weight due to it. We now are very anti-cohab and it rarely works out where you can house a couple females ( adults) even for breeders. The more you add the riskier it gets IME.... We house separately our adults now.

You can set up a simplistic enclosure to remedy the situation easily... also keep in mind you should quarantine new additions before ever introducing anyways - in case this hasn't happened. Unfortunately the responsibility financially and space-wise rests on the owner and before acquisitions, this truly needs to have been something you considered beforehand.

Please feel free to let us know how further we can help, perhaps with some basic set-ups that you can house separately until you can find means, space etc for the set-up style you have going on now. :wink:

Great to see even breeders, for whom space is a concern, begin to come around to this way of thinking, kudos to you guys !