Male and Female living together

[planeterinebula]

Before anyone says anything, I know males and females are not supposed to be housed together. I got my geckos very recently, they're about 3 or 4 years old to the best of my knowledge, and they've had 2 previous owners. During all that time, the two of them have lived together in the same tank.

I don't have the money to get a whole new setup just yet, but I just wanted to hear the pros and cons from people who know more about this than me. I know there's a high chance they'll breed, but if they're getting along comfortably otherwise, is that such a bad thing? I don't plan to keep or incubate the eggs, but I've heard elsewhere on the forums lots of people just throw eggs away, fertilized and unfertilized. If I separate them after so many years, will they be stressed out at all from NOT being together all of a sudden, or is that me projecting human feelings onto a reptile? Do you think they'll be okay as is or should I really be working towards getting them separate setups?

Thank you!

 

[PoppyDear]

Hello there!

Congratulations on your new Leos! I will give you some of my advice based on my research, but remember you do what you feel is best~

PROS
I think that the pros of keeping Leos together are primarily to benefit the keeper. You only need one setup for the geckos, one heat mat, thermostat and whatever else you need, cutting down on the costs. Space can easily be saved with one enclosure as well and you are able to watch interactions you can only see when the geckos are together.
CONS
It is difficult to keep track of poop, feeding and other things you need to look out for. The geckos can easily commence to snaping and attack one another. For the two opposite sex geckos breeding is more than likely and the costs of caring for and incubating eggs can be high. It also causes unneeded stress for the female.


Then I wanted to give you my two cents on throwing away eggs and why I feel this way, but everyone hs different opinions, these are just mine! ♡ A female gecko will use valuable resources to lay her eggs, it can take a lot out of her. I have seen numerous stories about females who can no longer breed because of the stress on their bodies. They use all their resources to make eggs and throwing them away again and again is wasting her resources. After a time if the male keeps breeding her she will have to be seperated due to old age or failing health due to over breeding. Which is why I would reccomend you work towards getting another setup.
A quick note on a cheap setup just in case!
•Leos can be kept in Rubbermaid totes with plastic hides and paper towel substrate. Your only big expense would be a heat mat and thermostat.

They shouldn't be stressed from being seperated, rather it should be the opposite. But each Leopard Gecko is different andI have heard stories of Leos becoming stressed after seperation! May I ask their current tank size?

To conclude I think seperating them is worth it. Your female won't be stressed, waste her resources and you lose the risk of them ever fighting. If you do keep them together and they attack one another you will probably need to seperate them anyways.

I hope it all works out!

 

[Geckolicious]

Pretty much as stated above, they are naturally solitary creatures that do not benefit from living together. I've seen leos live in (visual) peace for 8+ years only to turn on one another; it's just not natural for them and is 100% for the keeper's ease. Visual conflict is the height of stress, not the beginning of it, so it's important to keep in mind that even though they haven't been fighting doesn't mean they are not undergoing stress and would not prefer to be left alone.

Cheers!

 

[planeterinebula]

Thank you both! My current tank is 30"x12", and I was planning on selling their old 18"x18" tank (the old owners didn't know much about leopard gecko housing...), but maybe I'll just move one of them back into it once I save up a little money to get another heating pad. Of course, as soon as I drop the money on a bigger tank for them both to live in, I learn that they really shouldn't be living together anyway :?

I had hoped I could make it work for them to stay together, but I don't want to risk fighting down the road...Thanks again, I appreciate the advice!