Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have three male leopard geckos that I keep in a 20 gallon tank. They are each just about 1 year old. They are well fed, the cage is always kept clean, and they have always been friendly both to each other and to me. Tonight while I was sitting here at the computer I heard them running around in the tank. I looked over to find one of them chasing another around trying to bite him. I opened the tank and tried to grab the chaser to try to stop this and he whipped around, bit me hard enough to draw blood, and wouldnt let go even after a few minutes of letting him hold on. I had to squeeze his jaw open to get him off.

Whats going on? Is there a problem with my geckos?

Nothing wrong with your geckos. When males reach sexual maturity (and sometimes before then) they'll start to fight each other. This is why everybody I've ever heard say anything about the subject advises that you should never keep more than 1 male per tank. You can have 15 females if the space is big enough, but never more than 1 male. Those 3 should *definitely* be separated before they do each other permanent harm.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Ok, well thanks for the info, they've been isolated.

Sounds like they're growing up. Males are territorial. He likely bit you thinking you were one of his tankmates.

You might want to separate them pronto before they hurt each other seriously.