Reptile & Amphibian Forums

we have been breeding our male and 2 females for about 6 years.today i introduced a new female.the male we have seen bite their backs and head during their mating but today he grabbed the new female by the tale and did barrel rolls with her.my ? is ,is this part of the ritual or is it aggression?and do you think it will be an all the time thing or just letting her know whos in charge?

we had to pour water over the males head to get him to let go and she kept her tale.the tale does not appear to be cut but well keep an eye on it.

are you sure your new female is a her ?

We are positive it is a female.

It does sound like aggression with the "barrel roll", I've never seen that in mating behavbior. I have seen many males initially grab the tail, maybe give a shake, and gradually move up to proper position. If the skin on the females tail is intact, it's hard to say. I'm inclined to say that if he was being aggressive, he would've bit hard enough to open the skin. It may very well be an assertive "hello and welcome to my harem" I would say just watch carefully for repeats and/or escalations. I have had males grab a tail and hang on for a minute or more without any damage.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
1.0 SHCT hatched by me! (Sunny)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 Normal from 2001 (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 Stripe poss. het RW hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Adopted out: Goldie, Leucy, "Q"
Hatched: ~50

Does anyone know of a good site to read up about this type of behavior? I have been looking since it happened and have not been able to find anything. Thanks

I don't have any good research sites on this to point you to, sorry. But something else did occur to me. If your new fem is not proven, perhaps she's a hot girl? You may want to try her seperately with another female and see if it's her or him.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
1.0 SHCT hatched by me! (Sunny)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 Normal from 2001 (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 Stripe poss. het RW hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Adopted out: Goldie, Leucy, "Q"
Hatched: ~50

Tried her in with one of the females last night and they were both fine together. I also checked her again to make sure that she is infact a she and low and behold she is gravid. So apparently I purchased a mommy to be. Thanks for all your help.