Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought two leos about 3 months ago. They both seemed to be females. As I was checking them tonight, I can see the v shaped pores on one. Now I'm freaking out, I don't want them breeding. I just want those two as pets. I know nothing about breeding or how they breed. There both in the same tank, do I have to give one of them away??? get a divider??? They are very fond of each other and would hate to seperate them. Is there anything to can do. The male is about 4 inches and the female 3. Are they still too young or is the damage done.
HELP< HELP
Chris

What are there weights and age? those are more important than length I believe

Unfortunately if you don't want them breeding, then your gonna have a problem, they will need to be seperated... A few clutches of eggs aren't that big of a deal, the problem will be of what to do with the babies, ask a local petshop (that takes care of their animals) if they will buy them... Heck she may lay eggs when not pregnant (like a chicken lol.)

Do you see any hemipene bulges? Both males and females have those pores, but when the males start reaching sexual maturity those pores become more pronounced, and form a small 'plug' on the center of each pore along with the development of their hemipenes. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell the difference between genders until about 4 months of age.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

Hi

Here is just a thought, but when they get to an age to were Marcia said you can start telling the sexe's more and if one does turn out to be a male and you don't want to have to devide the tank up and you still don't want the male if it is one, then maybe there is a breeder close by you that might be willing to take the male from you and give you a female of equal size in it's place.

Ya! if you did that it would tear you apart to give one up after you have gotten so close to it, but it's a thought.

TLB

I think you should divide them till you are sure that either they are both females, and if one is a male you should keep them separated. You dont want your female to die because of being eggbound?? i'm not sure if thats the correct term, someone please correct me if i'm wrong, but its when a leo female is to small/young to mate and the eggs develop and are to large for her to deposit. big problem! how old are they, they sound pretty young to me, so wait till you are sure, there are pictures that show the difference between males and females

only put a divider in the tank if they both have access to the hot & cold sides. also, i tired this once, when i first started out, and i discovered that dividers get knocked over pretty easily. i suggest investing in a 10 gallon for one of them, until you are sure. they're not too expensive, and then you can keep them both!

i actually have the same problem. i'm obsessed with snow phase, which is hard enough to deal with already (what with it hard to tell if babies & juvies will stay white, they usually don't, and most people selling geckoes very young). so, i bought a bunch of nice, almost-snow, striped temperature-sexed females, to work on striped snows. well, one day, i discovered my baby Caiman had grown some hemipenes! so, off to the store, to get him a separate enclosure... i still love the little guy, so i'm going to keep him, whether or not he's involved in any breeding.
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marla
keeper of: axolotls, catfish, ferrets, leopard geckoes, oriental fire-bellied toads, and sugar gliders

Agreed, it is too difficult to seperate tanks while proving them adequet heating. It should only set you back 30-40 bucks to make a second set up, providing you make/find all the stuff that goes inside the tank.