Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had a "pair" of leopard geckos living together, Arielle and Chester (aka mean gecko). Ari was the sweetest gecko ever, she was so tame and loving. Chester, however was so nasty that if you even tried to touch him he would attempt to bite you.

One day, I looked in the cage and noticed that Ari looked very bad. I picked her up, and noticed that she was internally bleeding. I immediately took her to the vet and was told that the bleeding was caused by a bite. I was hysterical that Chester had done this to my little baby. I blamed myself for not separating them; I knew he was aggressive, and I learned my lesson the worst way ever... Ari died a few hours after I took her to the vet.

I hated Chester. I didn't even want to look at him, he was so nasty, I had no idea what to do with him. Then I got a strange feeling, and I decided to hold him. He didn't try to attack me when I reached into the cage, nor attack me once he was in my hand. He just stood there, and licked my palm. I gently petted his back, and he arched it just like little Ari used to do. He was being nice.

It's nearly been a week, and I'm astonished. Chester is almost as friendly now as Ari was. My mom thinks it was some sort of territorial thing and that the two hated each other. I know I can't hate him (especially since I'm also to blame), but it feels so weird. He killed my little Ari... and now he's really friendly, I guess because he just wanted her gone. I just don't know what to do or how to feel about this one. Any help is welcome, especially if you know why Chester was acting the way he was and if this is normal gecko behavior.

I'm not sure what Chester was thinking, but i do know that no animal kills just to kill. It might've been territorial, or he might've felt threatened and defended himself. It is nobody's fault and you shouldnt blame chester. He is just being an animal. Learn from this though, dont ever house chester with any other gecko, and always seperate any animals that you feel might not be getting along. Also, Chester seems twice as nice as any of my three leos. If he's letting you pet him, and enjoying it, he can be a wonderful companion. If you were thinking about doing anything to him, or getting rid of him, please reconsider. I dont think that would be fair to Chester.

Oooh...please don't get me wrong, I would NEVER hurt any of my animals, regardless of what they did. I guess I meant more like... how to act and feel towards him?

Any chance Ari was actually a young male? I've never heard of / experienced that level of male on female aggression. Even the scent of another male on your hands can cause an attack from the tamest male. So if two males were inadvertently housed together, it's no surprise that the more dominant individaul would be in a constant state of stress / aggression.

Kind of off subject, but I had a female that kind of turned into a male (after 10 years of laying eggs she developed buldges and now mates with females although none of the eggs are fertile). Before I realized that she had transformed into a "shemale", "she" got beat up pretty bad by my male and he was pretty ampted up while "she" was in his cage. Luckily within 24 hours I realized what was up and removed her before any serious damage occurred.

-Alice

I'm pretty sure Ari was female. The pet store which I purchased them from (which was closing) said that they were a breeding pair. I've come to realize that that was most likely just a lie just to rid themselves of their inventory.

Hi

What a story about your one gecko changing sexe's, I would send this story to a veterinary school and see if they send you any response's back about it. It would make an interesting story for them to study.

Just a thought.

TLB