Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, I had originally planned to post a few questions on here about housing geckos. I recieved 6 high end leopard geckos yesterday 2.4 and I have a 2x3x3 enclosure with a small hide box confortable enough for them all to fit inside.

I woke up this morning and 3 of the lizards have bad injuries on their heads!! It was what I know to be 2.1 of the 6.

I thought you could house a male with several females? I was unsure about 2 males and females, but obviously there was a big problem.

What do I need to to to treat them?, I need some reccomendations on housing? Size and number of hide boxes? I just got them in yesterday, could the just be adjetated or will they never get along? Will their wounds heal?

Anything you guys can do to help me will be great. My email is Jenkeli621@charter.net or call me at (931) 249-1119

Leo males have been known to fight to the death. They are extremely territorial and I'm guessing one of your females got in the way during one of their fights. That inclosure is a bit small for all those Leos. Definately split up the males! I would also seperate some of the females too. If they are overcrowded, they will fight for space. Get another tank, put one male in each, and split up the females equally in each tank. (like 2 in one tank and 2 in the other.) Hope that helps!

I put 1.1 in a 20g and the other 4 are still in there. I believe that gives them all about a 12"x12" living space. Some of the injuries are minimal, but there is one with a gash on the top of his head with the skin pulled back, kind of like a dime sized blister that we might have popped and exposed the next layer of flesh.

For the hide boxes, each tank should have a minimum of three (even if you have only one leo in the tank). You need one hide on the cool side, one hide on the warm side, and one humid hide (a tupperware container with a hole cut in the side and we paper towels or bed-a-beast etc. inside). If I were in your shoes, I would at least double that (so two humid, two warm, and two cool) for the tank with 4 geckos. Also, you don't want big hides. Leos won't feel secure if they can't feel at least 2-3 or the cage walls against them, or if there is a large entrance hole through which they can easily be seen. Most lizards and snakes also prefer it if their hides are very low, so if they stand up all the way their backs are up against it. I think this goes for leos.

Work on getting the right tank setup, hides, and especially getting those wounds fixed up.

Put some Neosporin on their injuries, just make sure you don't see them licking at it. Also, make sure you keep their tanks extra clean so they don't get an infection!

Will do and, done! How long would it be safe to say the heal time would be? These guys are too pretty to have injuries! I am including a picture of one of the males so you can see how beautiful he is!

Jeff

I'd say wait till the injuries are almost completly healed. At least wait until they've scabed over, so there's no fleshy skin that could get infected. As long as you use Neosporin, they should heal well with minimal scaring. Oh by the way, that is a beautiful male. He's a patternless albino correct? Where'd you get them? Hope everything works out and they don't have anymore problems. Good luck!

P.S. Be careful or you'll get addicted to Leos. I started with 1 and now have 15!!

Here is another picture of one of them...yeah he is a patternless albino. I got him from a guy named Josh in Texas. They are all high end geckos and I firstly want them to remain healthy and secondly want them to heal without scarring.

So,wet papertowels are fine in hide boxes? I never new that. Also, is it common for these guys to defecate in the boxes?

Actually, Leos are really interesting when it comes to going to the bathroom. They pick one corner and they will always use that one spot. Once one goes, they will all start using that one spot. It makes it very easy for us to clean their cage. Hope everything works out.

This is why I am against housing leos together unless it is time for breeding.....