Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 4 female leos. I have them in a 40 gallon tank I believe its 36" X 24" X 13" I have noticed that they dont use a fraction of the cage. I have talked with breeders and they say that i should put them in a 20 gallon tank instead. I feel this would be too small for them. What is everyone elses opinion.

I have 3 nice size hides where atleast 3 geckos can be in the 2 smaller of the hides at once. I also have a half a log hide and another log hide thats smaller but longer. In addition i have a humid hide in there which i will be changing for a shoe box size one in a matter of time.

I put one of the smaller females in a showbox today to see her feeding response. It seemed like it made her more active. I do also see her eatin in the large cage.

Should I
A. Split them all up into 10 gallon tanks
B. Leave them in the 40 gallon tank
C. Move them into a smaller tank such as a 20 Long

I do plan to breed them in the future when i find a male

Thank you very much
Joey

I have kept a colony of three in a 45, and there are def places they seem to like better than others. Don't put all four in a 20 gal. That's crazy. you could get two twenties and do two in each. Four plus a male in forty is a little too tight. Some people would do it, but I feel like you have to give a little extra "pissy" room for a colony like that. Make sure you have very good temps, and a wonderful gradient. you may even have a 45 gal w/those measurements. If you want, I will measure mine. My girls tend to squabble a little more when the hormones get going. hmmm.... just make sure you watch really well for any signs of fighting and/or dminance issues.
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper, Goldie-now w/SD)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost

To reduce the stress on my females i think i will only put the male with them on certain occasions to breed. In my reseach i have found that the male only needs to mate with the female once to produce enough sperm for an entire season. I think i will mate them ever couple of months for a couple of days.
Any ideas how often i should do this. Should i do one at a time with the male in the males cage. Or should i put them all in the 40 gallon cage?
Thanks
Joey

You should only ned to breed each female once at the begining of the season for a few days in his cage. If all the girls get along w/o problems, you are very lucky, and as long as each one has a egg box, your guess is as good as mine about how they will adjust to the situation. Let the male have his own 10 gal, and just "board" the girls one at a time. how's that?
And please, please, please do lots of research before you try to breed that many geckoes!
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper, Goldie-now w/SD)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost

I have been doing tons and tons of research. I have been planning this for over a year before i purchased my first gecko and over time i have ended up with 4 females.
I also have a retired Leo breeder who i work for (im a vet tech and he is obviously a vet) and has been helping me throughout things.
He still has geckos which he has had for 11 years now. Some of his retired breeders/ hold backs...
So i am prepared/getting there.
I dont even have a male yet. And i wont breed them until i feel i am ready.
Also i know many people have and i have as well but for an adult gecko, isnt a 10 gallon a little tight. i mean in the 40 when all the females are out they look like there is soooooooo much room in there. A 10 gallon has very little room for them to move around. I was thinking i would give my male a 20 gallon tank. i know a 10 is plenty of room but i like to give my animals lots of room. haha you should see the birds, snakes and rabbit cages
Thanks for all the help
Joey

Great! We need more prepared anf knowledgeable keepers. Sorry if I insinuated you don't know, it's just hard to tell sometimes who you are talking to. I haven't had any prob with one in a 10 gal, some really even seem to thrive like that. Others seem to enjoy communal living. I wish you the very best, and post some pics of your big tank when you get it set up! (I'm in the middle of mine)
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper, Goldie-now w/SD)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost