Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need a little help/advice/etc.. I'm not much of an expert- I just keep herps as pets and have always had good "luck" with them. I'm also somewhat of a home for injured and unwanted critters~ I always end up with animals that need help and that good "luck" seems to hdo wonders for their health. I do have a question, but I'll get a little wordy just to help if anyone wants to get a better grasp of the situation.

The breakdown:

A few years back I lived in Florida, this is when I found a really injured Cuban Brown Anole. (He was missing his entire scalp, his gums were hanging out of his mouth, damage to both eye, busted ribs, and of course he had no tail.) I figured, what the hell, I'll keep him safe and if he lives he lives. I slapped some neosporin-like stuff on his head, gave him a nice little habitat, and handed him a cricket every few days (He wouldn't eat any more than that) and 5 years later he's still blind, but he's also still alive, acts quite normal, and seems quite content. -next part-

A guy my Boyfriend works with moved out of state a few weeks ago, he didn't want his common green Anole, so I took it in because -they live together in Florida, why couldn't they do the same in my Florida-like cage- The two get along fine. This one is quite skiddish, no biggie, and I believe they are both males. Only 80% sure because they are still on the smaller side. (The first one you can guess why he wouldn't grow much, and the one I just took didn't have great husbandry at all, I'm sure he'll get a little bigger soon)

The cage they are in is all screen and is twice as tall as wide. It's about 35 gallons. There's a fake rock bowl for standing water, and it has a substrate of herp approved cypress mulch, pebble gravel, and small river stones for absorbing the basking heat. It sits close to a window so they have a good day-night time cycle, Active UV heat bulb, and a T-Rex Heat pad on the outside of the cage for a little extra heat (mostly for night time because I'm in the high desert of Oregon, temp fluxes)- and in handmade sculpie and rock planters I have small leaf and broad leaf ferns, dwarf palm-like plants, orchids, and succulent cacti (no thorns, like aloe) for the area near the basking spot. There are twigs and bamboo stalks for perching and to add more vertical space. It's in a bathroom, so the humidity stays around 60 when not misted -and I mist about twice a day.

Now for why this is here in the Phelsuma section and for my question:

I just got a female Gold Dust Day Gecko, the guy at the store seems very knowledgeable- he owns, and breeds, and shelled out information on par with my vet. Having owned and cared for all sorts of Lizards, Toads, Frogs, and Turtles, I feel comfortable saying he wasn't an idiot at all. He has several varieties of Geckos, and a few Day Gecko types to boot- So, I asked him if the pretty little Day Gecko they had in would get along fine in a cage with the Anoles. He told me 2 males would be aggressive towards each other, but that mixing the girl D.G. in with those two Anoles should be more than fine. (They are also all very close in body size) He made it sound like he had done it (but I'm not sure on that,) either way, what he said seemed okay, so I got her to add some beauty to the cage---

I got her home and put her in, the green anole avoids her (which is cool, just like him to do that) the brown one could care less (lol, just like them to be like that) and she's very curious about the cage- but I've noticed that when she's about to move she'll wag, or twitch, her tail- lifting it slightly. And, that, she almost always moves towards the green anole. (In all honesty I don't think she's noticed the brown one yet. Since he's blind he pretty much picks a spot for the day and sits there like a log) I'm worried hat it's a sign of aggression, but realize that she could just be nervous. I understand that she could just be trying to figure out her territory and her cage mates -and that's fine- but does anyone know if this IS a sign of aggression, how aggressive Gold Dust Day Geckos can be towards other lizards/creatures of the same size, and if I should be worried enough about this not to try it. This is what I'm thinking: Worst case to best case: Someone gets an arm torn off (very bad, certainly not acceptable) -Someone gets a small bite to establish "this area is mine" (not ideal, but I understand sometimes creatures have to do this to establish an order) -They stay slightly stressed until they get use to each other (that would turn out okay, as long as their overall health didn't suffer much) -Or they all just get along (That would make me quite happy)

Sorry my post was so long.. But any knowledgeable information or advice on behavior would be VERY appreciated- thank you all in advance!
~Melora

That's a hard situation to figure out since the green anole is blind. Day geckos wag their tail when they're about to pounce on prey, when they are willing to mate, and I've seen my female wag her tail when the male snatches the food first and she wanted it. The day gecko could be confusing the green anole for a day gecko. With him being blind and not being able to react to the tail wagging I don't think there will be any fighting. If the day gecko turns out to be a male then more than likely there will be a dead or seriously injured green anole.

I honestly do not condone mixing species unless the keeper has had both species long enough to read the body language of those particular animals. Some day geckos act a little differently compared to others even those of the same species.

Thanks for your response- It was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I had seen behavior sort of like this in other animals, particular the Horny Toad I took care of for a brief time. But-- they're pretty different little creatures, so I didn't know what to think. He would wiggle his tail right before he grabbed an ant, but, the body language was still different in many other ways so I really needed the knowledge of someone familiar with these creatures.

What's good is that it seems to have cooled down, I hope I'm not jumping the gun when I say this, but it does seem she's stopped her stalking behavior. I caught her doing the same thing my bearded dragon does when she's curious about what something is- the little tongue taste. After a few of those directed towards the skiddish green anole, I guess she decided he wasn't food.(I think his running was what the problem was, as soon as he stopped fleeing every time she got close she seems to have realized he wasn't prey.) He also seems less afraid of her now. I've caught her climbing over the blind Cuban Anole- so at least those two seem to have a very comfortable understanding. They all sleep under the same orchid leaf now- good sign, and they're not running away from, or circling each other any more either.

I'm pretty sure the Day Gecko is female- You can see what seems to be an egg inside her, and she doesn't have the same distinct femoral pores that her other same species cage mate at the store had. I know I'm guilty of something even I don't condone either- and impulse buy ^_^;; but I always take responsibility for any animal I end up with, so no matter how I get them I do only want to do what's best for them. If I have to split them up, I have no problem with that. I usually only mix species if I think it will truly work, and I just wanted to try because it's a big cage that only had two little things in it. I just would really love to start getting a variety of small reptiles and amphibians, so she's kind of an experiment in a way, because, if I can care for her well enough that she really thrives, I'll probably end up with a few more kinds of Phelsuma (and she'll probably end up with a mate of her own kind in their own cage

Sounds to me like you are very fortunate. Gold dust day geckos normally do great with anoles but the blind anole would've had a problem if the gecko was a male.