Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi have a full grown male leopard gecko and i was just thinking bout giving him a female companion for him and i was just wondering if he would not like me putting a female in there since he is used to being alone and not haveing to share anything. right now he is in a 20 gallon long but i was thinking of getting a bigger cage something like 45-55 gallons

thanks alot for the import
Tim

Leos don't need another gecko in their enslosure. Males should really only be kept alone because they are agressive and will agitate females.

Males like to breed If you introduce females, make sure you have a plan for the offspring. Also make sure that any new leos have been quarentined for at least 90 days and are at least 50 grams or 18 months old and in good breeding condition. If you do decide to add females, have it coincide with the transfer to the larger tank or do a cleaning and rearrangement of furniture in the 20 to reset the male's territory. I'd also recommend adding two females, this way the males attentions won't be focused exclusively on a single female (this can be overwhelming for the female).

-Alice

Two male leo's never.
But it's the luck of the draw some will some won't.
Like man a most of the amimal kindom some get along with others and others are complet ass's.

Wild leo don't live in groups so the leo itself i would think would't be bother if it was with others or lived on it own.

Quite to the contrary they DO live in colonies in the wild, some can be quite large. This is not to imply that they are "social" reptiles, it has been noted that they exhibit "tolerant" social behavior in the wild.

>>Quite to the contrary they DO live in colonies in the wild, some can be quite large. This is not to imply that they are "social" reptiles, it has been noted that they exhibit "tolerant" social behavior in the wild.
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That ineresting
So why dose every make such a issue about it ? if there found in group in the wild.It's possible in captivity they just need to set there pecking orders.

Could you give us a link to where you got this information from?

The newest information on it that I came across was right in the book The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos. That book has several very interesting studies in it that tend to contradict, at least to some extent, things you are told online. I'll have to look for online links where I had read about it before. I know a couple were Zoology type sites.

It is true, in captivity many Leos do not do well with others. One big difference is probably the limited space they are given to co-habitate in, as compared to in the wild. Of course this is especially true of males. But, it has been shown that 2 males raised together from the time they are very young can continue to tolerate one another as adults, as long as a female is never introduced. Now, I said "can" not "will" LOL I definately would never recommend it.