Geckos biting each other?!?!?

[JoceyFisch]

Background:
I have 2 Smooth Knob-Tailgeckos (Barney & Regina); they are 2 months old and about 1.5 inch in length.

They are housed in a glass tank 3.5ft by 1.5ft, 8inch high sides, with a heat mat at one end and a few hides.


I feed them medium crickets, 2-3 each on alternate nights.

Problem:
About 4-5 weeks ago when I was spraying them one bit the other on the tail.. this has happened a couple of times and they have both done it to one another but they let go straight away.

Last week Barney bit my finger when I was lifting the hides out of the tank and then last night when I was getting ready to feed them Regina bit Barney right on the head and actually held on for a bit and I admit I freaked out and started spraying them with water and she let go.

I was about to feed them so I separated them last night (just for feeding) as I was a little concerned about Barney coz when she bit him it was right on his eye. But they both ate as normal and he was fine last night and this morning.

My brother has a pair of the same geckos (parents of mine) and has never experienced this problem so I was wondering.. Has it ever happened to anyone else?

Do I need to increase their food?

Or separate them when feeding?


Or are they just plain evil :evil:

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks all

 

[geckos_are_great]

seperate them. and that tanks alittle big

 

[Jonno from ERD]

Hey Jocelyn,

As suggested, it's probably best to separate them...I'd just silicone a glass divider down the middle of that enclosure (I vaguely remember seeing them when I was moonlighting as Buzz Lightyear). Even as adults they can be a bit cranky towards each other.

 

[JasonL]

Geckos are very territorial, it's just that their aggression, both physical and mental isn't usually noticed or witnessed by the keeper. Tail biting is a natural precursor to mating, as it is generally a sign of dominance and I'd suggest you keep them seperate to prevent unnecessary stress. I personally keep females in pairs and males singularly except for breeding of course. In this pic you can see the bit marks as crescent shaped marks in the underside of the females tail, she also had marks just in front of the rear limb

 

[JoceyFisch]

Thanks heaps guys! I shall be seperating them as soon as I get home.

 

[Jay84]

Also, mine eat quite a bit more than that at that age? My young ones i feed every day.

 

[JoceyFisch]

Also, mine eat quite a bit more than that at that age? My young ones i feed every day.

Maybe that's why they've been trying to eat each other :?

How many crickets do you give yours each day??

 

[Freeloader]

I have one month old pilbs eating 4-5 crix each a day.

 

[Jay84]

I am the same as Freeloader, about 4 or 5 a day. If your babies are knowing its food time they may enter into a little feeding frenzy and grab anything that moves, especially if they are being underfed.

 

[JoceyFisch]

What size crix are you feeding them??

 

[salebrosus]

Consider it lucky you don't have Ring Tailed Geckos

 

[reptiles08010]

All i can tell you is that i own 2 Marbled Geckos (approx 5 months old) and feed them everyday about 5 small crickets (its good cuz ive relised they pretty much stop eating when they're full) and everytime i go to open the lid, one of them always looks up cuz it knows its feeding time and quite often if the geckos are near each other, one will go for the others tail straight away. Id say because it knows its feeding time but doesnt always wait for the crickets lol, like Jay84 said, they pretty much go into a 'feeding frenzy'. Both my geckos are doing fine and seem to put up with each other well except the tail nips, but when it happens it will usually let go very fast, espes when the crix are in.

Regards, Julian