Males Fighting

Kappa · 08-06-04, 06:54 AM

I know that males will fight if kept in the same enclosure, but those this also apply if you provide alot of space? making a large display tank or will the males fight no matter how much room is provided?

Thnx in Advance,
Kappa

AnthonyC · 08-06-04, 10:21 AM

If you're talking about Cresteds, that's not really true. I regularly keep 3-4 young adult males in one cage and have never had one lose a tail. I only do that with virgin males and never with females in the same cage.

I think if you were to do a large naturalistic set-up with lots of hiding areas, a couple of males and several females would be just fine.

Kappa · 08-06-04, 04:38 PM

I had a 77 gallon tank, i was thinking of doing a seyup in that, 3males to a couple females, and the separate them if need be when they hit maturity.

DragnDrop · 08-06-04, 04:56 PM

I've seen males housed together IF and only IF there were no females in with them, and not in the same room. An acquaintance had 3 living peacefully for 3 years. However when he put a female in a separate enclosure in the same room, all hell broke out the first night. One male was killed, the others were badly mangled.

If you are going to have more than one male, you really should have a few more females as 'spares'. Males will fight for mating rights, and another male in the setup will be seen as an unwanted rival. In his effort to pass on his genes the male will want to eliminate any chance of someone else getting the girl first. Supplying several more females might make it easier to manage. It will certainly make it easier on the girls. If there are 2 females and 3 males trying to mate, the girls are going to be so stressed they won't do well, and the left out male will start fighting for his turn. Best thing is one male, but if you insist, I'd suggest at least 2 females per male to make sure they've each got a small harem to keep them happy. But since you only have a 77 gallon setup to work with, that's going to be awfully crowded, it most likely won't work with that many geckos.

AnthonyC · 08-06-04, 05:45 PM

First of all, 3.2 is a terribly lop-sided ratio. No matter what size the cage is, I wouldn't keep three males together with any less than six females.

If they've not yet reached sexual maturity, you likely won't have problems, but the thing is, there's no guarantee that you'll know when the time has come. If you house them with females and you don't separate them until a fight occurs, you could very well lose a gecko or two.

As inexpensive and simple as Crested Geckos are to house, I'm not one to take those kinds of chances.

Kappa · 08-06-04, 07:26 PM

Im sure 48x12x18 tank could hold much more then 3.2 cresteds, 3.6 should thrive alright maybe even more then that.

DragnDrop · 08-06-04, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kappa
Im sure 48x12x18 tank could hold much more then 3.2 cresteds, 3.6 should thrive alright maybe even more then that.

Not if you're talking crested geckos in an enclosure. Now, if you're talking about sardines in a can, that's a whole different ball game.

DragnDrop · 08-06-04, 07:42 PM

Oh, I hope you realize that 48 x 12 x 18 isn't 77 gallons. It works out to 10368 cu in, or 45 gallons. That's WAY too small for even 3.2 cresties, I wouldn't recommend anything other than 1.3 max in that tank.