crested geckos advice please

[sarahking20]

hi all,
im thinking of rehoming a pair of crested geckos.
They have lived together for a long time and they are 9 months old.

The people selling them are unsure of the sex, but i was wondering what the chances of both being males as they are still living together with no problems?
What age would they start fighting or would they have started already?
Am i going to be lucky and get one of each, or even two females, that would be a bargain!!!

How do i sex them? what do i look out for? is it the same as my leos and day geckos?

[neep_neep]

If they are 9 months, there is still a chance that one or the other (or both) may be male. If they are indeed both male and haven't matured yet, then you would expect aggression levels to be minimal.
If aggression is already occurring, between immature males it is often not very obvious - rather than the biting and chasing that we typically consider 'aggression', it can be a lot more subtle, such as intimidating the other gecko so it doesn't get it's share of the food. This type of aggression often isn't picked up on until the submissive gecko starts to lose weight, or is putting on weight at a slower rate than the other, more dominant gecko. Of course, that's not saying that it will definitely happen, but it is known to happen.

To sex them, i'd recommend getting hold of a jewellers loupe, minimum 10x, preferably higher magnification though, and look for pores between the rear legs. The presence of pores indicates male (although, confusingly, both males and females can have 'doughnut' shaped scales which can look rather pore-like). Of course, if either of your geckos turn up with a rather large bulge under the tail then you could safely assume male


Either way, if you suspect one of the pair to be a male, then it's best to separate him whether the other gecko is female or not.

[GlasgowGecko]

Its an interesting question, and as Neep Neep says 'aggression' may not be immediately obvious to the unsuspecting eye, but what is worth remembering is that the animals probably realize what sex they are much before we do. Not that this fact influences this situation much but is worth remembering that even two non sexually mature males can still have problems.

One other thing to point out is that at 9 months old you wouldn't really want to keep a male and a female together, as the male will be capable and willing to breed, but the female will (probably) be too small, and will get very stressed in a small enclosure.

Andy