Crested geckos are very similar to other reptiles and usually live alone than with other animals. How a crested gecko plays with other geckos in the same terrarium depends on the kind of geckos that you are keeping in the terrarium with your crested gecko. But, more new pet owners often wonder and ask whether crested geckos play nice with each other in the same terrarium?
Crested geckos do not play nice with each other when living in the same terrarium enclosure. However, if you keep your crested female geckos on a 2 to 1 male crested gecko ration, you should be able to house these reptiles in the same terrarium without fights. Crested geckos are naturally solitary animals who rarely live in large groups. So, keeping crested geckos in unbalanced ratios between male geckos and female geckos is a violation of their natural pecking order where one dominant male enjoys mating rights over multiple female geckos.
If they are of the same sex or not as well as the number of geckos in the terrarium influence how your crested geckos will stay together. This post explains what you need to know about crested geckos with other geckos in the same terrarium.
There are some rules that you need to consider when you want to keep crested geckos with other geckos in the same terrarium. First, you need to consider the sex of crested geckos that you are keeping in the terrarium. The following are some of the examples:
- Several females crested geckos together
- Several male crested geckos together.
- Multiple males and female crested geckos together
- One male crested gecko and one female crested gecko together and vice versa.
- Multiple males plus one female and vice versa.
Looking at all these options is what will help you know if the crested gecko can play nice with other geckos in the same terrarium.
Many Male Crested Geckos Together
Housing multiple male crested geckos in the same terrarium is not advisable and this should not be done. This is because crested geckos are very territorial and especially worse for the male crested geckos. Therefore, housing them in the same terrarium will only cause fights between them.
This can be very stressful for the geckos and may even lead to some injuries between the geckos. Geckos fights for dominance involve biting each other during the fights and can cause life treating injuries at the worst but mostly too many male geckos living in the same terrarium leads to a very distressed pet gecko. Therefore, it is important to always avoid this at all costs.
Housing many female crested geckos in one terrarium
If you have a female crested gecko and want to house it with other geckos, then a female gecko is the best option. This is because the female crested geckos do not like to fight and are not territorial.
The female crested geckos can easily tolerate living with other geckos and can be very friendly towards each other. If you have a very big terrarium you can even keep up to 5 female crested geckos without worrying about any fights and injuries between them.
One male and female crested gecko
Housing a female crested gecko together with a male crested gecko is not a very good idea. This is because the male crested gecko tries so much to breed with the crested gecko and will usually chase it around the terrarium. This will also result into having crested gecko babies.
Keeping the female crested gecko with a male crested gecko will be very stressful for the female gecko especially when she is the only female crested gecko in the tank. Therefore, if this is the case, you need to give your female crested gecko some cooling time so that it stays free of stress and recovers.
When not given this period, your crested geckos life span can shorten, the stress can also cause some health issues for the crested gecko.
Several male crested geckos with several female crested geckos
Male crested geckos should never be put together in the same terrarium because they are territorial in nature and this can cause a lot of fights and problems between the geckos.
When you put several male crested geckos with female crested geckos the problem worsens, hence there will be more fights between the male geckos leading to stress. Therefore, this combination is not good as it puts your geckos at the risk of getting injured and stressed.
Several Female crested geckos and One male Gecko
This is a great option if you are ready to have some hatchlings (crested gecko babies). This will not cause any problems or fights between the geckos. When keeping the crested geckos together, you need to keep in mind the size of terrarium.
A good ratio is keeping at least two to four female crested geckos and one male. Remember the number of females will depend on the size of your terrarium. You don’t want to keep so many crested geckos together in a small terrarium.
Several male crested geckos and one female gecko
As we said earlier on, male crested geckos are territorial in nature. Hence putting them with one female gecko will be a very big mistake.
The crested geckos will fight so much for dominance. They will also try to breed with the female crested gecko causing it a lot of stress and suffering as they will chase the female gecko throughout the enclosure.
Housing the hatchlings (crested gecko babies) together
Crested gecko babies can easily be kept together. They are different from the adult geckos and will easily tolerate each other when they are babies. However, when they reach sexual maturity, it is important to separate the geckos especially when you do not want new crested gecko babies.
Tips and techniques to know when keeping Several crested geckos in the same terrarium
Crested geckos are not aggressive in nature. It is still very important to be cautious when keeping crested geckos together. The males are very territorial and easily get into fights. Sometimes the females can also fight. In order to reduce this, you can follow some of these tips and techniques:
1) Monitoring Crested Gecko Behavior
The personality of the crested geckos will not always match with each other. As a result, it is important that you monitor the behavior of the crested geckos.
Female crested geckos tend to be more friendly than make crested geckos, this does not mean that they never get into fights. Hence always monitor their behavior so that you know if they like to be alone or do well with their companions.
2) The size of the crested gecko’s matters
Crested geckos of different sizes should never be put in the same terrarium. Make sure that if you are putting crested geckos in the same terrarium, they have the same weight as well as size.
A difference in their sizes may lead to the small geckos being bullied a lot. This can also lead to stress and fighting for resources like food whereby the small ones will not get enough.
3) Take into account the breeding age
If the females are not ready to breed, do not put them together with an adult male. This is because they can be harmed when the male geckos try to breed with them.
4) Consider the size of terrarium
Whenever you are planning to put more crested geckos in the same terrarium, always make sure that the terrarium is large enough to accommodate them all. The size of the terrarium also determines how many crested geckos you can put together.
How to introduce a new crested gecko to other geckos
When you want to add a new crested gecko to your terrarium, it is important to keep it in quarantine first for some days. This is very important because you want to ensure that your crested gecko is healthy and does not introduce any diseases to its housemates. It also helps to prevent stress and make sure that your gecko can eat properly.
1) Parasites and diseases
This is one of the main reasons for keeping the crested gecko in quarantine first before you introduce it to the new housemates. This ensures that you know that your crested gecko is free of any diseases and parasites that may spread to the other geckos in your terrarium. This step is very important as it ensures the safety of your other pets.
2) Preventing Stress
Putting your crested gecko in quarantine allows it to adjust to its new environment properly. When in a new environment your crested gecko may already be stressed. Rushing to put him with the other geckos can stress the gecko even more. Therefore, to prevent this, give him more time to adjust properly.
3) Eating Properly
When your gecko is away from the other geckos, you can easily monitor if your crested gecko is eating properly and that it does not have any problems when it comes to pooping. When everything is okay, you can put the gecko with other geckos without worrying about any problems.
Conclusion
Crested geckos can play nicely with other geckos in the same terrarium depending on certain factors like the gender of the geckos. Male crested geckos tend to be territorial hence they do not do well with being in the same terrarium.
On the other hand, female crested geckos can do well in the same terrarium with other crested geckos without having any problems. When putting crested geckos in the same terrarium there are so many factors that you need to consider.
For example, the size of the crested geckos, the weight, the gender and more. For new owners, we recommend keeping one crested gecko in the terrarium until you are ready to take care of more in the same terrarium.
