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Leopard Geckos are known for their curious and active nature. With their obscure coloration and body structure, they look like they’ve come straight out of a cartoon.
While this undoubtedly attracts a lot of attention from people, leopard geckos are also popular as pets due to their high intelligence and unique behavioral patterns. They also like to get out and explore but prefer solitary activity. And despite their social nature, leopard geckos are often kept alone because they are territorial reptiles and do not like to share their space.
However, this doesn’t mean that two leopard geckos can’t be kept together in captivity, and some keepers even keep multiple geckos together.
In fact, ask any reptile expert “can two female leopard geckos be kept together” and they will reply “yes”. Keeping two female leopard geckos together is not difficult if you know the right process and understand the right habitat conditions to make sure your leopard geckos get along well.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at the many factors that are critical to the success of keeping two leopard geckos together. Understanding these crucial factors can help you make the best decision and ensure that you keep your leopard geckos happy and healthy in their new home.
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Can Two Female Leopard Geckos Be Kept Together? - Let's Discuss four Critical Factors
Enlisted are the top facts about leopard geckos that you should know before deciding to keep these lizards together. The leopard gecko is a unique and remarkable reptile. When it comes to keeping them in pairs, there are various issues that must be taken into consideration because failing to do so may have serious consequences.
1. Leopard Geckos' Sex Matters
Gender is one of the first things you must consider when keeping two leopard geckos together. This is because leopard geckos are a sexually dimorphic species, which means that there are noticeable physical differences between males and females. Furthermore, gender also defines compatibility and how the geckos will react to each other.
Male/Male:
Female/Female:
On the other hand, females have much fewer problems. Female leopard geckos are usually not aggressive and do not mind sharing a cage with another female leopard gecko. However, there’s still a chance that they will fight over territory (animal instincts!), so be sure to make their enclosures large and have multiple hiding spots available.
Male/Female:
You should consider this the ideal pair if you want to breed your leopard geckos. There’s no territorial aggression between a male and female, so there’s little risk of fighting. But still, you will want to ensure proper enclosure size and give them a variety of hiding spots, so they don’t feel threatened by each other.
2. Size & Maturity Matters
You’ll commonly see a tank full of leopard geckos for sale in most of your large chain pet stores, often piled on top of each other vying for the best hiding places. When seeing this scenario in pet shop after pet shop, it may seem that it’s perfectly fine for leopard geckos to be kept together.
However, these are usually smaller juvenile leopard geckos that you see kept together. They don’t take up as much space in the tanks or in the hides, and they also have an underdeveloped sense of territory. But when it comes to two adult leopard geckos or even juveniles that are close in size, the situation is completely different.
You’ll need to ensure that the enclosure you choose is large enough to accommodate them both without competition for territory. Moreover, when you keep leopard geckos of different sizes together, you’ll also need to ensure that both are getting sufficient food which often is difficult because the dominant one will eat up all the food. This will lead to unwarranted stress, possibly causing more serious health issues to develop the other smaller gecko.
3. Enclosure or Tank Size
When keeping two leopard geckos together, you’ll need to ensure that the enclosure you’re going to use is large enough to accommodate both of them without territorial competition. The enclosure will be their home, so they will spend most of their time there, and it’s important that it be comfortable for them. The leopard gecko tank size needed for two geckos should be about 20 gallons.
Here is the tank we use for our two leopard geckos:
The tank should also have a variety of climbing and hiding spots that are located at varying heights. The hides should be large enough for the geckos to easily climb in and out of. Hide placement is crucial to ensuring that both geckos have enough space and aren’t territorial over the same spot. This will also ensure the proper warm and cool zones needed for proper leopard gecko temperature.
Furthermore, the substrate should be large enough to encourage them to move around and use the entire tank. The temperature should be kept between 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit, with the basking temperature being around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use heat lamps and under-tank heaters in order to provide them with this desired temperature.
4. Health
Your whole reason for keeping two leopard geckos together is that you want to ensure they get the attention and love they need. However, you should only do this if both geckos are healthy and don’t have known or unknown conditions.
Health is one of the most important factors in determining whether two leopard geckos can be kept together. When you keep two leopard geckos together, there’s a higher risk of fighting and one becoming injured or killed by the other. If either of them is weak or sick, then this can greatly increase the chances of one getting hurt.
So, before housing your leopard geckos together, you should consider the following:
1. Prevent Sickness from Spreading:
2. Sick Gecko May Die:
Weak or sick geckos will get picked on, pecked at, and killed by their healthy counterpart. Therefore, you should separate them so that they can recover and not be harmed.
Conclusion - Can Two Female Leopard Geckos Be Kept Together?
In short, it can be risky to house two leopard geckos together. But, in the proper environment and conditions, they can coexist peacefully.
This “proper environment” would be both geckos being female, both being the same age, and both being healthy. The ideal situation would be two female leopard geckos that grew up together.
However, keep in mind, sometimes leopard geckos won’t get along, no matter what you do. In this case, you should separate them immediately.
Hopefully, you learned something new with this article! Be sure to check out our other articles on leopard geckos to expand your knowledge.
As always – Happy Herping!
