Leopard Gecko Help

[scattytat]

Hey. I am new to this forum and would just like to ask a few questions about my leopard geckos!

I have 3 tanks containing 8 geckos altogether.

I have two 4 year old geckos (male and female) in one tank and the female is totally tame, however the male (who is quite a bit bigger) will not tolerate being held at all. He goes all rigid and makes a run for it, however both geckos have had the same amount of attention!

This happened with the grandchildren of these two geckos too. We have two boys we hatched 2 years ago and a girl and none of them like to be held. However two of them are deffinatly boys but they have been living together for 2 years - since birth with no problems. Why is this? Could it be because one of them lost his tail in a fight with his dad (we didn't find the egg and it hatched in the tank)?

Also, what size difference would you deem safe for two geckos to go together? I have a 5 week old (about the size of your index finger and *totally* adorable - purple tail!!!) and twin 3 week old geckos (about the size of your pinky) and they seem to be doing well as they are tweezer fed, but how well would they do if this wasnt the case?

I want to learn so much more about these creatures as i only have the knowledge from books and not first hand! Sorry if this post has gone on a bit.

[Ravnos]

I tend to prefer to only put animals of very similar size together. When you have one larger than the other, the smaller one will always lose out when it comes to competing over hiding spots and so forth. Males should really not be housed together, even though they seem to be doing just fine, it is inevitable that hormones will take over at some point and one will get hurt. Tails grow back, other parts don't.

Every gecko has a different personality. Some of mine don't mind being held, others prefer to be left alone, and some run for it when you get close - even though they were all raised the same. Some just never get over their fear of humans, or simply don't like being picked up.

Rav