> From: Troy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> That is a good idea. I wondered, do they just loose the tale right then and
> there or will I wake up in the morning and find a tale laying in the
> enclosure? How does that work. I don't want to stress them but I have
> already taken a few pics and one didn't like it at all. Should I be worried?
> The tale is fine right now.
Squirmy, aren't they?
Lizards shed their tails to distract predators, they drop the tail
which twitches and thrashes, distracting the predator and providing
a tasty tidbit while the lizard escapes. So once you let the gecko
go, it's unlikely that it will drop its tail. Losing a tail and having
to grow it back is 'expensive' for a lizard, especially a leo which
stores fat for hard times in its tail. It's like losing your life
savings! So they generally don't drop a tail unless they are really
terrified.
I hope more experienced people will correct me if I'm wrong, but the
mature male leos I've seen have wider heads and thicker necks than
females. This is something like the difference between tomcats and
female cats, or bulls and cows, a more robust look compared to the
more refined look of females. I'm raising a group of leos now that
were incubated for mixed sexes, and the two males began to show these
traits at a weight of about 25-30 grams. They are about 5-6 months
old now, and there is no question that they are male - the hemipenis
bulges are very distinctive as well as the head shape, although the
pores haven't started to produce 'gunk' yet, and they aren't fighting.
I hope this helps, and doesn't confuse you further! I was worried that
I wouldn't be able to sex my mixed hatchlings, but the changes came on
fairly suddenly, over a period of about two weeks, and it turned out
to be fairly easy. To my inexperienced eye, both your geckos look like
females, considering their sizes and ages, for what it's worth.
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