Hi Karl,
Next time I would let the female set up for a week or so before introducing a male. Introducing the male after the female has established her territory is good practice, however, doing this too quickly does not allow her time enough to feel secure.
Usually when Day Geckos are digging they are after food, laying eggs or possibly trying to get away. I would err on the side of caution and evict the male as his purpose has been served (mating should have already occured and is good for the whole season) and this way you can evaluate the female's behavior without the male contributing to the mix. Stress or lack of nutrition can contribute to lack of egg laying. Give lots of fruit nectar, or a commercial Day Gecko mix at least a few times a week to a breeding female. You did not say what vitamin supplementation you are using and that could definitely be a factor.
Another variable here is possible improper sexing of one or both of these geckos. I know personally these guys are difficult to sex and captive bred males are hard to produce. The best indicator I rely on if visual signs are not obvious is to keep each adult gecko separately for six months or so and see if eggs form or don't in that time period.
Best of luck!
Julie Bergman www.geckoranch.com GGA lifetime member
Karl Fritz wrote:
Hi all again. I was also wondering if anyone could interpret the strange behavior of my Gold dust Day gecko? She has been digging and burrowing her head in the Orchid Bark. I've never seen any of my day geckos do something like this.
Here is some background. I traded for a captive bred male about two months ago. About one month ago I also bought the Wild Caught female in question. She had been in captivity previously for at least 6 months. The previous owner had her with another male but said she wouldn't breed. Since I already had a male, I just bought the female hoping she will get along better with my male. He showed some signs of interest, bobbing his head and approaching her, but I've only seen her reject him so far. There are no bite marks on either of them.
The tank set up is as follows: Tank is 12" wide by 18" deep and 18" high with pebbles at the bottom, followed by potting soil and topped of with a layer (1") of Orchid bark. There are live plants in the tank along with horizontal and vertical bamboo pieces for them to climb on and to get closer to the lights when they like.
I put the male in this new tank for him shortly after the female so he wouldn't have a chance to set up territory first. There are two lights (1 fluorescent and 1 incandescent). The temperatures range from 75 at night to 85 in the day. If they want to be warmer than this they can sit on their bamboo under the lights. The tank is misted for drinking and humidity at least three times a day.
So has anybody ever seen day geckos do something like this before? Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Karl
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