NQA but first off do you have the temps and types of uvb you use. Also are they sharing a tank?
#Geckos rarely come out
twilit sentinel
gaunt zodiac
When you say bioactive tank. Are you cohabbing your geckos?
You also will never feel warmth on geckos. They’re cold blooded animals and you’re a warm blooded creature who’s naturally basking temps for them.
They will always feel cold.
gaunt zodiac
I’m just gonna pop !cohab to go in a bit more but
There is currently no scientific evidence that leopard geckos benefit from being cohabbed. There is however tons of anecdotal evidence that they are solitary animals and that being around one another is a stressful situation. While in the wild there have been reports of them being in loose colonies, there is a ton more space in the wild then there is in tanks for these animals to get away from eachother and we also do not know if that they were around eachother by choice or because one happened to wonder up on another.
They can seem just fine for years but something can set one off for seemingly no reason at all and one or both end up hurt or dead. You cannot watch them 24/7 and don’t truly know what’s going on. A few members of staff have geckos who were cohabbed and either have scars from fights or were the ones who ended up killing their roommates. Being raised together doesn’t mean anything as with our current knowledge of the animal they do not have the ability to form social / familial bonds.
Often times people see leopard geckos laying on eachother and think they’re cuddling or that they like eachother but in reality that’s a dominance behavior. It’s not either of those first two things.
With cohabbing opposite sexes like the command states you risk overbreeding the female which is an extremely stressful situation and can shorten her lifespan.
quaint kernelBOT
In general, it is likely not a good idea to cohabitate leopard geckos, even just females. While some keepers are currently exploring possible benefits of social interaction between leopard geckos, there is no proven benefit to cohabiting, and they are not generally known as social creatures in the wild, despite there being some accounts of them living in groups.
While there are no benefits, there are definitely hazards. Hazards of cohabiting in general are domination behaviors, food stealing, spatial and thermoregulatory competition, fighting, tail dropping, stress, etc. Cohabiting different sexes comes with even more hazards, such as overbreeding, surprise eggs, and more.
In addition to outright hazards, many people who support cohabiting do so due to misconceptions. Leopard geckos do not have the ability to form strong emotional bonds (make friends), cuddle, or be lonely. People also sometimes separate their geckos and then assume that the adjustment period of each gecko now living in a new situation as the geckos missing each other, which is not the case. 99.9% of people are also cohabiting in much too small of a space. A single leopard gecko should ideally be in a 3x1.5 ft enclosure on it's own, let alone two in a similar or smaller size.
Due to these reasons, it is considered unwise to support cohabiting leopard geckos at this time. Our recommendation to people currently cohabiting is to separate them as soon as possible, whether that be by buying a new enclosure or by rehoming one or more. Please keep responsibly and keep in mind that geckos are incredibly adept at hiding their stress, so you likely wouldn't even know if your gecko was severely stressed.
gaunt zodiac
I would take a look at the server careguide and compare your current care with it. it's up to date on care information and is backed by scientific data. !guide
quaint kernelBOT
gaunt zodiac
Leopard geckos are a prey species so a lot of ours don't openly bask and choose to cryptic bask or come out after lights off and soak up risidual heat coming off the basking rocks/spot.
when using proper products it's been noted that they start doing a lot more natural behaviors
it's also becoming winter and seasonal changes happen.
pressure changes are a thing and animals do react to it!
twilit garden
the pressure changes can be felt no matter the temperature, but i also think it's worth the mention that they are probably under a lot of stress due to being cohabbed. that can definitely change their behavior, especially if something happened while you weren't looking.
like peachy mentioned, we have staff members who had cohabbed leos that were fine for years until a sudden change hurt or killed the roommate.
hexed atlas
nqa if it helps any, leos are perfectly capable of regulating their own heat intake given youre providing the correct temperatures and type of heating. if they need to warm up, theyll come out
and if they need uvb, they can just stick a leg out of the hide to reap the benefits as well
twilit garden
^^ so long as they are given everything as an option, they know how to regulate their wants and needs. that's why we're concerned about other stressors, such as the cohabbing
void ice
Do you have cameras inside the tank to monitor them 24/7?
Do you have a camera inside the tank at all?
Then how do you know if they are not basking or cryptic basking when you are not looking inside the tank?
Just as a side note. I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I'm being genuine.
Leopard gecko's behavior can change when they are put in a new environment. Nevertheless, they are most likely cryptic basking when you are not looking or unaware.
I am up for very long periods of time and do not see my gecko bask most of the time, however, they know how to regulate their own body temperatures better than we do.
They are most likely basking when they need to.
But I have to bring this up since you are cohabbing them together.
They both could be experiencing extreme stress levels since they are together.
You would have to test it, but once again these are reptiles that don't traditionally bask.
They are seen cryptic basking in the wild most of the time due to them being a prey animal.
The less exposure of their body out in the open means the lower chance of being harmed.
They might not like the way you have their basking area setup as well.
There could be many different reasons on why they aren't doing the type of basking you are thinking of.
river warren
You can try rearranging it a bit to allow for more partial cover! My light sensitive albino has done well with such changes
Your male might be simply thermoregulating as he sees fit, or avoiding the other animal
void ice
What Pea said above.
As I stated prior they know how to thermoregulate their own body far better than their keeper.
But he could be avoiding the other gecko entirely.
No.
What I think you should do is try to do everything in your power to separate the two animals and place them in their own homes.
How big is this tank anyway? What does it even look like?
What is each light source?
river warren
Probably for the better that UVB got swapped out then, since the compact and coil UVB can be ineffective or too intense (or both at the same time lol)
void ice
Also why the lack of a lid?
The geckos if crafty enough could climb that stick in the middle and escape the tank.
river warren
That would be a good switch! but i’d prioritize separating them before putting money towards anything else
void ice
Also to confirm with you about the right heat bulb. Are you sure that is a DHP? They don't produce any visible light
DHPs and CHEs do not produce light.
river warren
do you maybe have a basking bulb?
void ice
Does that basking bulb have any form of regulation? Do you have a thermostat?
void ice
It is.
Does that halogen have a thermostat connected to it?
And its not necessarily much better.
But it is slightly better than a DHP.
You need a thermostat.
Without a thermostat your risk serious injury to your animals and a fire risk to your home.
You still need a thermostat. You being in your room does not take away the fact that its an unregulated heat source that can cause harm to your animals and is a fire risk.
river warren
We recommend dimming thermostats for overhead heating, but these are a functional cheap alternative especially if you need to buy two to separate your lizards
the difference between those and dimming thermostats is that those types turn the heat source off (so if it gets too hot, the heating will flash off instead of dimming) however if your bulbs are staying under threshold, it should be fine as just a backup system for safety
!thermostats
quaint kernelBOT
Thermostats control the temperature of a heat source. Thermometers read the temperature of a location.
A thermostat is necessary for any heat source, but especially heat mats. Without one, your pet will very likely get burned due to high temperatures.
On/Off thermostats work by turning a heat source off when it gets slightly above a set temperature. They work with heat mats and possibly CHEs. These create some fluctuation in temperatures, but generally stay fairly close to the desired temperature.
Pulse proportional thermostats work by sending pulses of power to the heat source according to the temperature you set. It will send more pulses to heat up and fewer to cool down. These will fluctuate less than heat mats, but can still only be used with mats or CHEs, nothing that produces light.
Dimming thermostats work by controlling the exact amount of power a heat source is getting, only giving it enough to reach a set temperature. These produce the least amount of temperature fluctuations, if any at all. These work with any heat sources, including basking bulbs, DHPs, etc.
Dimmers are dials connected to a heat source, usually the lamp/dome that you screw a bulb into. Like dimming thermostats, they can control how much power the bulb is getting. However, unlike a dimming thermostat, they cannot adjust power unless done manually (by moving the dial), so if temperatures in your home change throughout the day or seasons, the dimmer will not adjust to this and could end up too hot or cold. Check the temperatures of heat sources on a dimmer frequently and be aware of the temperature changes in your home. It's recommended to add an on/off thermostat as a failsafe.