Leopard Geckos in the Wild

[mathaldo]

I was wondering if they live in pairs, groups, or are solitary animals?

Do they take care of the eggs, and young after they hatch?

THought it would be interesting to know.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Gregarious but not maternal.

[Wilma]

the leopard gecko manual touches on this... off hand I am not sure, but I do know a mom could mistake her hatchlings as food so they are not maternal.

[DragnDrop]

In the wild they live in small groups, one male and as many females as he can persuade to move in. The babies hang around for a while getting some protection from the parents until they're old enough to move out on their own. The parents recognize their won offspring, but wouldn't think twice to consider outsiders as fair game.

You'll probably find this post on the GGA list interesting.
Gecko Social Structures (http://www.mail-archive.com/gecko@gekkota.com/msg04534.html)

[anders_240sx]

On cool humid nights they can apparently be seen in hundreds sometimes in their native lands of Pakistan. If I can find a pic of one such night I will scan and post it... its quite amazing

[Swampwalker]

That was a very interesting link Hilde. After reading it, I decided to introduce the 3 week old baby that my daughter wants to keep into the large tank with the parents. The adults don't really seem to notice or care that it is there. It has even wedge itself between the 2 adults in the rocky cave.

[DragnDrop]

If the babies hatch insitu, the parents recognize them. I'm not sure if yours will be safe, since it's been separated and then introduced. Even though it's one of their own, they might not know it. Apparently the adults clue in by scent or some 'marker' that says this guy is not to be on the menu. If yours doesn't have that, or not enough, then he might be in danger. I've had the odd egg hatch in a naturalistic tank I had (couldn't find them all, as much as I tried). Those babies were safe with the adults, they looked just like a family picnic at feeding time.
Try to really keep an eye on that little guy you put in there, make sure mom and dad know he's carrying their genes so eating him isn't in the best interest of their genetic survival.

[Samba]

Extremely interesting read, guys. I have noticed some 'close' behaviours between my female geckos. I have many things to say but not enough time here... more comments tomorrow... again... very interesting.

[Ixidor]

I actually never thought about that before. Nice thread man

[Samba]

Leopard geckos are definately one of the most social of reptiles, in my opinion. It often seems that they may even form bonds with other geckos, even if not related. At the very least they are extremely tolerant of one another.

As for the tolerance... how would the geckos benefit from tolerating one another? One, mentioned above, is raising young. Of course they'd have to be tolerant in order to get their genes into future generations.

Another theory is the 'zebra' effect. They all look alike, so in a 'pack' type situation, the stronger, fitter animals will be more likely to survive when faced with predators.

There are a few drawbacks, such as, if leos spend time together for protection, how do parents ensure the survival of young in such a situation? Unrelated leos would have no trouble making a snack out of another's babies... It has been speculated that female leos may actually defend their young. I'm not aware of any documentation, however.

Sorry for the poor organization of my writing, but here at work you have to make things quick...

I find this topic extremely interesting... I would like to know what everyone else thinks. =)