Attack Gecko at it again.

[BalloonzForU]

Last week I had to take my 8 month old gecko into the vet for sores on her mouth from trying to attack everthing that walked by the tub. Now that her mouth is all better she's doing it again. I've lined the inside of the tub with paper towels, and I have a sheet of paper on the side of the tub , but she still tries to attack the shadows. I don't want to block all the natural light going into her tub. What else can I do? Anyone ever have a gecko do this so bad they hurt themselves?

[Leogirl]

I have one! He's never hurt himself doing it tho. What is he getting hurt on?

[BalloonzForU]

She tries to attack whatever/whoever is walking by her, but she seems to try to go right thru the tub, so she's hitting her mouth on the tub real hard.

[Leogirl]

Awwwe...poor thing! I don't know, but i just did a post about mine(not as severe)doing kinda the same thing..so if i get any good fedback I'll let you know.

[Supahypegex]

maybe get her a 10gal tank. I have had some adults not do real well in the smaller bins but are fine in a bigger one I dont know just a thought

[shadraak]

could this be a "HOT" female? u know when they're incubated too high and they're overly aggressive? maybe hungry? stressed? could be many things.... i dont know just some thoughts i had. also are you sure it's a female? could be a male getting a reflection thinking it's another male and trying to fight?

[BalloonzForU]

She was incubated for male at 88 then raised to 90 after 3 weeks, (before I knew Tremper's incubation for color could be bad). So I'm not sure if that would make her a hot female. She is 8 months old, old enough to tell the sex. She just started doing this about 2 months ago. I moved her tub higher on the rack so that she didn't have anyone else on her shelf and so that she would not see the dog and cats as they walked by. Her and her brother have always been little hellion, just like their mom. All three are Temper albinos, her other brother a normal het albino is pretty laid back.

[LadyGecko]

Since she attacks the shadows that she sees in the tub from the outside
maybe you can try keeping her in a clear viv-such as an aquarium?
I don't know if it would make a difference if she could see more or not-or whether she would get crazier with more of a view with things around her or not?
That has to be so frustrating to watch her continue to injure herself
:(
Just a thought and Good Luck with her
Sandy

[CrazyRhacos]

sounds like shes a 'HOT' female...they are incubated for male and end up being female..she wont be able to breed or kept with others..

[BalloonzForU]

Thanks for the idea Sandy, but she chases everything clear tank, tub, paper cover tub, doesn't matter. ARRGG, I hate seeing her hurt herself. :(

"Hot female?" She was housed with her brothers, then later on with another female for a while, but now she's by herself. She has never had problems with another gecko, doubt she's "Hot". Even if she is, newer research shows that hot females will breed they are just late bloomers. The issue here is not weather she is "Hot" or not, I could careless if she is.

I was hoping to get some suggestions about making her tub safer for her to hit her head against. Or if I paint one side of the tub with a solid color to block views of the room, would this mess with her light cycle too much. Any suggestions on keeping her from hurting herself would be greatly appreciated.

[CrazyRhacos]

line it with styrafoam....like a shipping box...

[Albey]

Hi Felicia,
Since you are just trying to protect her from hurting herself, why don’t you try covering her tub as soon as you walk into the room? Cut a piece of cardboard or something that will fit around the front of the tub to block out the light and shadows that could be created. When you leave take the cover off. This will of course not work if she is in a heavy traffic area but it might cut down on the attacks.

Good Luck,
Albey

[shadraak]

that's what i was going to suggest, or tape up the outside so nothing can get thru, like with some brown paper or something, but then again you wouldn't know if she's attacking anything anymore or not :( so kind of hard to tell, maybe if you put another in there, does she attack it or calm down? maybe she's just lonely?? i know if i seperate my ferrets they go nuts but together they're as good as can be.

[BalloonzForU]

that's what i was going to suggest, or tape up the outside so nothing can get thru, like with some brown paper or something, but then again you wouldn't know if she's attacking anything anymore or not :( so kind of hard to tell, maybe if you put another in there, does she attack it or calm down? maybe she's just lonely?? i know if i seperate my ferrets they go nuts but together they're as good as can be.



LOL I would know if she does it. She makes a loud thud when she hits the tub, you can't miss it. LOL It took me a while to figure out what it was when she started. The funny thing I just realized is that she started doing it around the time I started pairing up the breeders. HHHMMMM I wonder if she's trying to figure out why she didn't get a stud of her own, and is showing how upset she is. LOL

[BalloonzForU]

Thanks Albey. I'm working on something. I've got some PVC sheets on the way to build some more racks. I may make a little door to cover the side of her tub with.

[Lizard Lair]

If all else fails and you can't change her behavior, maybe you could soften her impact by taping bubble wrap around the inside of her cage? I know that sounds strange, but maybe it would give her mouth a chance to heal.

[BalloonzForU]

Bubble wrapp...LOL With my luck she'll attack it cause it made noise and she'll pop it, go nuts some more, and swallow a piece and choke to death.

Her mouth is all healed up, thanks to a great vet. But it's very upsetting that she's doing it again. Self inflicted reacuring injury is going to drive me nuts. I'm hoping putting a black door over the side of her tub will help with this issue.

[Lizard Lair]

Bubble wrapp...LOL With my luck she'll attack it cause it made noise and she'll pop it, go nuts some more
Thanks for that visual!!! :D

[groovygeckos]

Hehe, she needs a padded-tub. LOL Ide also say she is probably a hot female, I have one here that is over 2 years old, sweet as can be, but put her with a male, and lookout! She will not breed still, even though she is ovulating. I think some of them will never breed, while others are just too aggressive for most males. Either way they make crappy breeders.

[BalloonzForU]

I won't know for sure about her being Hot or not, till next year, when she's ready to breed. We'll see. However I hope she gets over this attack mode soon.