hi Lizard lovers, I have a wonderful 2 yr old Leo, Jesse. I am new to the site and joined because I admire the information shared amongst members and Jesse is having a problem. She has always been a quirky eater going thru phases of eating/non eating/only eating bugs from outside/only eating mealworms/etc Very finicky periods that leave me scratching my head. Anyway, she has been in an enormous (for her) eating phase where she eats 6 mealworms at a time every couple of days - seeming ravenous. Well 2 days ago I saw Jesse biting at the tip of her tail, and also later saw her banging her tail against the tank glass. This seemed strange and out of character. I put a little antibiotic ointment on her tail thinking she may have something going on. Then this morning I noticed the tip of her tail was gone and a bit bloody !!! Has anyone ever heard of this? Why would she bite off the tip of her tail? Is she sick? Is she stressed? Was she hungry? I am very worried for her. She is acting like her normal mellow self, although she didnt eat any mealworms today- although that is not unusual for her.

Now, my second issue is that we also have 2 American toads living in the tank with her. They have all be cohabitating really nicely for about 5 or 6 weeks and they are so sweet together - they never fight, and lounge all over each other, sleep in the log together, and seems to be so content together. Actually, I thought they were a good influence on her b/c her eating greatly improved - perhaps due to a bit of competition as those toads are voracious eaters. But now I wonder - could they be stressing her?

Any help/thoughts is appreciated ! Colleen, lizardlover

Welcome to HCN.

Sorry but I have never heard of this type of behavior. I also would suggest not mixing the species in the tank and to remove the toads. That maybe stressing her and could be the result of her behavior.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

definitely separate them. its not a good idea to mix species because some have different needs than others. also some species carry parasites that they can spread to others causing sickness. good luck. i've never heard of that before but hopefully someone can help out.

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yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
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Hello,

I am an avid owner and enthusiast of the leopard gecko and I have never heard of this behavior before.

The first thing that should be done has already been suggested. They should be separated. Mixing species, particularly those that would never be found together in the wild, is always risky and often shunned.

The biggest reason, as also mentioned, is cross contamination. There could be illnesses that the Toads are prone to that the leo would never be subjected to. As a result, your leo could get extremely ill as a result.

Another concern, and what could be what you are seeing right now, is that one of the toads attempted to 'eat" your leopard geckos tail.

As your leo passed them, it is very possible that the tip of his tail looked like a "worm" and one of them chomped on it. He could have been chomping on it himself as a result of irritation.

I would separate the group of them, and then setup both enclosures specifically for each species. They both have different needs, and they both should have those needs met accordingly.

You were fortunant that the leo didn't drop his entire tail.

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yes, get those toads out of there!

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.