Hi there. I just fed our two adult females (adopted yesterday, as I posted in the intro folder) some crickets. They've been fed exclusively on mealworms for the past 2 years with their previous owners, and the kids and I wanted to offer them some variety. They seemed to just love it, actively stalking down the crickets (even spotting and actively watching the crickets in their separate clear plastic container through the glass vivarium wall), waggling their tails around and really seeming to enjoy the excitement. But during the feeding, one of the geckos bit the other one several times. It appeared to be biting brought on by the excitement -- as if any movement, even that of her cagemate, brought out the urge to hunt and strike. Or it may have been aggression perhaps brought on by the other gecko getting in her view of a cricket, or in her way when she was preparing to strike at a cricket. I am wondering if this is normal behavior, and whether I should be concerned about it or do anything about it (like feed them in separate enclosures). I didn't notice any broken skin or anything, and both geckos had ample opportunity to feed, and the aggressive one seems perfectly docile again now. What do you think? I'm literally brand-new to this!

Amy

It is normal. I would feed in a seperate container,,its the excitement of feeding and the hunting of pray..the one biting is showing aggression during feeding, which is normal.

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MARSHA
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It is normal as Marsha said, just feed them seperatly..this can be done by using sterlite containers as feeding boxes or just feeding them outside of the enclosure

I haven't had this happen with the leo's yet (they are currently in separate cages). But the Bearded Dragons, when the seen the crickets, zombas etc even in their container will start striking at the glass. When I really funny is I have two aquariums setting end to end, one is 20 gal and one is 10 gallon. I have put paper on the end of the 10 gallon that is next to the 20 so they can't see each other. The baby that is in the 10 gallon can still see about 2" of the 20 gallon tank and goes spastic when the crickets come to his side of the 20 gallon tank. lol

Predatory lizards are activated by motion. when they are feeding anything that moves can be mistaken for prey.
I would feed in a separate container.

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Merlin,
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Thanks for all the advice and reassurance, everyone. Feeding separately is what we'll do. The kids just love feeding them anyway, so each one can be in charge of feeding a gecko (supervised, of course). They'll be thrilled.

Amy