Help!! My gecko is acting strange...

[barbel]

I have a normal male Leopard Gecko who is just under a year old. He is living in a tank with two females and has successfully mated with one of them. When he was purchased, I was told he was a she, hence the unexpected early breeding. Anyway, I went in to check on them and he was in the corner, up the wall of the tank "digging" very frantically. I went to put him down and he freaked out! He scrambled to the sand, laid very, very flat and started flicking his tail. Not just the end, like when they are hunting, but the whole thing, straight up in the air. I thought maybe I startled him and decided to leave him alone for a bit. Over 30 minutes later I returned and he hadn't move an inch. So I tried to pick him up again to look at him and once again he freaked out. He jumped down and laid very flat again and continued to flick his entire tail as before. I decided to feed them and he, who is normally a very aggressive eater, let the crickets crawl on his back and even his face. If anyone has experienced this type of behavior or has any idea what may be going on please let me know! I don't want anything to happen to him. Thanks in advance!!

[.Matt]

What size tank are they in? and what are your temperatures?

and leopard geckos really shouldn't be kept on sand..

[barbel]

They are in a 35 gallon tank. The temps are around 85 degrees.
The sand they are on is fine. They are all well over 5 inches and, trust me, they don't have any issues going to the bathroom. I don't want to waste paper or paper towels by using them as a substrate. Plus, espcially the females, seem to enjoy digging and "playing" in the sand.
He has been sitting in the exact same spot all day. When I put my hand down there, he still freaks out. He has never acted like this before.

Since no one on here has really given me any advice can you please suggest a website/forum I can go to where someone can help me.
Thanks

[.Matt]

leopard geckos need a hotspot of around 92* so I would try to bump that up a little bit.

To be honest with you, my male did this when I first got him too. Just try leaving the tank alone except to add water or spot clean for a day or two and he should go back to normal. if he doesn't then I would be worried more.

And I'm sure you've heard the sand debate about leopard geckos hundreds of times, and I'm not going to tell you what to do with your tank. But ceramic tiles from a hardware store work GREAT with leopard geckos and are much easier to clean than sand. I've been using them for 3 years and have never had a problem.

good luck, I hope he gets better.