A New Breeder, need some advise!

[shaunt2535]

Hello!
I just got an African fat tail leopard gecko (pic. 1, male), a gecko with the head and tail zebra and the middle is yellow (pic.2, female), a yellow and black one (pic.1 and3, female), and an albino, don't know what kind it is (pic.4, male)

I have some questions, how do you know when a women is ovulating?
1.Where do lay box, on the heat pad, 1/2 1/2, or just cold side?
2.Three females per male....right? Do I need a hiding you put thehole for all of them?
3.Incubators, im looking at this one, is this good for geckos? Amazon.com: Farm Innovators Model 2100 Still Air Incubator: Pet Supplies or Amazon.com: Hova Bator Still/Thermal Air Incubator 1602N: Patio, Lawn & Garden
4.What's a good temperature for a incubator?
5.Are you suppose to put anything inside the incubator, or just the eggs?
6.Do you separate the female when its pregnant?
7.How do you guys sell the babies?
8.What material do you guys put tin the lay box?
Ok well that all the questions I have for now. Thank you so much!
P.s if the whole thing is highlighted I have no clue how that happened.
Sorry the pictures aren't a good direction.

 

[tb144050]

I will put this as clearly and as politely as possible, and I say this with genuine good intentions: DO NOT BREED THEM!


1) I have only been in this "hobby" for 5 months and I still have alot to learn, but I am pretty sure that you don't know your species apart.

Hello!
I just got an African fat tail leopard gecko (pic. 1, male), a gecko with the head and tail zebra and the middle is yellow (pic.2, female), a yellow and black one (pic.1 and3, female), and an albino, don't know what kind it is (pic.4, male)

2) You don't even know what "morphs" they are, much less what genetic qualities they are "hiding" (known as "hets" in the breeding world). You will end up with "mutt-quality" (pet-quality at best) geckos.

Hello!
I just got an African fat tail leopard gecko (pic. 1, male), a gecko with the head and tail zebra and the middle is yellow (pic.2, female), a yellow and black one (pic.1 and3, female), and an albino, don't know what kind it is (pic.4, male)

3) If you "just got" them, you probably have some "tweaks" to be made to their own habitat (everyone misses something at first), but you definitely don't know what "normal" behavior is yet.

Hello!
I just got an African fat tail leopard gecko (pic. 1, male), a gecko with the head and tail zebra and the middle is yellow (pic.2, female), a yellow and black one (pic.1 and3, female), and an albino, don't know what kind it is (pic.4, male)

4) Even if you breed HIGH-QUALITY geckos (special order geckos with 100% KNOWN genetics), it takes MONTHS and $$$ of caring for them before they are even old enough and healthy enough to sell...and they don't sell for profit after you count up the amount of $$$$ invested...unless of course you invest ALOTTTT of $$$ and build a self-sustaining business...which still doesn't get you rich.

5) How are you going to house/heat/feed up to 20babies PER mother?? Again, you are looking at major $$$$$ and major TIME invested to care for this many animals.

6) You have ALOTTTT (atleast several months) of googling, reading, and comparing answers between sources (learning best practices) about general care.....then ALOTTTT more googling & learning about ovulation, breeding, incubation, and hatchling care.....

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Bottom line is that YOU AREN"T READY!! The geckos will suffer for it...don't do it!!

I have been a dedicated "googler", forum reader, and learner for 5 months....invested well over $1,000 in my rack system, cricket colony, herpstat, UTH's, incubator, GEO's, etc etc etc etc.....(right now, you are asking yourself: "What's a rack system?"......) You aren't ready. Please don't do it. Most humans do not intentionally impregnate women just because they think it's fun to have a baby around. It's animal cruelty if you force female geckos to suffer harsh pregnancy conditions and it's even worse to think about 20 or 40 hatchlings (if the eggs survive incubation) to be underfed and malnourished in cramped housing...

I am assuming alot based only on your age and lack of knowledge. In my last statement, I am assuming that you will not have the money to keep them fed and in proper housing (because they can't be "cut loose" in a giant aquarium...or you will end up with more pregnant underweight/underage geckos...).

Again, I say all this very politely, but firmly...you aren't ready..

 

[LIZARDLOVER]

That post was harsh; they're all leopard geckos so if they are the right sex you could breed them. However I'd advise against it, most people don't understand what breeding entails. It's a LOT of work. If I were you I'd keep them like they are for a few months and get used to what keeping E. macularius entails, and then after that consider breeding (if you haven been deterred). I think you'll like em, mine are a pleasure to keep


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[tb144050]

I will put this as clearly and as politely as possible, and I say this with genuine good intentions: DO NOT BREED THEM!

.........

Again, I say all this very politely, but firmly...you aren't ready..

I didn't mean to be harsh. However, many others feel that recklessly putting a male with a female without plans for caring for the hatchlings (atleast until proper weight for selling them) is not acceptable and it is a very touchy subject.

One recent post relating to the topic:
http://geckoforums.net/f162-general-discussion/99298.htm

 

[shaunt2535]

Thank you, got discouraged for a little bit.

 

[tb144050]

Thank you, got discouraged for a little bit.

I didn't mean to discourage you, but I spoke so directly about the costs and care required because I definitely want you to slowwww dowwwwwnnn..lol

I have been reading, studying, and SPENDINGG$$$$$$ for 5 months and I am just now (2 weeks ago) started to breed geckos.

I bought "high-quality" geckos so I will produce "high-quality" hatchlings. There is very little market for selling "low-quality" geckos because petstores already sell them for $15 on sale.

I spend over $200 buying a used "rack system" to house all the hatchlings.

I spent over $100 on crickets (at the cheap eBay pricing...not counting the first $200 I spent at petstores).

I spent another $50 or more to design a working cricket colony, but it still isn't producing "feeder-size" crickets yet. So I need to spend another $46 for another 2,000 crickets while I wait on my baby crickets to grow and continue the cricket colony.

I spent $50 on a used hovabator locally, and $135 on a better thermostat for the hovabator.

I spent $300 on my "high quality geckos" (good bargain deal for 6 Raptors)

I spent $25/each for a bulk-bucket of Calcium-D3 and $25 for bulk-bucket Calcium+D3.

I spent $70 on the GEO kits (incubation supplies)

etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc....None of this includes the pricing for having nice things like fancy cave-hides, or nice moss for the moist hides, etc

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I must tell you again...I do not mean to be rude. I say this with good intent...but you aren't ready. Please don't do it. Atleast not until you have read everything about all areas of general care, supplements, proper breeding practices, genetics (and why you want "quality"), incubation (not just what kind of incubator, but how long, how much moisture, temp-sexing for males or females, etc, etc), hatchling care, and then...what to do with them... :O

Please be a responsible pet owner and take all the care and preparation that you can before putting a male with a female. It only takes 2 weeks or so before the first eggs are laid. You have alot of preparation to attend to before eggs are laid.

Ultimately, I agreed with many people: If I am going to go through all this trouble, I am going to go "high quality" and make some very nice babies.

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Anyways, I have been typing too long. Please proceed with care for the animals and with a plan. g'nite and g'luck

 

[shaunt2535]

Thank You! I just got three geckos but ive been a gecko owner for over a year!

 

[marcia]

I owned geckos for nearly 7 years before breeding, plus I spent at least a year learning all the genetics and mutations involved.

I've only been breeding for 3 years but to this day I still learn as I go.

Do you know how old females should be? And also what their minimum weight should be before breeding?

Do you know what to do if your gravid female became egg bound?

These are just some things that need to be taken seriously. It's not a good start when you don't know what morphs your geckos are, so you don't even know if they're carrying any hets.

It's a long process learning everything you need to know but it is worth it in the long run the internet (Google), books and breeders are very good sources to start learning.


Sent from my iPhone inside my human vivarium