Breeding Questions

[stano40]

Being new to breeding Leo's I am continually reading up on the process of breeding them. Seems most sites mirror one another and a few question still linger in my mind.

Such as: Is there a breeding cycle in months, such as January to September is their breeding months.

Is it permissible to breed related pairs. I am always under the assumption, like I do breeding my bearded dragon, to breed un-related pairs for better genetics.

What is better or is it a preference in breeding, harem type breeding with the max being 1.5.0 in a breeding environment or one on one breeding with the female being introduced into the male's home. Then removing her to a nesting area for her egg production.

 

[david13]

the breeding season IS from january to september.

you can breed related pairs but most people dont i think, if you do i would only breed 2 generations because otherwise you might get deformities, i think.

if you have 1.5 geckos together, they can live together all yr long if they get along. i only have 2 geckos but i dont think i would put them in groups in case one is bullying others, you would have to be possitive no1 is getting bullied or hurt. In my opinion i think its best to breed one on one, its easier to watch to make sure nothing bad happens

 

[stano40]

Thanks for the post David and that information.

I have been wondering about the problems that can occur in a breeding colony vs one on one breeding and I'm going to stick with the one on one breeding method like I do for my Bearded Dragons.

Even though I have three females living together I think the introduction of a male into their environment may produce some problems.

I have three patternless female's given to me but my only male is a normal. I would like to keep the patternless breeding with another male patternless, so the search is on for a nice male for these girls.

I've been reading some of the posts here about in-breeding and I would prefer to breed unrelated pairs.

I've visited your site and I've got to say it was very nice :main_thumbsup: .

What's cooking in your incubator?

 

[david13]

ya i think its best not to inbreed, and good luck trying to find your male patternless

thanks, i just have 1 BB egg in the incubator but i think it is infertile, so i am waiting for the next clutch which hopefully is fertile.

thanks for checking my site out

you got a pretty nice site yourself, so do you mostly have/breed ball pythons?

 

[stano40]

My wife, Michelle is the snake lady (that's what they call her down at work) and she handles all the snakes.

She breeds the ball pythons and is in the process, with my help, in selling off all the miscellaneous ball pythons that she will not breed and keep only the hets she has right now for her breeding program.

I'm the lizard guy and I am breeding bearded dragons (pagonna Viticeps). I have 19 eggs in the incubator that are due about the 2nd week in September. I did have a previous clutch of beardie eggs but they were infertile and died off.

I am in the process in learning all I can before I start breeding Leo's and will set everything up first before I start.

I've got an excellent incubator that we're used for the ball python eggs and now for the beardies.

This is my incubator.

(Click On The Thumbnail To Enlarge)

 

[david13]

that looks like a nice incubator, good luck with all ur eggs, i hope they hatch for you

 

[acpart]

There is a variety of methods for arranging for male and female leos to "meet" to get the job done. Some people move the male from female's tub to tub for a night or more at a time. THere seems to be some consensus that a female can produce an average of 3 clutches before needing a re-introduction.

Here is my method, which works because all of my females seem to be pretty mellow and tolerant of each other:

I keep the females in groups of 2-3 (usually 2). The males are housed individually from Oct. to Jan. In mid-Jan, I decide how I will group them for breeding (I have 3 breeding males and 6-7 females). First I put the females in the correct groups in their tanks (I have 20 gallon long tanks with a 12"x12" heated "upstairs" to provide more space and house a max of 3-4 geckos). Once they have had a bit of time to acclimate, I introduce the males. I actually leave the males in with the females from Jan. through Oct. I find that there's a lot of mating activity initially and by July it dies down with the last eggs being laid some time in August. This has been working well for the last 3 seasons, and since I don't use a rack, it maximizes space for hatchlings.

Aliza

 

[stano40]

If 2 to 3 females are in each tank how do you keep track of who's laying what?

A friend of mine suggested what you have posted of bringing the male into the females quarters and placing the male you want to be bred with into their tank.

I did read on a breeders site where they either keep colonies of 1.5.0 leo's year round or introduce the female into the males tank on a one to one breeding.

I didn't like the colony idea too much. It just reminds me of a puppy mill and mass producing leopard geckos for sale.

Do you keep a nesting box or nesting area for the females during this time in their enclosure?


bob

 

[acpart]

If 2 to 3 females are in each tank how do you keep track of who's laying what?

I keep a careful watch on my females, even to the point of weighing them regularly. I can see the eggs inside and recognize the behavior of a female about to lay. It's rare that 2 females lay at exactly the same time (ie that I would find 4 eggs in the lay box) but I suppose it could happen. In most cases, it would be clear to me when the egg hatches which female it came from but not always. Haven't had a problem with it yet. I came close this year when I found eggs in the lay box of 2 female stripes, but it was soon obvious who the "culprit" was. I actually keep the lay boxes in the cages all year because the geckos love them as humid hides. I actually enjoy the combination of geckos (total of 4 max, usually 3) and how they interact (and they do to an extent) during the months they're together.

Aliza

 

[Baoh]

If 2 to 3 females are in each tank how do you keep track of who's laying what?

I can tell who occupies which hide with regularity and I also check my animals daily.

As another step, I group my females of like morphs together and I only mate them to the same male. Now, if I ignored them for a week and came back to a couple clutches of eggs, I would not know which RAPTOR dam , for example, laid them, but I would know the sire and the cross. 1.0 MS het RAPTOR x 0.2 RAPTORs in this instance. Effective enough for my purposes at this point in time. If I were to have a more expansive operation than the program I have at present, I'd probably rearrange this.

I'd imagine each person has his or her own approach.