Buying females?

[katie_]

I'm going to a reptile next Sunday.
I would like to pick up some female crested geckos.
I would love some adults but I know theyre hard to come buy.
My question is, how big should the geckos be before I can feel confident that they are infact female?
I know it can take males a while to show pores, so what is the minimum size I should look for?

 

[animeavatar]

http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/crested-gecko-care-sheet-en.html
That link says "Determining the sex of crested geckos is easiest on geckos that are over 6 months old. Male crested geckos will develop a very noticeable hemipenal bulge just below the vent. The hemipenal bulge develops on males at between 5 months and 9 months old. Females do not develop a bulge." I'm planning to get tarantulas at the expo!

 

[katie_]

Maybe I'll see you there!
I love going to those expos. Although last time I was pretty close to bringing a feeder rabbit home. He was sooo sweet! But then I thought of my boyfriend and how he would throw a fit, and put him back.

 

[ento890]

Bulges are not the earliest signs of a "male" crested gecko. The most definite sign earlier on is the presence of pores underneath the gecko, near the vent. Some males won't develop noticeable bulges until 20 grams.

I tend to see the pores develop anywhere from 5 - 12 grams. After 12 grams, I can usually guarantee a female, however, some geckos are just late bloomers.

Ask for breeders to loop younger geckos and give their best estimate of the sex.

 

[darkridder]

age honestly has nothing to do with it, it is about weight. You can have a 6 month old gecko still be 8g, you can have a 9 month old gecko be 12g, other times you can be like me and have an insane monster who is 35g by the time she is 10 months old which is serious growth.

If youre good you can see pores down to about 3g, 5g they are a bit more apparent. However at 12g it is still anyones game. I can say in my gecko history I have had 4 geckos over 12g turn male on me, this last one dropped pores and a pouch at 19g, seriously one night at 19g, no pores, a week later 19g a pouch and pores. So between 12-18g is a tricky time, which is why you dont normally see breeders selling for sure females at this time, it is normally sold as probable females. Yes your odds are higher at this weight, but not a for sure. So just because a breeder plasters a sticker on there that says female and she is 15g, realize you may still have a male on your hands because 15g still is not a 100%