can you sex 4 week old leopards?

[240gecko]

i guy has on kingsnake sexable leopards at a month old
apparently.. he can look at them and determine through body shape and possible other visual factors..
what do you guys think...he guarentees the sex as well
compares it to being able to sex bearded dragons at the same age as well:main_huh:

 

[trizzypballr]

you can temperature sex leopard geckos (all morphs but the mack snows) temperature sexing is usually dead accurate. As far as Beardies though, I dont believe you cam temperature sex them....

 

[robin]

tempature sexing is NOT dead on. even when you temp sex you still can get different sexes than you incubated for. as far as sexing at four weeks i find it hard to believe. i can sex them very early but not that early.

 

[robin]

oh ya can ya link us to the leo ad at least?

 

[trizzypballr]

It is USUALLY Dead on, i know there are mishaps, but for the most part everyone Ive talked to says that temp sexing is normally right on

 

[robin]

still if that is the case in this ad this dude should put "temp sexed male" or female or whatever. i have hatched quite a few leos over the several years and you can get them its not a rarity but not common either.

 

[240gecko]

thanks for the responses so far...
i want to make clear this person did not state about knowing the sex by the temp. it was incubated for...merely by looking at it visually...things like head size and body size...
i don't want to say who it is at the moment ..seems like a nice person

 

[robin]

head size and body size at 4 weeks old are not going to tell you the sex of the gecko.

 

[NaughtyDawg]

you can temperature sex leopard geckos (all morphs but the mack snows) temperature sexing is usually dead accurate. As far as Beardies though, I dont believe you cam temperature sex them....

What percentage do you consider "Dead Accurate".

 

[trizzypballr]

I am sorry for my usage of 'USUALLY dead accurate' I will rephrase it and say that temperature sexing is normally accurate unless you are dealing with the mack snows

 

[GroovyGeckos.com]

It is very possible to get a different sex than you incubate for. That goes for any morph.

I would say unless it is a male, and is obvious, "eyeballing" females at such a young age might get you into some trouble. Or at least having to ship someone a gecko for nothing.

 

[trizzypballr]

did this person happen to be a wholesaler you ment at a show by any chance? I have seen many wholesalers try to bluff the sex of a reptile to make a sale. Not every wholesaler is like that, but you must be careful who your trusting, expecially when they are trying to eyeball the sex of a hatchling

 

[robin]

I am sorry for my usage of 'USUALLY dead accurate' I will rephrase it and say that temperature sexing is normally accurate unless you are dealing with the mack snows

enlighten me on the mack snow thing, please?

 

[trizzypballr]

I have yet to hatch out my own mack snows, but its been said that temperature sexing isnt accurate with them. Ill let everyone know my results though

 

[robin]

have you ever hatched any geckos?

 

[LeosForLess]

have you ever hatched any geckos?

rofl
alot of macks when incubated male are female and vise versa, it could be that they are an integrade with the falcioutis(sp) but i dont kno. So fare the 2 i can sex are male that were incubated male

 

[Sunshine State Exotics]

This past season we had a few that were incubated for female turn out to be male.

 

[Jeanne]

I hatch out more Female Mack Snows when incubated at 88 degrees and more Male Mack Snows at 82 degrees.

And, I agree with Robin, visually sexing a Gecko at 4 weeks is nearly impossible, body/head structure has nothing to due with it being Male or Female.

 

[GekkoGalaksen]

We have temp sexed ours for some years now...and it´s nearly about 15-20% every year that comes out with the "wrong" sex...

But I am a little asking about the macks...we hatched about twenty macks last year and only two of them came with oposite sex...

 

[Franks_Geckos]

have you ever hatched any geckos?

Robin,
According to his website, he started his collection in mid 2006. Therefore, although it is possible to have hatched geckos at this point, I would be very surprised if he has hatched any Leopard Geckos yet. He has purchased some nice ones though.

That being said, I agree that visual sexing at 4 weeks is a crapshoot and anyone who claims to be able to do so had better give the buyer a 100% money back guarantee in writing. If they won't do that, than I suggest that one should buy elsewhere. If someone sells a Leo as Temp Sexed For whatever, than at least there can be an understanding that there is no guarantee that a temp sexed female won't turn out to be a male.

In my 5 years (admittedly, not a ton) of personal experience breeding Leos I have found that temperatures that are "generally" stated to produce males or females, while often a decent indicator of probability that one sex will be produced over the other, are not foolproof. This is especially true when you consider that some people may not use the most accurate means of measuring temperature when they calibrate their incubators in the first place. For example, in the past, with my hovabators, I had used a digital thermometer without a proportional controller and saw variances from 78 min to 86 max degrees over the course of a week due to fluctuations in room temperature. Certainly, I could not determine how long the eggs were at each specific temp, but had I used a proprtional controller (Helix) like I used on my racks, I would have been more confident that they would stay at 80 if I had it set to maintain that temp.

If I cannot visually sex a hatchling, it will be sold as Unsexed and it will be mentioned that it was Temp Sexed for whatever. I don't blame anyone for not buying unsexed hatchlings (even from me..lol) although they are generally cheaper for that reason alone.

As far as Macks go, I sold all of my Mack hatchlings from last season before they were 100% visually sexable (they were all 5-8 weeks old) and I would have to consult with the gentleman who bought them to see if they all turned out to be female. They were all incubated for female. I am curious to find out.