Crested Temps?

[HannahDJA]

I've had crested's for a year, and was looking to breed my two adults. However, my female remains unreceptive, I know because I take her out every once in a blue moon to stroke along her sides and see if she'll wiggle her tail and chirp at me. Ever since I got her a couple months ago, she hasn't once not flicked her tail and chirped at me.

I keep her housed with a male, and no breeding has occured, as she hasn't deposited any eggs, and still remains unreceptive. I live in Canada, so the temperature is generally colder, and it doesn't help that my room is in the basement. I try to keep everything at a good temperature for them (and myself, yeesh it's cold). However with winter knocking at the door, keeping my room 75 degrees Fahrenheit is a challenge.

My question is, does my lady remain unwilling to breed because of these colder temperatures? I've looked everywhere for what happens if a crested gecko is cold as opposed to hot, because it seems like the entire world of cresteds knows what happens if they're too hot, but doesn't seem to want to share the details of what happens if they are a little colder than they should be.

I got my girl from a friend who sold off his collection. He said she laid eggs all on her own, male or no male. But she hasn't with me.

I have no problem purchasing a permanent light fixture for them, something along the lines of a low watt ceramic heat emitter, but I want to know if temperature is the problem before I spend any money.

Female is 3 and weighs 40 grams. Male is 2 and weighs about 35 grams. Both are very docile, and have never fought with each other.

 

[ento890]

I would definitely try keeping your temps above 70 degrees if you'd like breeding to occur. The colder the temps, the slower they metabolize, and they are less likely to breed. I keep my apartment at 75-78 all year, so you could try adding a low wattage red heat bulb over their tank to bump up their temps a tad. You could also try giving them a brief separation, sometimes absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I've separated pairs housed together that have stopped breeding and reintroduced them a month or two later and that has restarted breeding.

Good luck!

 

[HerpDerp]

I agree with the comment above, I've always housed my Cresties at 76, and I bump up only 2 degrees when breeding occurs (Which is also the same temperature I incubate at). Separate the pair for a week or two, then try again!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I'm just getting into these cute guys so have no first hand experience myself but I've heard they breed better if they have a winter cooling period where they're kept around 66-70 degrees for a month or so. Most of the breeders I've spoken to do say they breed better at the warmer end of the spectrum around 76-78 but be careful they don't get too much hotter than that or they may stress out and potentially die. A separation period can help with leos so I assume the same may be true of cresties. I've also heard that sometimes a given female will just not accept the advances of a specific male but will do fine with another male. Also could be that one or the other of them is infertile.