Help Please

[Wick]

Hi, I'm new to this thread and was hoping for a little help. :main_huh: I'm in the process of purchasing 2 geckos in hopes to breed them. The male is a super snow tremper enigma het RAPTOR. The female is a reverse striped RAPTOR. I want to produce dreamsickles. This combination should only produce dreamsickles correct? Another question I have is, the female is only going to be weighing around 20-25 grams when I get her. Is it ok to keep her with a full grown male in a 20gallon long tank? Do I need 2 hides? Will one under tank heater on one side be enough for heat? I keep my house around 70 degrees.

Thank you so much for your help in advance!!!

-Wick

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

Genetically you will make Tremper Snows, Snow Raptors, Tremper Snow Enigmas, and Dream's. As far as how to keep them. I would suggest separately until they are of breeding weight which is roughly 50g per animal. If you choose tanks i would suggest 2 hides one on warm and one on cool, feeder dish, water dish and that's about it. Oh yeah 1 UTH for each. Or you could save money buy a large UTH and use it on both.

 

[bjleemkuil]

If the male is larger, he WILL breed to the younger female and chances of her being eggbound at such a small weight is VERY likely. I suggest keeping them separate until you fatten them up. And if you got them from two separate places you need to keep them in quarantine for a while anyway. Even if you got them from the same place it's a good idea to quarantine them anyway. Good luck!

 

[Wick]

Thanks for your replies! Ok, so two tanks it is. How long do you think it'll be before the female is up to breeding weight? She will be roughly a little over 20grams when I receiver her? Should I feed her wax worms in addition to meal worms to increase her weight?

Thanks again!

Oh and those possible baby outcomes, are they all equal chances for each?

 

[ariana]

i dont mean to seem rude,
but unless you know these things (mainly the tank/ hides/housing info and breeding weights)
then you have no business breeding.
get a female or male and get to know what to do with them.
then, later on down the road,
if you still want to take the chance of losing your male/female, go for it. robin posted a thread about those chances. check the breeding section.
dont feed her waxworms to increase the weight; treats only, maybe 1-2 a week.
you dont want her to get fatty liver disease.
let her gain her weight at her own pace.

 

[Tony C]

First off, welcome to GF!

As ariana said, research is the key to success. There is a TON of info here, spend some time reading care sheets and past threads, there is more to breeding than just throwing a male and female together to do their thing.

 

[Wick]

Thanks for the welcoming. I understand your concern about my questions when wanting to breed. But believe me when I say I'm on about 20 hours of research into this. On top of that I've had 2 geckos before for about a year and LOVED them! I had to sell them because I went off to college (dorms). So I do have past experience with them, and yes I did know that you can only feed them waxworms for treats..not everyday. I didn't know about fatty liver disease though...

My past experience with leos were adults only, so i'm not too sure about having a female at 20g and a male at 30g. So that's where my questions are coming from. I'm definitely going to seperate them until they are larger. I also had two females before so I need to know if I can keep them together in a 20 gallon long once they are of breeding weight, or if I need to keep them seperated forever. The two females were fine together.

So back to the question though, how long does it take to go from 20g to 40-50 grams with feeding calcium dusted meal worms with occasional wax worms? 2months? 6 months?

Thanks!!!

-Wick

 

[acpart]

I would guess that a 20 gram female will probably be ready to breed next season since for many geckos breeding season is around Jan-Sept. As far as how long it will take, I had a hatchling last season that was 57 grams at 3 months (not a giant) and another the season before that was 11 grams at 4 months. It depends on the gecko.

Aliza

 

[Wick]

Thanks Aliza, that does make sense that it depends on the gecko. So for next year. I heard from someone that once a female is ovulating (sp?), you can put her in with the male to mate. Once they have mated one time. They do not need to mate again for her to have multiple/all of her clutches. Is this true? Do they only need to mate once to produce 10ish eggs? :main_huh:

 

[softballstud_1099]

Not all first year females will lay multiple clutches. I have had first year females only lay 1 clutch and that was it. but I have had more lay multiple clutches. Just my experience. Good luck

Brent

 

[ariana]

the females retain the males sperm,
leave them together for 4* days when shes ovulating and they should get the deed done.
and i wouldnt house them together full time even when they are of breeding weight,
too much breeding can stress the female out.
by next year (jan-sept as aliza said) they should be ready to breed.

 

[Wick]

Great info thanks for the replies. I have a 20 gallon long and a ten gallon tank. I am thinking I will leave my female/more females if and when I get them in the 20 gallon long. The 10 gallon will be the male leo's domain. Will it be ok to put the female in the 10 gallon with him come january of next year to breed for those 4 days? Or is the 10 gallon too small? Another question is I have them set up about 5 inches apart. Do you think that will stress them out if they can see each other? Do they have to be kept in different room? I read one reply that said it'll stress them out, but i want an experienced persons opinion.

Thanks again guys!

Chad

ps they are being overnighted tonight!!! Aghhh can't wait till tomorrow!!!

 

[Tony C]

Will it be ok to put the female in the 10 gallon with him come january of next year to breed for those 4 days? Or is the 10 gallon too small?

That will be fine, a 10 gal. is plenty of space for short term pairing.

Another question is I have them set up about 5 inches apart. Do you think that will stress them out if they can see each other? Do they have to be kept in different room? I read one reply that said it'll stress them out, but i want an experienced persons opinion.

They will be fine next to each other. If you are worried about it you can put something between them like paper or a piece of background from the pet store, but all of my geckos are in a rack system where they can see their neighbors and show no signs of stress.

 

[Wick]

They made it safe and sound! :main_yes: The male is going to town checking out his cage, but the female hasn't moved an inch since i put her in her cage. She is just laying right over where the heat pad is. How long would it be normal for her to not move? I put some mealies in their food dish for them, but i don't expect they will eat for another couple days or so. One thing that has me a little nervous is the 10 gallon the male is in...isn't really a ten gallon. the vertical walls are about half as short as a normal ten gallon. It seems like he is trying to get out (i have a mesh lid on it.) Will he give up or should i look for a reg ten gallon tank. I don't want him to stress out always trying to get out.

Thanks again for all of your help!

Wick

 

[acpart]

I keep many of my geckos in tanks that are half high. If it was the usual height, he'd probably be trying to climb up the walls as well. The cover is a good idea. Many geckos deal with stress by flattening themselves down and not moving. It shouldn't be a problem.

Aliza