Help!!!!!

[The Gecko Person]

Hi. I have a pair of leopard geckos and their hatchling. I want to brumate them for next year, because I have heard that they breed better, and more of the eggs hatch. How should I brumate them? Please be very specific (temperature, dates, feeding, etc.) because I do not want them to get hurt. Thank you!

 

[Khrysty]

It's actually really difficult to brumate them properly. Someone I've talked to on the forum that seems wholly knowledgeable about brumation, is Gregg M. If he doesn't answer your post, you should go ahead and send him a PM. I'm sure some of the other breeders on here have experience in brumation, but a lot of us don't bother with it. I know from personal experience that they will breed just as well without having brumated.

The reason it's difficult is that the temperature has to be slowly reduced over a period of time to a cold-ish temperature (I think it's around 50* but don't quote me on it, wait for someone who's done it before to answer). That temperature has to be maintained for a period of time, then slowly warmed up again. If you don't do it right, you can just put the animals off food for an entire season without slowing their metabolism to the right degree.

Anyway, bottom line is that I don't recommend it, but if you're going to do it make sure you know exactly what you're doing and that they're not going to cool down and warm up too quickly, or that the temp does not fluctuate during the brumation period.