I'm confused on breeding season

[ZooKeeperKarin]

I'm totally confused... I remember someone saying their breeding season is pretty much Feb-Sept. And my girl laid her last egg in early Sept. So why do some people already have eggs incubating??? And my girl seems to be gravid. I wasn't even going to start looking for eggs until February.
I'm totally confused! :main_huh:

 

[maggiee22195]

I'm totally confused... I remember someone saying their breeding season is pretty much Feb-Sept. And my girl laid her last egg in early Sept. So why do some people already have eggs incubating??? And my girl seems to be gravid. I wasn't even going to start looking for eggs until February.
I'm totally confused! :main_huh:

Everybody likes to say that breeding season is from february to september. But we can not possibly control when they will naturally ovulate. Yes, we can manipulate the environment to get them to ovulate but the reality is, they will ovulate when they are good and ready. So I am just saying, you can have eggs at any point during the year. I am expecting some very soon. Good luck with your eggs!!!

 

[acpart]

Breeding season for most females in the northern hemisphere is Feb-Sept. Some geckos naturally ovulate out of season and some keepers have found ways to get their females to ovulate (I would guess by judicious cooling and warming and changing light period) at other times so they can have year-round breeding. I guess you can check your females. Mine are pretty much into their own semi-serious brumation and I don't expect anything till Feb. though I'll introduce the males (for the entire season) in mid-Jan.

Aliza

 

[ZooKeeperKarin]

Thank you!
Now, my next question. I've heard it's not always wise to house the female and male together. I decided to keep my breeding pair together the last few months since they get along so well. Last year I had 5 clutches from this pair and both M & F did superb, even gaining quite a bit of weight. They get along well, don't seem to bicker about anything and often snooze together. They are happy and very healthy. Is there any reason I should separate them when NOT breeding?

 

[maggiee22195]

Thank you!
Now, my next question. I've heard it's not always wise to house the female and male together. I decided to keep my breeding pair together the last few months since they get along so well. Last year I had 5 clutches from this pair and both M & F did superb, even gaining quite a bit of weight. They get along well, don't seem to bicker about anything and often snooze together. They are happy and very healthy. Is there any reason I should separate them when NOT breeding?

I house my male and female together also... absolutely no problems. If you do not want to separate them and if they are healthy and doing well then there is no reason to separate them!

 

[ZooKeeperKarin]

That's what I was hoping to hear! Thanks!:main_rolleyes:

 

[Reborn]

Just remember tho that can change quickly. Watch for warning signs and such. They can get along fine today but the next day BAM someones missing a tail or has a chunk missing outta them...Happened to me. Nicest male i have is all banged up now coz his girls(dunno which one) decided they didnt want him in there anymore. Bit the side of his head. They'd been together for nearly a year and he doesnt bother them to mate to much/often(have yet to produce eggs so either very little(havent seen him viberate his tail much) or hes sterile)) There reptiles and not mammals in the wild they wouldnt allow it and there not exactly domesticated to follow what we want.

congrats on the eggs;D i got 7 myself!

 

[maggiee22195]

That's what I was hoping to hear! Thanks!:main_rolleyes:

Yeah, I mean... everybody says that is is so stressful for both lizards and yadda yadda yadda... but if you find no issues and you feel comfortable with the housing setup you can keep them together. And I am just trusting that you will recognize and wounds or agression and remove them immediately if needed.

 

[acpart]

I also keep male and females together for most of the year. I try to separate the males for a few months in the fall/winter so I can re-group the females. I keep an eye on them as well as on the females in a group and though "violence" is rare, occasionally it happens and I deal with it by separating. I do find that males kept full time with the same females often don't seem as interested in mating with them and when my males are put with my females in mid-Jan, by June/July they are done mating unless I put a new female in with them.

ALiza

 

[roger]

I house my male and female together also... absolutely no problems. If you do not want to separate them and if they are healthy and doing well then there is no reason to separate them!

I disagree.Ive had males in with fermales permanently so what happened was the male was constantly wanting to mate which stressed her completely.I'm not a big fan of keeping any leos together let alone a female and a male.I'm not a big fan of keeping any leos together.I find they are a ton more healthy housed individually

 

[Reborn]

I agree with ya Roger for the most part. If its a 1.2 -1.4 group i think its ok but a male and female ive never had success with keeping both 100% healthy(ie eating reguarly, no bites, ext) When ive done a male and female the male literally follows the female around where ever she goes. Biting on her, viberating tail and such. Never tho would i ever recommened housing a male with any females the entire time. Like Aliza said the male looses intrest and such unless its a aggressive breeder male so its pointless for them to be together if there not mating. Just adds stress.

Just a bit of advice since it seems your new. Just coz you dont see it the male maybe harassing the female and if you dont know the warning signs(which is why its discouraged by most(specailly with newbie breeders)) then it can lead to massive issuses.

reason to house male with female is to mate(ONLY reason its not coz they get lonely) if the male isnt mating its just a waste and a risk of a fight or something.

 

[roger]

Yeah, I mean... everybody says that is is so stressful for both lizards and yadda yadda yadda... but if you find no issues and you feel comfortable with the housing setup you can keep them together. And I am just trusting that you will recognize and wounds or agression and remove them immediately if needed.

Thats fine if u witness some aggression or bullying or bite marks but a lot of the time u wont visually see constant mating attemps or the bullying occuring.I very rarely see copulation happen.

 

[maggiee22195]

Thats fine if u witness some aggression or bullying or bite marks but a lot of the time u wont visually see constant mating attemps or the bullying occuring.I very rarely see copulation happen.

I said that people say all of the things that you have stated. But most of the time, a stressed leo doesn't eat, loses weight, and becomes agressive.
I just stated that if you do not notice ohysical damage and if you do not see harassment and if the leos are keeping or gaining weight and are still normal looking and have the same personality you can keep them together.

Just because somebody THINKS the animals are or will be stressed doesnt mean they are. When an animal is stressed, their personality changes and they change. Keep that in mind.

And to the OP, you can keep your leos together as long as you follow what I have stated above.
Goog luck with your leos!

 

[acpart]

I actually have 1 male who is with the same female all year round, but it's somewhat unusual circumstances. The female is 6 years old, was a breeder for me in 2005-2006 and does not seem to have ovulated since. She has always been something of a hermit and spends nearly all her time in the magnet hide. The male, when housed alone, has tended to spend a lot of time trying to "dig" himself out of his tank. For some reason, with the other gecko in there with him, even though he doesn't "interact" with her much, he's much calmer. He can't really access her when she's in the magnet hide. She isn't in the hide because she's escaping him; even when she was previously housed alone, she'd spend all her time hiding. Just her nature.

Aliza

 

[Reborn]

I actually have 1 male who is with the same female all year round, but it's somewhat unusual circumstances. The female is 6 years old, was a breeder for me in 2005-2006 and does not seem to have ovulated since. She has always been something of a hermit and spends nearly all her time in the magnet hide. The male, when housed alone, has tended to spend a lot of time trying to "dig" himself out of his tank. For some reason, with the other gecko in there with him, even though he doesn't "interact" with her much, he's much calmer. He can't really access her when she's in the magnet hide. She isn't in the hide because she's escaping him; even when she was previously housed alone, she'd spend all her time hiding. Just her nature.

Aliza

Lol thats kinda similar to a way a friend of mines leos are. They wont eat and try to get out and dig and such but once together(a male and female(around 1-3 yrs old) they eat and are just all around calm together. They do mate...well they did produce a clutch but other then that they've been together for well over a year(off and on) and they seem fine together. The female doesnt take any crap from the male so it is a "ok" situation. Hes a smaller male so i dont think he can push his weight around(so to speak) but in general a male is bigger and can seriously hurt a female.

To the OP. Think about this. Why risk a fight? The only reason most(obviously there are acceptions) a male and female should come together for any amount of time is to mate.Generally a male WILL harass a female to mate, weither you see it or not. This harassment can lead to nips, nips will lead to bites, bites will lead to fights. Most breeders(ones who have done it more then a few clutchs/seasons) will tell you the flat out truth as they know the species better then someone who has a few and houses them together.

Maggie: thats not necesarily true about the personality. I have a female who will still eat and still acts "normal" generally with a few other females(2) she's generally the same geckos as she was alone. When she was alone she'd greet me at the door and come right out onto me<3 but now shes with a few other girls and she doesnt do that. She still eats fine, still greets me for food, and has 0 signs of physical damage(i check all mine weekly) but do i think she'd be better off alone? Yes, definatly. Even tho she's eating just fine and gaining weight just fine and acting the same for the most part i know she'd much rather be alone(for the record shes in there as in a few weeks they will be being bred to a male so im getting them ready now)

Thinking is predicting what may happen. No one can see into the future hence why its descouraged~

 

[gothra]

I'm not a big fan of keeping any leos together let alone a female and a male.I'm not a big fan of keeping any leos together.I find they are a ton more healthy housed individually

Think about this. Why risk a fight? The only reason most(obviously there are acceptions) a male and female should come together for any amount of time is to mate.Generally a male WILL harass a female to mate, weither you see it or not. This harassment can lead to nips, nips will lead to bites, bites will lead to fights. Most breeders(ones who have done it more then a few clutchs/seasons) will tell you the flat out truth as they know the species better then someone who has a few and houses them together.

:main_thumbsup: I keep every single one of my geckos separate.

 

[Reborn]

I wish i could say the same but I like "experimenting" with mine. Seeing what makes them stressed, what makes them calm, which is better, which isnt. its kinda funny since i bought 2 engima(well a tremper engima and a tug snow engima het bell) who were "spinners"(bad spinners apparently) as pets because i wantd to see for myself the bads of it before i considered breeding egnimas myself(love them but again wanted to see) They were housed in tubs for a short time where they did what engimas are known for, spinning, head tilting, crappy aim, and one had the "jolts"(body spasums) once outta quarenteen i placed them in my custom cage(females get a 45 gallon space area) it took a few days in there and since there neither have shown any signs. They miss food once in a while but thats about it. i dunno if it was the change in enviroment or they "grew outta it"(find it odd that they did at that time) but there now just fine.

I however only house females together. Obviously wouldnt house males together and my males only get to see the girls once and a while and thats only when i have space and time for babies. One of my girls have given me 7 eggs in a 2 month(ish) span. Shes a first timer and i didnt even plan for it. She stored sperm when she was with the male(who was sold to me as a female!) when she was a juvi.

Anyhow off topic big time! Obviously there are people who say its fine and those who dont. Im not the most experinced on here(with breeding either) but if those who have bred for quite some time would definatly tell you there are very few occasions where its a good idea to hosue together. Ive never been the type to risk something when i can easily prevent it. I dont use sand as the risk of impations there, I dont mist there cages, rather give them moist hides, and risk a synus infection, and i dont house a male with a lone female incase of fights/stress. I dont like risking the health of my animals over something that i'd cause and something i could prevent.Obviously the OP knows there animals so if they think its a ok idea then its there call.

 

[acpart]

I find that most of the care info we have is really a range of care options. For example, some people feel their hot side ground temp is best at 92, some at 97. There are clearly practices that are outside the range (e.g. no heating at all in the tank). I feel that the best way to go is to try out something in the range, see what the result is and either keep it that way or make a change. In the same way, some people are more on the "better safe than sorry" end of things and some are more on the "let's try this out" end. Just get a sense of what kind of person you are and what the range is, then act accordingly.

Aliza

 

[ZooKeeperKarin]

Wow! Thanks for all the great responses! A lot to decide! I think I'll get through this breeding season and then separate them. I'm curious now if she'll lay as many eggs as last year since they've been together for so long? I originally housed them together because they are in a 75gl. tank and I didn't want to waste the space.
Thanks again everyone! Lots of great opinions!

 

[Reborn]

She most likely will. Like mentioned when housed together for a long time they often loose interest and wont mate. To re-introduce them will definatly spark the males interest again. I think you'd have alot more eggs(more fertiles definatly) 75 gallon tank can easily be split into two=3