Not sure whats happening with my geckos..help please

[diehard2010]

Hi to all..

I went into my leopard geckos tank tonight to feed them and my male chased my female out of the hide, and around the tank then started shaking his tail which was making a noise then he grabbed her tail and wouldnt let go, she eventually got away from him but he chased her again and licked her a couple of times then grabbed her side for a couple of minutes. Is this there "mating ritual" as Ive never witnessed this behaviour before.

The female is 16months old, 8inchs long (head to tip of tail) and 80grams.
The male is also 16months old nearly 10inchs long and he is 86grams.

I got them as 2 females and recently found out that 1 of them was infact a male..

also do I just let them get on with it as they have been together for a long time and they have never reacted this way to each other, hope someone can put my mind at ease, thanks for reading John

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Yup, the male's trying to mate. Separate them unless you want to breed. Letting them "get on with it" will get you end up with eggs. And unless you are prepared for it, you really don't want to take on that.

 

[Thorgecko707]

Chances are they already mated. She can retain sperm for around 9 months so separation is not necessary. If you don't want babies, don't incubate the eggs.

 

[diehard2010]

Thanks for that..Unfortunaty i dont have a spare tank that i can use for the male, I have been reading up on incubators and how to incubate the eggs, the only thing Im not sure on is how soon before the female lays her eggs will I have to prepare the incubator with pearlite or vermiculite??

 

[rickmoss95]

i would get one and get it ready as soon as you can. you dont know how long they have been mating, and once you set your incubator up, it may take you a day or more to get the temps perfect. you should be able to see eggs in the females belly a little while before she lays. get her a dark lay box with some moist vermiculite or spagnum moss so she can check it out and get comfortable with it before it is time to lay.

 

[diehard2010]

i would get one and get it ready as soon as you can. you dont know how long they have been mating, and once you set your incubator up, it may take you a day or more to get the temps perfect. you should be able to see eggs in the females belly a little while before she lays. get her a dark lay box with some moist vermiculite or spagnum moss so she can check it out and get comfortable with it before it is time to lay.

Thanks..I have got a large shedding stump with spagnum moss already in her tank. If I get a tub ready in the next couple of days would i be best using pearlite or vermiculite to incubate the eggs? and would the ratio or vermiculite be the same as pearlite?

 

[RampantReptiles]

so you plan to incubate the eggs and hatch babies. You do realize this would mean you need more enclosures to hold the babies...? Plus the work of feeding and caring for them as well as finding them new homes.

 

[diehard2010]

so you plan to incubate the eggs and hatch babies. You do realize this would mean you need more enclosures to hold the babies...? Plus the work of feeding and caring for them as well as finding them new homes.

Yes I do plan on incubating the eggs and i also know that I would need more enclosures to house the babies and I also have a few good friends who have reptiles from snakes to lizards and they are more than happy to take a couple and as for the rest i will be keeping them..I also know the feeding and care that they will need aswell as I currently have 4 leopard geckos, a bearded pygmy chamelon and a bearded dragon who are well feed and also well cared for..I didnt come onto this site for people to talk down to me as though Im a novice reptile keeper I was only looking for a bit of advice as nobody knows everything there is to keeping/breeding/caring for reptiles. As I stated before I got them as 2 females not as a planned breeding pair..

 

[sausage]

Was just reading your thread. good luck with the babies, its sooo exciting when they finaly hatch
heres a thread I posted after christmas. One of my oldest males turned on a female when they were together because she wasnt in the mood for love. so would be a good idea to separate them for not only her safety but to be able to rest her. males will just keep wanting to mate all the time and laying eggs is tiring and drains the body of all vitamin and calcium resources.
Just have a look at the pics i wouldnt want it to happen to your girly

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=70292

 

[M_surinamensis]

I didnt come onto this site for people to talk down to me as though Im a novice reptile keeper I was only looking for a bit of advice as nobody knows everything there is to keeping/breeding/caring for reptiles. As I stated before I got them as 2 females not as a planned breeding pair..

It's just logically inconsistent to state that you can't separate them because you have no additional enclosures, then go on to say that you're looking into incubating the eggs... which requires both an incubator and additional enclosures for the neonates.

If you can't house the adults individually, how are you going to house the babies?

If you can house the babies, why can't you separate the adults?

You're experiencing behavioral problems and risking health issues with the adults housed together, most people (experienced, knowledgeable people) would prioritize their available resources to fixing the existing difficulties before they committed to a course of action which is likely to generate additional complications. They'd get the sexually aggressive male separated from the female so that he doesn't cause any direct or indirect harm to her, either by biting and harassing her, or through repeat breedings and additional clutches that tax her nutritional resources. That's the problem that would be addressed first... eggs are a secondary concern, to be dealt with as is appropriate after the housing situation is fixed for the adults.

 

[Wowoklol]

Yes I do plan on incubating the eggs and i also know that I would need more enclosures to house the babies and I also have a few good friends who have reptiles from snakes to lizards and they are more than happy to take a couple and as for the rest i will be keeping them..I also know the feeding and care that they will need aswell as I currently have 4 leopard geckos, a bearded pygmy chamelon and a bearded dragon who are well feed and also well cared for..I didnt come onto this site for people to talk down to me as though Im a novice reptile keeper I was only looking for a bit of advice as nobody knows everything there is to keeping/breeding/caring for reptiles. As I stated before I got them as 2 females not as a planned breeding pair..

You also realize that once she starts laying, she could be laying 2 eggs every 10 days or so? Not trying to talk down to you. Just hope you realize this since you weren't planning to breed and haven't seen you mention plans to separate the two.

 

[diehard2010]

Thanks for all the replys..I came downstairs this morning and noticed that there had been quite a bit of digging in the moist hide which i have not seen before, when i picked the female up I can see 2 big pink oval shapes in her tummy 1 of them is quite low and the other is a little higher up..What would you recommend using to incubate the eggs as ive read different things on what to use..I dont know if i should use pearlite or vermiculite?? Just to put everyones mind at ease Im getting a tank for my male in the next day or two..so i reckon that she has been gravid for a while with her digging and seeing the pink oval shapes in her tummy(I know that she couldnt have mated yesterday and got eggs today) as that was said to me on another forum

 

[acpart]

Go to google and search for "leopard gecko breeding". I'll send you my info (8 pages) if you PM me your email address.

Aliza

 

[panthergecko]

to the ozymandias guy

your mean and after following some threads im afraid to post as you might bully your way into it. cant you be nicer geez and eggs take a while 2 develop so he can get a rack/tank then

 

[Adinar]

Sometimes it takes that kind of attitude to actually get the info across. If you look at some of the other threads that he has responded in and the info he has provided... how many times has the info been taken into consideration? Notice the original poster didn't even acknowledge he even responded to their post?

He knows lots of vital info about reptiles.

 

[M_surinamensis]

to the ozymandias guy

"The Ozymandias guy" was Pharaoh Ramesses II (the Great)

your mean

On this site? I am not even close to mean. Nothing about what I wrote was remotely mean. It was a collection of completely neutral statements, delivered with neither rancor or despite.

A few users here have seen me be more aggressive. A very select few may have even witnessed me being mean, in other places where it was appropriate or expected to be so. The differences are readily apparent.

and after following some threads im afraid to post as you might bully your way into it.

I might respond, if I'm interested enough to read and have something to say. I've never had to bully anyone in order to participate in a forum thread though, there's nobody I have to noogie into submission prior to using my computer. I've never once had to knock anyone down, fill their shirt with dead leaves and rub mud in their hair to register on a website.

cant you be nicer geez

How exactly?

 

[Ziggurat]

Frankly I don't recommend incubating the eggs. I'm doing all kinds of research into leopard gecko care and breeding, and I don't even have geckos yet! Also, unless you intend on buying even more mealworms, their vitamin supplements, getting tanks and heating systems for the offspring, and making sure the brothers and sisters (if you incubate the right temperature) are seperate as soon as they're old enough to breed (unless you want siblings to mate with eachother, by the way, when they're old enough, it's easy enough to tell the genders apart yourself. Look up 'leopard gecko sexing'), don't subject hatchlings to possibly negligent care!

 

[diehard2010]

"The Ozymandias guy" was Pharaoh Ramesses II (the Great)



On this site? I am not even close to mean. Nothing about what I wrote was remotely mean. It was a collection of completely neutral statements, delivered with neither rancor or despite.

A few users here have seen me be more aggressive. A very select few may have even witnessed me being mean, in other places where it was appropriate or expected to be so. The differences are readily apparent.



I might respond, if I'm interested enough to read and have something to say. I've never had to bully anyone in order to participate in a forum thread though, there's nobody I have to noogie into submission prior to using my computer. I've never once had to knock anyone down, fill their shirt with dead leaves and rub mud in their hair to register on a website.



How exactly?

Right....im begining to think i got the wrong end of the stick after reading the first response to my thread....will someone please give me as much info as available on breeding leopard gecko's....from my point of view you can never have enough information....if i have offended anyone then im really sorry that was not my intention.....i am not a novice keeper i know what im doing and as for the lack of tanks i mentioned in my first thread that will be sorted in the next few days......i just want advice that way accidental neglect does not become a factor......

 

[robin]

seamus, ya meanie.

trust me guys he is not even remotely being mean. blunt? yes. frank? yes. mean? no

i have seen seamus in some of his "meaner posts" (not here). he has the ability to take people a part a piece at a time with out even trying.

hello reserved seamus, ya big (little) softie. *pokes seamus in his lil belly*

 

[panthergecko]

yeah blunt does come across as mean i guess the mean part was some other thread