ok... who has spare time?

[cwazy]

ha ha... but seriously... can anyone tell me just what is all envolved in breeding... i have picked up some very basic info, but not alot... like im not sure when you stick em together to let em do there thing... how you introduce them... sand boxs? incubator equipment? all of it... a detailed list of what to do... we have 6 leos right now... 5 of wich can be bred... but not to make toast! :main_laugh: we have 2 males and 3 females... so with all that said... anyone have some time... details???

go on... spill it... ya know you want to :main_yes: :main_laugh: :main_thumbsup:

 

[acpart]

I don't have time or details right now, but my next gecko related project is to write a "breeding basics" article. Probably some time in the next few months. Till then, reading the breeding section of this and other forums and looking at a good gecko book will get you started.

Aliza

 

[Homerx]

http://www.thegeckospot.com/leobreeding.html :main_thumbsup:

 

[fallen_angel]

It's too much info to really copy and paste here, but you can go to our website, to the caresheet, and there is a section on breeding, eggs, and all that good stuff

Here's a small section from it:

Breeding leopard geckos is fairly easy; and why shouldn't it be, they've been doing it successfully in the wild for ages! However, some help will ensure you healthy baby geckos. The breeding season is generally February through September, although depending on your location and seasons, you may have geckos breeding all year-round! When you have decided that you want to breed your geckos, all you really need to do is put the male and female together and they will most likely do their thing on their own. Some breeders have a cool-down time when they decrease food amounts and slowly lower temperatures for a few weeks. When the cool down is over and the temperatures slowly rise, the geckos will instantly think that it is time to breed. We do not use the cool-down process as we have not had a need to.

Before introducing your breeding pairs, you will need to make sure that the female(s) is/are ovulating, otherwise they won't breed. You can tell when a female is ovulating by looking at her stomach. If you see several white, round follicles through her belly, she's ready to go.

Some breeders will introduce the male to the female and leave them together for a couple of hours, then separate them again to encourage breeding. Another option is to house the male and female(s) together for the entire breeding season, if not year-around. If you decide to keep your male with the females all year long, you must monitor the geckos and make sure the male does not over sex or bully the females. This is why having multiple females is favored, as the risk of over sexing is lowered extremely.

In our experience, when the male advances and the female does not want anything to do with him, she will smack him with her tail. This is her "no signal," and usually the male will respect this and stop making his advances. If this is the case, you should not have to worry about oversexing, and the male can be housed with his females year around. However, if the male continues to make advances after the females say "no," then keeping him in a different cage when he's not breeding is going to be your best bet. Even when the male is respectful, you may still want to give your females a well-deserved rest period by housing your male separately for a few months.

Once your geckos have bred together, the female is essentially gravid and her body will start producing eggs. During this time, it is crucial to provide Calcium (if you don't already), as the female will need extra calcium to help produce the shells of each egg. In about a month and a half or less, the female will lay her first clutch. One clutch consists of two eggs, except for the very first time, when there may only be one egg. Time intervals between clutches can be anywhere from two to six weeks. Here is a table of the estimated number of eggs for the age of a female gecko.

As you can see, the prime age for a female gecko is supposedly four years old. When leos first start laying eggs (usually around the age of 1), their body doesn't know exactly how to produce eggs right away. For this reason, the very first breeding season for any female will not yield quite as many eggs. Moreover, the first couple of clutches are more likely to be infertile. This, however, does not necessarily mean that they will be. Our female Nefertari is in her first breeding season and is one year of age. So far she has laid two clutches (four eggs), and all of the eggs have been fertile. On the flip side, our female Isis only laid one clutch for her first season, and both eggs were infertile. This chart is just an estimation of what can be expected, not all female geckos will necessarily follow the pattern on this chart. The data in the chart was taken from Wikkipedia Free Encyclopedia: Leopard Gecko.

Before your females lay eggs, you need to prepare your incubator and incubation boxes. Incubators can be made from home-made materials, or you can buy a Hovabator. We have never made our own home-made incubator, and so we do not have instructions on how to do so. However, the best website to purchase a Hovabator is from the Randall Burkey Company - the link can be found on our Links page. Additionally, truly the best explanation on how to prepare your incubation boxes (and also the way in which we prepare ours) can be found on Albey's "Too Cool" Reptiles: How to Incubate Page. Be sure to prepare your incubation boxes and keep them heated in your incubator at least a week before you expect to see eggs.

 

[rcobourn]

Even much better pricing on Hovabators here

 

[goReptiles]

it's a lot of work. pain in the rear sometimes ha.

I also have an article, that should be updated, but you can check it out here