Problem with our breeder male and new female?

[andrew5859]

First of all ditch the sand entirely.....I have slate tile it works like a charm. If I were you I would leave one female in the 40. Then put the others in the 10 gallon tanks. I also suggest starting setting up housing for the babies and make sure you have all supplies needed. Get LOTS of calcium for the females or that sand will kill them....fast.

Do you have an incubator?

I dont see a thermometer either what are the temps?

Like everyone else said just separate them all and leave ONE in that tank and hold off putting the older females back together for about 2 months for quarantine.
And of course keep the male separate and dont add the smaller female to the other females until they are about the same size.

And again get rid of the sand!

 

[Tony C]

Oh, and the "sand" is calcium sand and extra fine ground walnut shell mixed 1:3

If you do a little research you will find that those are two of the worst possible substrates...

 

[M_surinamensis]

This may be a job for Seamus!

I sometimes find a little amusement in how my participation is appreciated when it is aimed at other people but criticized when one finds it aimed at themselves. I am also a little bit more than a blunt object, to be swung at those who seem deserving.

This isn't for me though. Maybe if I had seen it in time to give one of the first couple responses, but this guy has made it clear that he doesn't give a damn what anyone else has to say, no matter how experienced or knowledgeable they may be relative to himself. My only real tactic for approaching that is to try making them aware of what they lack by pointing out how they're doing things that are wrong, dangerous or stupid. It works more than it fails, but that's mostly 'cause I don't waste my time trying it on too many people who I know in advance will not become receptive to learning and changing their practices when confronted with reasons why they should. Works well with people who are a bit stubborn but still at least reading what is written at them (like me, for example).

This guy already rejected a number of well written posts pointing out his various errors, risks, mistakes and poor choices. He's defensive and he doesn't look like he's willing or able to even try to understand what's being said to him. He's working himself up as being the victim, with those statements about how he "just asked a question" and anyone else piling on now, especially with a harder approach, is just going to make him blow up in a temper tantrum that gets him banned.

Three pages, a half dozen or more people who all agree that he's making mistakes... it won't matter. He's not going to listen till he kills something. If then. Really a shame that his geckos will have to go through that, but if (when, I may be pessimistic but I suspect it is inevitable) he gets kicked off the forums, he's not going to learn anything either. Problem doesn't get fixed either way. I doubt a soft touch will help matters any, but at least he's still reading the site and won't be making extra work for the mods as they prune out the explosion of four letter words or play whack-a-mole when he makes new registrations in order to troll.

If it's any consolation at all, he'll probably kill something in the relatively near future. I mean, he's basically done every single thing wrong that is is possible to do.* So he might be more receptive in a week or three.


*To the point where I'm skeptical that it was all arrived at through naivety, it almost seems like it would have to be deliberate and malicious.

 

[BrightReptiles]

Just to let everyone know, I haven't let your words go completely over my head. I decided last night to partially separate them. We have our male and oldest female living in the 40gal in the picture. They get along great and both came from reputable places, and were actually currently being used for breeding. We pulled the two younger females which have been housed together for the past yearthey are currently together in a 10gal but I may wind up separating them since one is much bigger and they are the same age, at least until we can put some more weight on the smallest. .

 

[BrightReptiles]

And for the people worried about space and time and money, we have an entire bedroom dedicated to our pets, and are purchasing an incubator and rack this week. It is all used but clean and is coming from a store which is no longer breeding reptiles.

 

[Fencer04]

Are you still planning on using the same substrate? Are you weighing them to see if they can handle being bred? Do you know what weight they are supposed to be? Those are just some of the questions that need to be answered.

 

[Wild West Reptile]

I sometimes find a little amusement in how my participation is appreciated when it is aimed at other people but criticized when one finds it aimed at themselves. I am also a little bit more than a blunt object, to be swung at those who seem deserving.

I wasn't looking for you to be swung at him.....I just thought that since you are so respected on this forum that you may be able to convince this guy that he's not being responsible by using your "witty" tactics. I like to read some of your long responses and I thought that maybe by you giving this guy one, it might help save an animals life, since this is why we all give a flying crap to respond to this stuff. I just thought I'd inject a little humor into the situation yesterday....it needed it. Regardless, thanks for your input.

 

[BrightReptiles]

Are you still planning on using the same substrate? Are you weighing them to see if they can handle being bred? Do you know what weight they are supposed to be? Those are just some of the questions that need to be answered.

For the moment I am using the same substrate in the large tank. I will monitor them to see how much intake they have and if it becomes a problem I will change to tile. The smaller are on green carpet now, but will get tile after work today. I understood 400g was proper weight for breeding and the breeders are well over though I don't remember exact numbers right this minute. Only the smallest weighed under 400g.

 

[Coby78]

For the moment I am using the same substrate in the large tank. I will monitor them to see how much intake they have and if it becomes a problem I will change to tile. The smaller are on green carpet now, but will get tile after work today. I understood 400g was proper weight for breeding and the breeders are well over though I don't remember exact numbers right this minute. Only the smallest weighed under 400g.

You probably mean 40 grams lol. I hear it's better to wait until they're over 50 though, but I can't be sure. You're going to want to buy a weight so you can monitor the females to make sure they're healthy while gravid and for the babies.

 

[Russ S]

For the moment I am using the same substrate in the large tank. I will monitor them to see how much intake they have and if it becomes a problem I will change to tile. The smaller are on green carpet now, but will get tile after work today. I understood 400g was proper weight for breeding and the breeders are well over though I don't remember exact numbers right this minute. Only the smallest weighed under 400g.

Perhaps you should weigh them again, a 400 gram leopard gecko isn't likely .

 

[BrightReptiles]

40* lol. We have a digital scale. Smallest female is 36g. The others are 43, 51, male is 55.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

For the moment I am using the same substrate in the large tank. I will monitor them to see how much intake they have and if it becomes a problem I will change to tile. The smaller are on green carpet now, but will get tile after work today. I understood 400g was proper weight for breeding and the breeders are well over though I don't remember exact numbers right this minute. Only the smallest weighed under 400g.

By the time you notice all but the most obvious problems, it will be too late, due to lack of experience. Members here are just trying to steer you away from continuing to do the wrong things, for the sake of the geckos.

You might need a new scale.


Edit: "40* lol. We have a digital scale. Smallest female is 36g. The others are 43, 51, male is 55."

All I can do is sigh. What is your motive for breeding? Where are these possible babies being sold?

 

[JordanAng420]

Id like to know why these geckos need to be bred right now? How about separating the male and keep the other 3 in the 40 gallon if that's what you're working with...I still think you should separate each individually, though....anyways....I gotta go back to work or else I'd say more.

 

[Thorgecko707]

I think it's odd that you NEED the geckos NOW, and they HAVE to mate. Babies is a crazy hard job. They squeak and bite and jump and run like hell. They drop tails quick if you can't handle them right. Once the tail is gone don't expect more than someone taking it for free. If you are crossing morphs don't expect lots of money for muddy genetics. Good luck. I hope it works out for you.

 

[sunshinegeckos]

I got 2 of my geckos from Pinellas County Reptiles. They are awesome when it comes to knowledge about their reptiles. I am positive none of them gave you this information and I am sure if you went in there and asked them (or even called) they would be able to help you. There is so many things wrong with this situation but you have already been given 4 pages of great information that I have nothing to add except if you decide that you have gotten in way over your head and need homes for some of them contact me.

 

[BrightReptiles]

I got 2 of my geckos from Pinellas County Reptiles. They are awesome when it comes to knowledge about their reptiles. I am positive none of them gave you this information and I am sure if you went in there and asked them (or even called) they would be able to help you. There is so many things wrong with this situation but you have already been given 4 pages of great information that I have nothing to add except if you decide that you have gotten in way over your head and need homes for some of them contact me.

They sold us our male. We went in there with our first female along for the ride and told them we were interested in breeding. He sold us the male which he introduced to our female right in the store, and we took the two home in the same carrier. Our male was apparently their breeder (they are now breeding other geckos instead)

 

[KelliH]

First of all, it's good that you are asking questions and doing research. Better late than never, right guys?!

badhabits, people here are only trying to help you and your geckos. Some of these same people I am positive made similar mistakes when they first started keeping geckos. I know I did!

 

[M_surinamensis]

First of all, it's good that you are asking questions and doing research. Better late than never, right guys?!

Yyyyyesssssss buuuuuuut...

I have often found that the things people ask and the way they ask them can reveal what they need to know, which isn't always going to be the same thing as what they want to know.

It can be a bit of a puzzler, really. Give 'em the information they asked for or give 'em the information that they didn't ask for but look like they can use? What if the information they asked for is dangerous or incomplete without the rest of it? What should be done when they refuse to listen to anything except responses that say what they expected to hear?

It gets even more complicated if some of the responders end up arguing about what's right and wrong but there's kind of a consensus in this case, which should perhaps be taken by the questioner as a strong hint.

 

[sunshinegeckos]

If u got their breeding male he is an enigma so that answers your what are they question for him. The advice everyone else gave you is good advice. Good luck

 

[JordanAng420]

First of all, it's good that you are asking questions and doing research. Better late than never, right guys?!

badhabits, people here are only trying to help you and your geckos. Some of these same people I am positive made similar mistakes when they first started keeping geckos. I know I did!

Better late than never...yeah, I agree....however...

I have asked this question at least twice....I know other's have as well...it has been compleatly avoided, but here we go, AGAIN.

OP: Why do you feel you need to breed these geckos right now? Why can't you wait until next year, when you know for a FACT(not just taking a good breeders "word for it") that the animals are healthy?

And what the heck ever happened to enjoying your animals for what they are? How come everybody has to breed something these days? Would it kill you to research these animals a little bit more to make sure you are CONFIDENT in what you're doing?