productive breeding age

[sauroid]

i'd like to know up to what age one can breed his male and female leos without risking their health and the quality of their offspring. TIA.

 

[spykerherps]

I'd say males if they look and act healthy up to 8 years(maybe more) females usually start loosing productivity at 6 or 7 years depending on their health and care. I think of it like a bell curve production starts at 1 to 2 years goes up peeks at 3 or 4 maybe even 5 and then starts going back down again. definitely males longer because breeding does not take as much of a tole on their bodies as the females. As long as females are healthy are eating well and maintaining a good weight ie 55 grams and gaining weight well after breeding season and are seeing healthy offspring you should be fine to continue breeding the fallowing season.

 

[bubblez825]

same thing as what spykerherps said about the 8 year thingy, but in more detail on the breeding age. breeding for most breeders isn't recommended until 10 months to a year of age and 50g-55g in weight. Like I said, from what I have learned, this is only a guideline for a healthy breeding pair . I'd wait for someone else to answer though as I have never bred leos lol, just learned about the breeding info hehe

 

[spykerherps]

55g is the weight most will weight before breeding there geckos. i would breed a gecko at 55 grams although I prefer for my females to start their season off at 65 grams so if they loose some weight between clutches they will still have some extra weight on them. although I usually do not have a problem because they are ravenous right after laying and will eat quite a bit before going off food before their next clutch.

 

[sauroid]

is it alright/better to start breeding a female at about two years of age?

 

[acpart]

I think 2 years is a good age to start. I have found that some of my females that had unbelievable breeding seasons early on, have declined sharply in the subsequent years even though they're not that old. For example, I have a female that laid 20 fertile eggs in her first season at 15 months, produced 10 offspring the next year, and this past year laid most of her eggs outside the lay box and only produced 2 offspring (the total number of eggs laid this season, counting the ones out of the lay box, was less than last season). I wonder if any other breeders have had the same experience.

Aliza

 

[Next Level Geckos]

spikerherps has it right.