Question on life expectancy

[Leporard Geko Keeper]

I read that leopard geckos live 10-20 years is that true and are they usually healthy lizards

 

[BrightReptiles]

Could be true with proper care and the right conditions. A gecko house alone and kept healthy its entire life, and never being mated could live a long time. Not sure about 20 years but is say 10-15 is possible and 20 would be slightly possible but a rarity.

 

[im faster]

AVG for females is 6-10
males 10-20

record as i know is 28

 

[Leporard Geko Keeper]

Well thank you, now one more question why does females live shorter is because of mating or
Why does females generally live shorter life spans

 

[im faster]

breeding is hard work

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I have some 11-14 year old geckos, and they have all been breeders at some point and still doing quite well. My vet had a WC male for 24 years! Males tend to live longer than females because the strain on the female's bodies during ovulation and egging reduces their life span. If a single gecko was housed in ideal environmental conditions and not subject to breeding, I think an average lifespan for a female would be about 12 years, and a male 14 years.

 

[Desdemona]

This is an interesting read. I read a couple of sites that said up to 20 and I had assumed that most did that not a few. Good to know otherwise.

Does anyone know if enigma's have shorter life spans (the ones who can eat and care for themselves?). This post makes me much less disappointed I can't breed my girl! She is a unknown albino which was my original reason, but she's also my fav so I'd like her to stick around as long as possible (so far her symptoms have disappeared so she eats well but still has that extra playfulness that some seem to have).

Sent from my DROID PRO using Tapatalk

 

[Designer Geckos]

Ron Tremper has Bubba, the father of Moose, who originated the whole Giant line. To the best of my knowledge, Bubba is now 31 yrs old and is still breeding! I saw Bubba last year and he just looks like a large normal....but what a magical gecko he is!

 

[im faster]

i guess i need him

 

[im faster]

I wonder.. if you have really nice female that you wanted to keep but yet breed.. if breeding every other year would have any effect.

 

[Desdemona]

Does anyone know if his offspring are living that long? Specifically the males?

 

[Dragoon Gecko]

I wonder.. if you have really nice female that you wanted to keep but yet breed.. if breeding every other year would have any effect.

Well, whenever I give my breeding females a year to recover (non-breeding), and a longer time for winter-sleep than the usually 2 months I noticed that not only they got their weight back much faster and had an excellent breeding season the coming year, but also got back some of their "youth colours", meaning the colour got back some of the quality and brilliancy they lost due to breeding.

Every breeder can tell you that especially females will loose at least some (in some cases many) of their colours if they are used in breeding. Same goes for males in many cases. Breeding is exhausting to both sexes and let them age quicker.

Worldwide there are some club regelements in other species (purebred dogs for example) that clearly say a female should not be paired every heat or every season, because it will make them get old very fast and they do better if they have some more time to recover. IMO and from what I have seen in my own stock, geckos are no difference. So of course it will have an effect (colours, general apperance, lifespan etc.) if you breed your female every 2 years, every few years or every season..

/Rebecca