Questions About Geckos and Breeding

[Eyepatchtan]

Hello, I'm new here on the forums, and I've had a multitude of questions regarding breeding and breeding season. I have a very healthy, super-hypo tangerine carrot-tail baldy, and a regular leopard gecko, both of which are female, and live in the same terrarium. My hypo has an extremely fat tail, but is not overweight, as for my regular gecko, her eyes are shut a vast majority of the time, and her tail is shrinking. I am currently separating them, and beginning to feed the regular one in a separate terrarium. This is their first breeding season, and, personally my first time breeding any animal, I know the basics to incubation, such has deli cups, incubators, and hatchrite, but I want to know how to "fatten" up my regular gecko so she can produce eggs that will be healthy, such as her. Please note, her tail is usually thicker than it is currently. I also want to know the morph of gecko or any restrictions regarding what should or should not be bred with my hypo. Please note, I have no plans to breed my regular until she is as healthy as she can be. I've also recently taken her to the vet, and was told she was in a "hermit stage". Their terrarium is around 87-90 degrees fahrenheit on the warm side, and 80-86 degrees on the neutral side. It should also be noted that I have had her for about 3 years, and got her from a big brand pet store, as opposed to the hypo, who was bought from a breeder, and hasn't ever had a health problem in my care. Please, help me figure out how to kick off breeding season with both of them, and the manner I should do it in! (Also, I am new to posting threads, if this thread should be split in half, with certain bits regarding health in the health section, please give me a shout!)

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GF. You did fine with where you put your thread. I'm assuming you'll be getting a male at some point. Here are some things to consider:
--when you get the male, you will need to quarantine him from the female(s) for at least a month, so plan ahead
--the one that's not eating much may have stopped because she's ovulating, which often happens. It's good you brought her to the vet. Keep offering and even try holding her and gently poking a feeder in her mouth. It's good you separated them. She needs to be by herself to start feeling good enough to eat again
--even if the skinnier one recovers, think carefully about breeding her. She's the one from the pet store and you don't know anything about her genetic background. This will limit the people who will buy her offspring because another breeder doesn't want any unsuspected hets in their breeding program. Maybe this gecko can just be a pet and you can breed the other one

Good luck with them.

Aliza

 

[Eyepatchtan]

Thanks for the reply. I originally only planned to breed my Tangerine, and if so, want to educate myself a bit more, and get a male before I can do so. Reasons for this include the fact that I have been preparing a large tank for a new ball python, and don't need 8-10 other hungry mouths until I can work out a reasonable schedule. Also, thank you for the suggestion that I do not breed her, originally, I wasn't going to, and I certainly don't want her to pass down any sickness or anything like that to any babies. Either way, she'll be receiving her own 50 gallon tank until she gets better. I spoil them (especially her) sometimes, lol.

 

[Eyepatchtan]

Hello, I thought asking yet another question here would be much more efficient than posting a new thread. After all this is titled questions. As of now, she will just be a pet, I could care less about her hets/genetics, I'm just focusing on her health and well-being. As for my Tangerine (Tangy), I have no information on her hets, at least I don't think I do, my main idea is to breed on a small scale, focusing mainly on producing them to be kept as pets. However, if there is a possible way to know her hets, I would love information on that, and I want to know if I would be better off purchasing a breeding pair. I am very lost in the world of gecko genetics as of now, and have been looking for a direct source of information.

Thanks again,

-Cole H.

 

[acpart]

The only way to know if she has other hets is to breed her to geckos that already have that trait and see if the offspring also show the trait. In all honesty you'll probably be better off getting a pair with known genetics. Also be sure you have the financial resources to provide for incubation, housing food and vet fees if necessary. Here are some resources that will help with leopard gecko genetics, which you should also understand more about before breeding:

leopardgeckowiki.com
Reptile Calculator
Fun with Hets: Leopard Geckos Teach Genetics 101 - Gecko Time - Gecko Time

Aiiza