Should I?

[FlorenceTheLeo]

Hello everyone, i'm a new leo owner. I have a Raptor Super giant, his name is Florence! I absolutely love leo's, and was thinking of getting him a girlfriend. Breeding season is from feb-aug and then the female will have 2 eggs at a time up to 24-40 eggs? How would you house that many little guys? I have Florence in a 20 gal. tank and I have two other 10 gal. tanks. Would that be enough for them until I found them homes? Also if anybody has any genetic suggestions i'd like to know. I definitely want to carry the super giant gene. Please give me insight!

 

[tb144050]

I love that Leo!! WOW!!

I am glad you are taking the interest, and I am ecstatic that you are taking the time to ask questions before "diving in" and mating Leo's.

To do it "right," it is costly and a little-troublesome, but here is what you need to focus your google searches on (I will try to put them in sequentially-planned order):

1) Genetics - Find a suitable mate for Florence. You will want to know as much as you can about Florence's genetics, which might be easy if you "special ordered" him. Then you can use google to learn about genetics. Use the genetic calculator below (after learning about recessive, dominant, etc, etc Leo genetics) to determine the best genetics of a mate for the most-wanted batch of hatchlings (up to 18 or 20 per mother per year, average). Then shop the reputable breeders for your prefered mate (based on the genetic plan you want to follow).
Leopard Gecko Genetics Calculator
Guide to Leopard Gecko Morphs an


2) Contact local petstores or find local reptile shows to determine how you will re-home them before proceeding.


3) While your new female is getting acclimated to her new tank (not inside his tank) and gaining weight up to around 50-55grams (get a gram scale if needed), you can start saving or go ahead and start buying the needed supplies for:

a - feeder colony to feed all these hatchlings
b - housing for hatchlings (I recommend a nice rack system with rubbermaid tubs
c - incubator & a good thermostat to incubate the eggs

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I have really "oversimplified" things in my description above. There is alot of preparation to properly care for this many Leo's. You will need to "google" each of the things I mentioned ("rack", incubation, genetics, how-to setup a feeder colony, genetics, etc) to get a full understanding.

I will provide some pics of my basic setups below. I estimate my rack to provide housing for 64 juveniles/hatchlings (2hatchlings in each of 32 tubs), so you only need a "rack system" with about 10 6qt tubs to house up to 20 hatchlings.

You should definitely know, it won't be cheap to get a nice setup going. I am into this hobby deeeeeeep into my wallet. I've spend welllllll over $1,000 since I started 5 months ago. For example: Just feeding 16 hatchlings and 2 adults can cost you: 18geckos x 8mealworms x ($.03/each) x 30days = $129.60+tax every 30days, just for food....(assuming you can find mealworms as cheap as $3/100-pack.) I ordered crickets online: 1,000crickets for $25, shipped = $.025/cricket.

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[FlorenceTheLeo]

Thank you so much! Im so glad that you even provided pictures! I will definitely do way more research, thanks for the tips!

 

[tb144050]

Thank you so much! Im so glad that you even provided pictures! I will definitely do way more research, thanks for the tips!

You are very welcome and Welcome to the forums!! I just noticed that I listed "genetics" twice:

I have really "oversimplified" things in my description above. There is alot of preparation to properly care for this many Leo's. You will need to "google" each of the things I mentioned ("rack", incubation, genetics, how-to setup a feeder colony, genetics, etc) to get a full understanding.

but the error is very fitting. Spend alottt of time researching genetics and choosing pairings based on the hatchlings you desire. Good luck!!

 

[Limited Exotic]

Before You Start Breeding Leopard Geckos. - YouTube