Some beginner Breeding questions....

[Pegasus_0]

Hi

Sometime in the near future i would like to hobby breed. I love the thought of breeding and then bringing up baby Geckos as i love my two (i have only had then 2 and a half weeks) but i have fallen in love with these lizards.

Anyway, my questions are:

1) What extra equipment would i need in order to incubate any fertilized eggs? (other than extra vivs to keep the littleuns in when they hatch).

2) How many eggs to females usually lay at a time?

3) What is the ideal weight for a female to be for breeding?

4) How long do fertilized eggs take to hatch? I have heard a couple of months.

5) What temperatures should the viv be at time of pregnancy? (or whatever the reptile word is haha) and also for the eggs etc.


Any other information that i havn't asked about would be wicked!

Thanks again guys!

Paul

 

[StopperExotics]

1) What extra equipment would i need in order to incubate any fertilized eggs? (other than extra vivs to keep the littleuns in when they hatch).

You'll need an incubator, I use a 1602R Hovabator and it works like a charm. You'll also need a rack system of some kind to house your new babies when they arrive.

2) How many eggs to females usually lay at a time?

Females can only lay 2 eggs at a time, so you'll always get them in batches of two (which is fairly easy to handle, especially if you have low numbers).

3) What is the ideal weight for a female to be for breeding?

You'll want to get yourself a fine-grade digital scale, and make sure your females are no smaller than say, 45 grams. I usually don't breed until mine are hovering around that weight, or heavier, never less.

4) How long do fertilized eggs take to hatch? I have heard a couple of months.

All depends really, give or take a few weeks.

5) What temperatures should the viv be at time of pregnancy? (or whatever the reptile word is haha) and also for the eggs etc.

LoL the word is "gravid" but a lot of us call it pregnancy, just because they're like our little family... and we attribute human qualities to them. The temp should be the same as your regular temp throughout the season.

 

[Pegasus_0]

Thats wicked thanks! If your on a tight budget, how would you go about making an incubator? I would love to get myself a couple more geckos through the raising of them myself.

 

[StopperExotics]

To be totally honest, making an incubator is going to end up being more costly than simply purchasing the 1602R Hovabator, you can get them here www.randallburkey.com for $50. Although, there are many resources on this forum on how to make them yourself. It's whatever you choose, and how much time you have to get it ready, I suppose. First thing you're going to need is a styrofoam box.

Just curious, what morphs do you have, and are you 100% on gender? I'd love to see photos.

 

[Pegasus_0]

haha!

They are two normals and im pretty sure they are both female....the previous owner was pretty big on his reptiles (he had some sort of monitor, the 2 geckos i have now, 2 snakes and he was breeding the snakes) so i guess i trust his judgement.

i will gladly post up photos.......if i knew how to do it so they appear straight in the forum rather than a link haha!

 

[StopperExotics]

There are a few tutorials on the forum telling you how to post pictures. And for the most part, I think a lot of people have a mis-aligned idea of what normals actually look like. We get a lot of people posting photos of hypo tangerines, tangerines, high yellows, etc., that aren't normal. (Not that you're wrong, at all, I'm just saying). Either way, I'd love to see photos if/when you can post them!

 

[Pegasus_0]

ok kool. I will try and put them on in the next 5-10 minutes! If it fails, i will jus post a link lol

 

[Pegasus_0]

Here are the pictures of my babies....sorry they arent very good :S My camera phone isn't very good!

This is Thelma

As is this (i couldn't help but get one like this haha)

....and this is Louise

As is this haha

I hope these appear!