Suggestions for number of bins..

[Loui1203]

I'm going to start building a rack to house hatchling and juvies and i was wondering how many bins i would need for 4 females' babies. I'm planning on housing clutchmates together, unless any issues arrise (feeding/size difference/aggression), in 6qt tubs and juvies in about 15 qt tubs. (not sure if i should just get all 6qt tubs and house juvies 1 per tub or house juvies 1 or 2 per 15gt tub.
Anyhow, rather than doing a trial and error, i thought it would be best to ask advice from the pros on what works best and what is the most stress free and efficeint way of housing the young geckos.
Also at what age/weight do you move hatchlings to bigger tubs?
Thanks!

 

[acpart]

It's hard to tell how many babies you'll get. I generally breed about 6 females and in a given year not all 6 are maximally productive. I've been getting around 40 leo babies each season except for '09 when I produced 75-80 and I hope that never happens again. I keep my babies mostly in front-opening 20 gallon long tanks that I divide into 3 sections. At the moment I have about 12 spaces for babies. I have a 16 tub "overflow" rack that's usually about half full at the height of baby season, though in the infamous '09 year, it was stuffed to the gills along with a few other makeshift spaces and I was praying no more eggs would hatch before my first show. Another thing is that hopefully, you'll be able to sell some babies before they all hatch.

Aliza

 

[Loui1203]

jeeze 75-80 that's crazy. >.> So far i only have 2 females so i'm taking it slow until i get a better feel for it all. But i rather over prepare and build a rack suitable for 4 females just in case i want to expand. So, i was thinking 28 tubs max. I plan on keeping babies until 4-6 months of age. At how many months of age are you selling your babies? 12 spaces doesn't seem like it'd hold you for too long. Thanks for the input. =D

 

[TripleALeos]

Its like Aliza said, there's no guarantee how many eggs each female will produce. Last season I had 1 female lay a total of 18 eggs whiles another only laid once. I got lucky last year and was able to sell some before my hatchling rack over flowed with babies. In my opinion, build it as big as you can afford and have space for because you never know. It would be a shame for you to have to throw away perfectly good and fertile eggs because you have no room for them.

Email me if you interested and I can send you plans to build a 20 tub hatchling rack