the reality of breeding and hatching out geckos

[robin]

some of you know this from experience and some of you do not know it.

if you intend to breed, you will at some point have to put a gecko down, at some point you will hatch out a gecko with a deformity and many time these babies will have to be put down and finally at some point you will lose one of your animals to one of many thing from an egg rupturing inside the female to a male that will not get out of "breeding mode" and starve himself to death.

breeding is fun and exciting but it has its downsides as well.


i guess i am writing this so before some of you breed you will think. if you are unable to put a gecko down or lose a gecko. breeding is not for you.

 

[cryptid_hunter]

Those are good points, and is the reality with working with any reptiles. It would hurt me to have to put one of mine down, but sometimes it's the merciful thing to do, and as humans who keep them we have a responsibility to be humane. I recently built a euthenasia chamber for killing rats for my snakes, it would also work for small reptiles as well if it came down to that. The chamber is simple, and uses white vinegar mixed with baking soda to create carbon dioxide in the chamber. I have it tweaked so it kills rats within 30 seconds. I start the gas slowly into the chamber so it acts as an anesthetic and the rat goes to sleep without discomfort, then I flood the chamber after sleep is induced to finish the job. You can't flood the chamber immediately or it causes unnecessary discomfort to the eyes and lungs.

And I mention this here because I'm glad to pass along my euthenasia chamber plans to anyone who needs or wants it. It's helped me tremendously in killing rats in a non-violent way, I just can't get used to whacking them on a hard edge to break their necks, it doesn't always work on the first whack, but the chamber works very efficiently and cheaply.

 

[justindh1]

Those are all great points that don't come up in conversations much. No body asks what the worse that could happen but it is something that should be known in order to be prepared.

I now know that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. If that makes since, lol! I was always pushing myself to learn more but you always wanna give yourself more credit then you desearve.

I laughed a little out loud when I saw "killing rats in a non violent way". Is it bad that I enjoy watching the violent way?

 

[roger]

some of you know this from experience and some of you do not know it.

if you intend to breed, you will at some point have to put a gecko down, at some point you will hatch out a gecko with a deformity and many time these babies will have to be put down and finally at some point you will lose one of your animals to one of many thing from an egg rupturing inside the female to a male that will not get out of "breeding mode" and starve himself to death.

breeding is fun and exciting but it has its downsides as well.


i guess i am writing this so before some of you breed you will think. if you are unable to put a gecko down or lose a gecko. breeding is not for you.

Robin -Explain a male and and the "breeding Mode" starving himself to death??

 

[Matt1851]

well what would be the best way to put it down?

 

[T-ReXx]

well what would be the best way to put it down?

My method involved a large, perpetually hungry Savannah Monitor. It's the circle of life!

 

[cryptid_hunter]

Those are all great points that don't come up in conversations much. No body asks what the worse that could happen but it is something that should be known in order to be prepared.

I now know that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. If that makes since, lol! I was always pushing myself to learn more but you always wanna give yourself more credit then you desearve.

I laughed a little out loud when I saw "killing rats in a non violent way". Is it bad that I enjoy watching the violent way?

Well it really sucks killing rats. I always used to get the pet store to prekill them for me, but since I became friends with the owner and the employees when I go in now they just tell me to go to the back and get what I want, so I have to kill them myself. And there were just too many times that I whacked one, with all my strenght, and the poor thing was still alive. And as an engineer that was just too sloppy for me and not precise enough, so I built myself a chamber and then built a larger scale chamber for the pet store for when the get like 10+ prekill orders at once.

 

[Matt1851]

My method involved a large, perpetually hungry Savannah Monitor. It's the circle of life!

hmm i wonder if my chameleon will like them when hes older ???

 

[robin]

Robin -Explain a male and and the "breeding Mode" starving himself to death??

some males during breeding lose weight. they are breeding all is on their mind is breeding. generally after you take him out from the female he gets back to normal and normal eating. well some do not and will literally starve themselves to death. how do i know this? this happened to my most favorite gecko ever, target. i watched him wither awaym vets visits, medications, NOTHING and i ended up having to put my most favorite gecko down because of this.

see things like this happen. other oddities happen as well. i know of a gecko that choked to death on his shed. i have seen females lay themselves to death. i have seen deformities that would prolly make your stomach turn. it happens.

 

[cryptid_hunter]

Well I'm just getting into breeding AFT's and cresties, but I'm not trying to make a living out of it, I'm doing it because I enjoy working with the geckos, and I'm sure that's the case with a lot of people here and like me get really attached to the animals. I think I could handle a deformed hatchling a lot better than I could something horrible happening to my breeders, even my WC pair, I care for them just as much as the expensive morphs, and maybe more since they're my first ever pair.

 

[bjleemkuil]

Sad, but true reality. Sometimes it's hard to remember when you get all caught up in things. Thanks for the reminder Robin!

 

[Chewbecca]

These are good points, Robin.
And until recently, I really battled with whether or not I was even going to breed this year.
When I lost Reckoner, I did not take it well AT ALL.
In fact, I would say that I kind of...lost interest in this.
I got upset, and I worried ALL THE TIME. It became toooo much for me.

In fact, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't at one point contemplate selling off my collection.

I was that heart broken.

But, then I called you, and talking with you re-sparked my interest. Talking to you really helped me a LOT.
Especially recently.

I have too many good geckos not to breed them.

 

[thegeckoguy23]

well in my opion if you can't take stuff like this then you should not be a breeder its like trying to hurt yourself when its impossable to hurt yourself and one day u get a sudden pain and die

 

[Shera]

Thanks for posting this Robin, it's important stuff to consider before breeding, and many times it's not talked about.

These are good points, Robin.
And until recently, I really battled with whether or not I was even going to breed this year.
When I lost Reckoner, I did not take it well AT ALL.
In fact, I would say that I kind of...lost interest in this.
I got upset, and I worried ALL THE TIME. It became toooo much for me.

In fact, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't at one point contemplate selling off my collection.

I was that heart broken.

But, then I called you, and talking with you re-sparked my interest. Talking to you really helped me a LOT.
Especially recently.

I have too many good geckos not to breed them.

Sorry for your loss

 

[gixxer3420]

Very true Robin, very true! I had to put down two of my future breeder leos that i bought from a reptile show. Its a hard thing to do but it happens and it has to be done.

 

[Chewbecca]

well in my opion if you can't take stuff like this then you should not be a breeder its like trying to hurt yourself when its impossable to hurt yourself and one day u get a sudden pain and die

I don't know if your post is directed at me, or just posted in general, but I lost a gecko that was very special to me.

It was the first time in my entire life that I had ever had to watch one of my animals die in front of my face not being able to do a THING to help her.

And it's taken months for me to get over it. And I've realized a lot in that time.
And I don't even know if "over it" would be the correct term, but maybe more I've learned to "deal with it".

I think I've had enough time to decide whether or not I can handle breeding this season.

If I find it's too much, I won't breed next season.
I didn't lose a hatchling of mine.
I lost a gecko. She was a juvie, but she wasn't a hatchling.
I'm not going to get rid of my collection, so if I've made up my mind about THAT, then I think I can handle breeding.

Does that make sense?

 

[robin]

I don't know if your post is directed at me, or just posted in general, but I lost a gecko that was very special to me.

It was the first time in my entire life that I had ever had to watch one of my animals die in front of my face not being able to do a THING to help her.

And it's taken months for me to get over it. And I've realized a lot in that time.
And I don't even know if "over it" would be the correct term, but maybe more I've learned to "deal with it".

I think I've had enough time to decide whether or not I can handle breeding this season.

If I find it's too much, I won't breed next season.
I didn't lose a hatchling of mine.
I lost a gecko. She was a juvie, but she wasn't a hatchling.
I'm not going to get rid of my collection, so if I've made up my mind about THAT, then I think I can handle breeding.

Does that make sense?

you will be just fine. you have come ALONG way

*hug*

 

[robin]

well in my opion if you can't take stuff like this then you should not be a breeder its like trying to hurt yourself when its impossable to hurt yourself and one day u get a sudden pain and die

have you ever hatched out deformed geckos or had to put one of your geckos down for whatever reason? i am 36 and it's still not an easy thing to do but sometimes it has to be done.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

Right on, Robin! :main_thumbsup: Those are things few think about in the early going, but they're indeed part of reality. I think those that are honest with themselves will thank you for pointing that out and "keepin' it real".

 

[ElapidSVT]

just wanted to mention that while gassing mammals works fine, reptiles have a very slow metabolism and CO2 is unacceptable as a method for killing them humanely.

good luck