When will I know sex?

[Alex G]

I purchased two baby leopard geckos from my friend about a week ago... they are around 7g each right now, and if I had to hazard a guess I'd say they were born sometime in early July. I'm feeding them four mealworms each in reptivite (or something similar to that name, I can double check if necessary) every four days or so and they have a constant supply of calcium powder (ZooMed's ReptiCalcium with D3) and fresh water in their tank. I have assumed that they are both female, but I don't know for sure. I know this is a fast-growing and maturing species... or at least, faster and easier to sex than cornsnakes, which are my first love (though I must admit, I like these two much better already). At about what age or more importantly weight will I know what sex these two are? Preferably before they start tearing each other apart, if male.

 

[MiamiLeos]

As a hobby breeder, I don't guarantee the sex of my animals to my customers until they are 30g. However, you can usually tell by 20g or so, depending on your experience level of sexing leos. If they are both males, you should spearate them as soon as you can sex them, just to be safe, even though they dont generally start with the bullying until they are around 35-40g. Just a tip about your feeding schedule. They are waaay too small to only be eating 4 meal worms twice a week. A common practice among leo owners is to leave a dish of live meal worms in with the youngsters so that they can eat as much as they need to. Put a little bit of calcium/vitamin powder in with the worms so that they get some of that when they eat. I personally leave a dish in with my adults as well, I feel it lowers the stress because they are not hungry and keeps them healthier and on a more regular schedule. Your babies will also grow faster if they are given as much as they like to eat

 

[Alex G]

Oh, ok! I was feeling a little torn about the feeding schedule myself, for a couple of reasons... one, the breeder told me he fed his once a week something like 8 mealworms (but don't quote me on that, he could have very well said 18 and I just had a brain fart ), but every book I've said has advised feeding every other day or so while they're young, and two I just like watching them eat

Of course I intended to separate them if they were both male, but I'd hate to not know how large they needed to be before I could tell and have one or both get injured.

Leaving the mealworms in the dish sounds like a good idea, but the ones I got from ***** seem to stop moving if they aren't eaten overnight... not sure if it's an error on my part or if the store-bought ones are just not as long lived... I even put a couple little slices of carrot in with the mealworms to encourage them to survive a bit longer.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

At 6" you should be able to confirm sex. If you see that one is growing faster than the other, it's a good idea to separate them to keep food bullying from becoming an issue. As Bridgette said, feed them more. Tinies have quite an appetite!

 

[Alex G]

Ok! Do either of you have any tips for keeping the mealworms in the dish alive longer? I don't think I have any potato and I just ate my last apple, so carrot slices are my best option right now, but its not as though those are terribly expensive things that I can't pick up...

 

[MiamiLeos]

When my collection was a lot smaller I used to get mealies from the petstores too. Let me tell you, they are crap compared to the meal worms you can order (they live forever and are fat and juicy), but I completely uderstand that for only two geckos its much more convienent to go to the store. Anyways, what I found to be effective wat to put some mealies in the bowl, the next day, take whatever was not eaten and put it back in the container with the rest of the worms (they have food in there and stuff and I guess they are stimulated by the other worms or something). Then put a new batch in, repeat the next day. I used to put a piece of carrot or two in with the worms that were in the container along with the food that comes with them, just to give them something to get excited about and give them moisture. Theres also a rumor about carrot-fed feeders making geckos more orange lol

 

[Alex G]

When my collection was a lot smaller I used to get mealies from the petstores too. Let me tell you, they are crap compared to the meal worms you can order (they live forever and are fat and juicy), but I completely uderstand that for only two geckos its much more convienent to go to the store. Anyways, what I found to be effective wat to put some mealies in the bowl, the next day, take whatever was not eaten and put it back in the container with the rest of the worms (they have food in there and stuff and I guess they are stimulated by the other worms or something). Then put a new batch in, repeat the next day. I used to put a piece of carrot or two in with the worms that were in the container along with the food that comes with them, just to give them something to get excited about and give them moisture. Theres also a rumor about carrot-fed feeders making geckos more orange lol

Thanks so much! You've all been very helpful, and I'm especially appreciative of the lack of jeering at questions that might seem obvious to non-newbies that I've encountered on other forums. I actually just went to go and give my geckos more mealworms, and found there was only one left! 50 my butt lol... But I'll definitely be using all these tips tomorrow when I get some more Should I get the pack of 100 small or 50 regular? I was feeding regular.

 

[MiamiLeos]

I think regular would be a good choice.

 

[thegeckoguy23]

I breed my meal worms. I find that my meal worms that I produced live longer and are more healthy.

 

[fuzzylogix]

the good thing about mealies is that you can buy 500, take out what you need to feed, and put the rest back in the fridge. but having a large amount of reptiles, i also breed my own

 

[Alex G]

When breeding them, about how long will it take to establish a good, reliable colony and what are some precautions I should take to ensure them a good quality of life (meaning a good source of nutrition) and prevent escapees? Do the darkling beetles fly? Can I feed excess darkling beetles or are they not as appealing/nutritious?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Mealworms stored in the fridge last a long time, months even. Of course they have to be fed, but not a lot as the cold slows their metabolism down without harming them. Keeps them from pupating also, if you have a large quantity. Pet shop feeders are rarely good, even tho they come from good breeders. Who knows how long they've been swimming in dust- yuck. You're lucky if half are alive. Even for a few geckos it's worth it to order a thousand. Good quality feeders for less $$ and aggravation. If you decide you want to breed mealworms in the future, you'll have a good amount on-hand to start a colony.

 

[Alex G]

Mealworms stored in the fridge last a long time, months even. Of course they have to be fed, but not a lot as the cold slows their metabolism down without harming them. Keeps them from pupating also, if you have a large quantity. Pet shop feeders are rarely good, even tho they come from good breeders. Who knows how long they've been swimming in dust- yuck. You're lucky if half are alive. Even for a few geckos it's worth it to order a thousand. Good quality feeders for less $$ and aggravation. If you decide you want to breed mealworms in the future, you'll have a good amount on-hand to start a colony.

Thanks, I agree the chain pet store feeders were... incredibly disappointing. I paid for 50 and seemed to have gotten more like 15, that couldn't even live 12 hours out of the fridge. I'm going to swing by a more local pet store that I've had excellent experiences with regarding mice for my snakes tomorrow and see what they've got. Still pondering the merits of breeding my own... On one hand it'd be pretty simple, especially compared to some stories I've heard of other feeder animals... on the other hand... mealworms... in my room... blegh. I like inverts but something about the way they wriggle squicks me. And if the beetles can fly (I can't remember whether they do or not, time for some google-fu) then it's a definite no.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

When breeding them, about how long will it take to establish a good, reliable colony and what are some precautions I should take to ensure them a good quality of life (meaning a good source of nutrition) and prevent escapees? Do the darkling beetles fly? Can I feed excess darkling beetles or are they not as appealing/nutritious?

Check out some of the feeder threads on breeding meals to get some ideas that would work for you. I think there's an article at the caresheet link up top of the site page. I breed supers but got 1000 meals for hatchlings. Didn't refrigerate all of them right away and accidentally started a colony. Now there's a cup with a LOT of beetles and a 6qt shoebox with thousands of baby mealworms. They're real easy to breed

PS- the beetles don't fly but they do dig.

 

[Alex G]

Check out some of the feeder threads on breeding meals to get some ideas that would work for you. I think there's an article at the caresheet link up top of the site page. I breed supers but got 1000 meals for hatchlings. Didn't refrigerate all of them right away and accidentally started a colony. Now there's a cup with a LOT of beetles and a 6qt shoebox with thousands of baby mealworms. They're real easy to breed

PS- the beetles don't fly but they do dig.

Can I feed the beetles as well if I have them in excess, or should I just cull the ones I don't need?

 

[MiamiLeos]

Beetles are icky. Geckos wont eat them lol

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Other lizards might eat them. I found a superworm beetle in my blue tongue skink tank, while trying to get it out with tongs skinky ran over and nailed it. Had planned to put it in with the last group of beetles but it made me laugh that she was so pleased with herself

 

[MiamiLeos]

HAHAHAHA thats too funny!

 

[wakeskate420]

Beetles are icky. Geckos wont eat them lol

Mine have before haha


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[MiamiLeos]

For real!? That's unusual lol. I have only heard of one or two leos that will try them.