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| Professional Leopard Gecko Herpetoculture |
Captive Bred Leopard Gecko Breeders
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| Eublepharis macularius General Information The leopard gecko is one of the easiest reptiles to breed. It is both rewarding and educational for all age groups. The minimum requirement to be successful is to have a male five months or older and a female eight months or older. We recommend both geckos have a minimum weight of 45 to 50 grams plus. They will lose a little weight during the breeding season, due to the stress of egg production and mating. Your breeding pair of leopard geckos should be healthy and in prime condition. Keeping records of breeding, weight, egg laying, hatch dates and feeding is very important. Per-season conditioning Some breeders cycle their lights, drop temperature between 65-75 degrees for 4-8 weeks. During this time they offer no food. They do this to trigger the breeding season. We keep our breeding racks and tanks at a constant temperature year round and our females cycle once a year on their own. When to breed? Your female leopard gecko has reproductive organs which produce ova. Receptivity and Copulation usually occurs prior to ovulation and sperm is stored in the area near the oviducts near where the ova first enter. Sperm is simply stored and fertilization occurs after ovulation. After fertilization, the ova then passes through the area of the oviduct that coats it with albumen. It then passes through the shell gland, forming the shell. We always breed our females prior to or when we see Ovum ( White solid circles) on the upper belly. We also breed her two days after laying eggs. North of the equator, the breeding season starts in January and can extend into October. Introductions We keep our males separated from the females until breeding season starts. When you first introduce a male into a females cage you notice the tail vibrating, and the male will begin to bite her tail and work his way up to her neck. It may seem brutal, but it's normal and natural. If your female is receptive, she will lift her tail and copulation will occur. Some breeders breed their geckos in groups or colonies, by putting one male with multiple females. In our facility we will take a male and rotate him from one female to the next.We keep our females separated so we can track what eggs belong to that breeding pair. You should always remove the male during egg laying. After she has laid her eggs, we give her a couple days to recover and eat and then she will be bred to the male again. Laying eggs Females in their first year will lay less eggs. After their first breeding season you can expect up to eight clutches of two, for a total of 16 eggs on average. They will lay eggs every two to three weeks for a period of three to four months. You should provide a moist hide box filled peat moss, vermiculite and or calcium sand ( it should fill like wet dirt). We use calcium sand, because we had a $600 Raptor female die from impaction from the first two substrates, plus a $300 vet bill ( ouch!). We have had no impaction problems since changing to calcium sand in the hide boxes. Another benefit would be the ease of candling the eggs and it's control of bacteria and mites. When it's time for her to lay her eggs, you should be able to see them through her semi-transparent stomach. As the time approaches she will get restless and start digging and stop eating. We separate expecting females into their own breeding boxes, for privacy and to reduce stress. Don't change her environment, remove any geckos living in the same enclosure. Incubation of eggs General information and Candling of eggs Fertile eggs should feel like a stale marshmallow and will quickly become semi-hard. An infertile egg feels like an empty water bottle. Candling of your eggs with a flashlight is the best way to determine if the eggs are fertile. When doing this you will notice a red circle if they are fertile. We put eggs in our incubator even if we see a little red in the egg. You may find eggs in the water bowl or outside the hide box and this is normal. We have even had eggs stuck to glass and plastic. You can remove them by soaking them lightly with warm water ( just the part that is stuck) and let it soak for a couple minutes, then gently peel the egg off the surface. I have even dropped the eggs and they hatched ok. Incubation substrate and containers We use a 50/50 mix of vermiculite and perlite. Start by soaking the vermiculite in water for five minutes until completely saturated. Then grab a hand full and squeeze all of the water out. Place the damp vermiculite in a bowl and then add 50% perlite to make double the mix. You will only need about a cup and a half of the total mix for two eggs. What ever size container you use, make sure you have at least an inch and a half of substrate from the bottom and at least an inch and a half from the top. This system will give you the correct humidity levels throughout the whole incubation period without adding extra moisture. Put a small hole on the side of your deli cup about the size of a pencil lead , to allow air exchange. Mark the lid with the date the eggs were laid and from whom. Place the substrate in the deli cup and put an indent with one finger where you will place the egg. The eggs should be buried half way in the substrate, this allows oxygen to get to the egg. The egg will grow in size as it absorbs the moisture from the moist substrate. Clear spots in the egg indicates to much humidity and this will kill the egg. We place the red circular marks facing in the upward position. Rotation is not an issue until two weeks after the eggs were laid. We use individual deli cups for tracking purposes and to prevent a bad egg from killing a fertile one. Temperatures should be between 85-87 degrees for an even number of males and females. Below 74 degrees and above 95 is the kill zone. If for some reason you have dented or dehydrated eggs you can save these by using this method. Cover the egg with the substrate ( about one quarter of an inch) and lightly mist it with water. After 3 days uncover the egg and bury it half way. It should appear normal. Never spray water directly onto the egg. Incubators The Hova - bator 1602n is an excellent first incubator. It's cheap ( under $ 50.00) and will do the job. We recommend adding a good thermostat to aid in temperature regulation. Remember to check temperatures daily and have a good thermometer. Post Season During the off season we keep our breeding females in colonies. We provide a big glass tanks with basking rocks, lights, big water bowls, moist hides and plenty of fresh food and water. Recuperating from the breeding season mentally and physically is very important. We rotate our females every couple of weeks out of our breeding racks into gecko club med. Our males are rotated one at a time into the tanks. Breeders Comments We have had a 99 percent success rate using this method of hatching eggs, with only one loss on a commercial scale. Breeding reptiles is educational and for all age groups. We hope it will inspire people to learn and to have fun at the same time. Gary & Julia West Coast Leopard Gecko |
| Breeding Leopard Geckos |
| Last Update 7-23-08 |
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