Welcome, to Gecko File! One of the best tips I can give is waiting until your female is ready to breed before breeding her. There isn't one specific weight I go by, I use 4 factors when deciding when a females ready or not- 1. Age (even though sexual onset is a matter of weight not age, I don't like to breed them too young before approx. 9 months) 2. Weight- this is different for all females but at least 50 grams for normal sized gecko's and 65-75 grams for Giants. 3. Is her tail Fat enough?? I like to get them plump! 4. Follicle grading? -gently bend the female back so her abdominal area flattens out and if any follicles are present they will appear between her organs near the surface of the semi-translucent belly wall. They are offset each other- one will appear in upper left in mid-abdominal region and other offset in lower right, just above the white fat bodies,often they're mistaken for eggs and are located in middle of body. Follices less then 1/2 inch are yellowish orange appearance b/c of their yolks. Mature ova released and fertilized in the oviduct are 1/2 to 5/8 inch in diameter. Within 24 hrs. of being fertilization in passes through through the shell gland, and it will coat it w/ a calcium carbonate matrix, forming a bright white shell. This is important b/c only 20% of females are receptive in the early stages of yolk formation. But 80% of females are only receptive to males during the late stage of yolk formation when the follices are 1/2 inch in diameter. Females will then again become unreceptive after ovulation. When monitoring the staus of follices you will be able to determine the best time to introduce a female to a male.
Also before breeding the proper diet is key for successful breeding! Make sure that whatever your using for a staple diet is fully Gut Loaded (feeder inscects given a proper diet) for at least 24-48 hours before feeding them to your gecko's. To gut load meal worms we use chicken feed and carrots which is easy and works great! Producing eggs takes a huge ammount of calcium so make sure to offer the calcuim supplement With D3! in a jar lid so they can get it as needed as much as they need. Also I make their staple diet (meal worms in my case) available at all times- daily. You can also increase health and egg production by offering them up to 2 day old pinkies every 1-2 weeks. I use the pinkies as needed usually b/c too much protein can lead to gout and obesity, and extremely obese females often don't reproduce any eggs. Also sometimes they wont eat anything else after having a pinkie besides another pinkie, but after breeding season they usually will go back to their staple diet if this happens. They also will do this w/ waxworms, which I will use to fatten them up when breeding too as needed though.
When the babies hatch house them individually in shoebox sized tubs and they get a little cap of H20, heat, and hide before shedding and that is it. Then after shedding (to know look for a very little poop & if don't see one give it about 5 days) give the gecko a small low dish w tiny meal worms w/ calcuim & vit. supplement. We breed our own so we always have the right size for each gecko, which is another great tip for breeding for Many different reasons!
Last but not least this book- The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos by Ron Tremper and Philippe de Vosjoli. Very good book, the best and only to have all the care and breeding info you need also go into diseases, morphs, Husbandry,Basic Genetics, and more is a must for any breeder. You can get it at his site Leopardgecko.com and is very reasonable is now only 1/2 the price! Your male looks great! Feel free to let us know if you have any questions. Good Luck!
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Jessica
http://www.leopardgeckosunlimited.com
Dedicated to producing healthy geckos and outstanding color morphs. |
