Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, i am hoping to get a pair of crested geckos soon. I am wondering how long would it take them to breed and lay eggs.
Is there anything you have to do like cooling the cage to get them to want to breed? Any help would be nice.
Thanks, Chad Johnson

That really depends on age/size, if they are a true pair and big enough they will breed, even if you dont want them to lol i mention that as it has been reported they will breed to the death of the female if you allow them to.

female crested geckos should be at least 30-35g in weight, or more, and about 16-18 months old (I can't remember the age off hand...but the weight certainly is important and they should be at least a year old). My females were at least 16 months before I bred them, actually they may have been closer to 20 months, now that I think about it. Weight is important as breeding them too small and young, can result in calcium crashes. With crested geckos, a calcium crash hits fast, with little to no warning and they can die from it almost as quickly.

Thus, keep males and females separate till you are ready to breed. You can house one male to up to 5 females of the appropriate size, once they are old and big enough.

It isn't necessary to cool crested geckos to breed them...in fact, sometimes cooling is the only way to stop them from breeding and laying eggs. To cool, day time temps should be low 70's and night time temps to drop as low as the low 60's for a period for 4-5 months.
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for the help. Yes, i am hoping to breed them. I plan on having many baby cresteds and getting many breeding projects going. I am 15 and have a passon for many reptiles. Ive already bred many veild and panther chameleons. I dont think thins can be much harder than that.What size box and kind of sediment should make the nest box if I get a male and a group of females all breeding size?
Chad Johnson

chad, we're like twins! i am gettin some cresteds and i want 2 breed em' and...yeah.

Be careful you don't overwhelm yourself with baby crested geckos. They are fun to breed and the babies don't always reflect the appearance of the parents so its kind of cool watching them grow up.

I suggest, if you don't already have it, picking up the Rhac book by Philippe de Vosjoli, Frank Fast and Allen Repashy. Its a great resource book and explains in detail the methods to use to raise and breed crested geckos (as well as other rhacodactylus species. Warning though, it is going to make you want to get them all LOL)

For incubation medium and egg laying containers/mediums...I just use a small plastic container..maybe 6"x2"x4"(or deeper) and fill it up with a mix of plain potting soil (no chemicals added and all the sticks and stuff removed) and vermiculite. I dampen it all so it clumps nicely when squeezed but I can't get any water to come out no matter how hard I squeeze. I put it into the cage with my female crested geckos after about 2 weeks after I introduce the male and I leave it in there for several months after the male is removed and the females stop producing eggs.

For incubation I just use vermiculite, mixed in a ratio of one part water to two parts vermiculite by Weight. I basically place the incubation container (a basic deli dish is fine...I actually use the take out salad bowls provided by Pizza Pizza or Swiss Chalet restaurants...as they are deep and the right diameter and can hold 8-10 crested gecko eggs comfortably) on top of my gram scale, zero it out, then fill the deli dish with vermiculite till about one inch is left between the top of the deli dish and top of vermiculite. I check the weight. I then had water, mixing it into the vermiculite till I add half the weight of the vermiculite in water. Sometimes I add a bit more, as it hard to spread water evening in vermiculite...most often i use a spray bottle mister to add water...takes longer but I can get a better mix.

Perlite can be used with or instead of vermiculite.

There are also several good crested gecko care sheets around as well.

www.sundialreptile.com/caresheet-crested.htm

www.ciliatus.com/content/
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PHLdyPayne

Thanx again...I cant wait to get these breeding projects going...i found a beautiful partial pinstripe and a flame. They are really beautiful...i am probaly going to pick them up today...ill post picz when i get em...Chad