Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to get some advice on breeding and egg laying techniques and schedules. I have a group of about 25 females and three males. All geckos are kept in separate enclosures and are only introduced to each other for breeding.

To recap what brought me to this point, I will briefly mention how things have taken place. The geckos that were part of last seasons group were cooled down from December to February. Starting in the beginning of march we successfully breed all females with out any problems. Due to the individual enclosures this took about 45 days total. Our first eggs started showing up late April early May. I have had good production of eggs up until about 1 month ago. I noticed that a few geckos had gone longer than their normal schedule for laying eggs. Once I was sure the geckos that were no longer laying eggs were not going to lay eggs any more, I started to try and re-breed. After a few weeks it was apparent that the majority of the geckos were done laying eggs. I figured no big deal, just time to re-breed. The only thing is, none of the geckos are interested. They have only produced about 3-5 clutches per gecko.

Are they done for the season? Can they re-breed, and if so what am I doing wrong? I was thinking of leaving a few females in the males cage for a 3-4 day period instead of putting one in at a time and then watching her for a few hours.

As far as I can tell, the temp is consistent and the lighting has not changed. Sorry for the long post. Any help is greatly appreciated.

yes it sounds like they are done for the season. generally leos dont breed more than one time per year. trying to breed them a month after they finished laying well it wont work. you need to get their weights back up and because of the natural cooling your geckos are going to slow down. after a breeding cycle they have to recoup. most likely you wont be able to breed them til late december-febuary. they have to build up fat reserves aand plus usually leos will ovulate on a warm up or when the temps are consistantly warm rather than a cool down or in cool temps. it is a bad idea to even be trying to breed them right now since they just finished laying. doing that is going to kill them. the way you are going your going to breed them to death... if babies and monies is all that its about then im sure you really could care less. do some research! these are living breathing animals not a toy that your can run all the time once these guys are used to often they will die you can replace their batteries like you wpould on a toy or send em to the shop for repair. take care of your animals
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-robin struck (new married name)
Geckoheads And Geeks

I was very tempted to post a message similar to Robin's, but she beat me to it. I know i'm new around here, and I am new to breeding, but I know enough about what you can and can't do. Breeding should be more recreational than it is a business. I am happy with my two eggs for this season, and I think it is absolutely absurd that you have even gotten so many clutches without thinking about the well being of your geckos. All five of my females were or are still gravid, and after I saw signs of this, I set my male away until next year. My concern right now is keeping my little ladies well fed and make sure they are getting the proper nutrition. It is really sad how many people I hear about jumping into this blindly and think that they can get 14 eggs out of one single female each year. Research, and research some more. Try picking up a book. Stop being so greedy and give your females a chance at living to see the next breeding season. If this is too hard for you to comprehend, maybe you should try dogs instead.
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Ten million dollars on a losing campaign, Twenty million starving and writhing in pain, Big strong people unwilling to give, strong in vision and perspective, One in five kids below the poverty line, One population running out of time...

1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 Rough Green Snake
1.5.0 Leopard Geckos
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Viper Gecko
1.1.0 Pictus Geckos
0.0.1 Columbian Tegu
1.1.0 Collared Lizards
1.1.0 Blue Tongued Skink
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko
1.1.0 Crested Gecko

The season is over. When they stop laying it means they are done for the season, you are not supposed to re-breed them. Let them rest and recoup for next season.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

after a female leo is done laying her clutch she needs to fatten up and regroup herself for next season. You may not have to cool them. I used too but got just as well results by not cooling and seemed they were healthier and layed more eggs. Make sure just to fatten them up good and give them a shot next spring again.
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Even if your on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there
20 leos,1.1 redtail boas,1.1 rainbow boas,1.1 cornsnakes, 1.0 tokay gecko,1.0 veiled cham, 5 dogs and a cat. Oh, can't forget Tater my parrolet.

Thanks everyone for the info. I will continue to feed them well and then cool them down at the end of the year. I was under the impression that it was normal for the geckos to re-breed in the same season and had thought that 4-6 eggs was a bit light for a three year old gecko. I stand corrected and will take your advice. A few other breeders that I have spoken to have mentioned leaving a male in with the female season long, which I feel woud put to much strees on the females. I was not trying to hurt the gecko out of "greed", I just wanted to see what the real story was. I read the book co-authored by Ron Tremper which mentioned the possibility for rebreeding. My geckos did the same thing last year and I did not make any attempts to rebreed them. This year I figured I would look into what others were doing.

Just to set the recod strait, like most, I am keeping and breeding geckos as a hobby. I take very good care of them and would never want to do anything to put them at risk. They are all kept very well, feed well and tested for sickness by by a vet every other month. I asked in my post if they were done for the season, which implies that if they are I would not push them to do it for money.

I have personally taken five sick geckos in from friends or purchased them from pet stores because they were sick and brought them back to health. It is hard to look at the geckos at the bigger pet store chains without feeling responciable for helping them. I am new to posting on this forum and I am sorry if my message came accross the wrong way. I understand how it may be easy to jump to conclusions, but I do understand that these are living breathing animals and I am offended by the responces of a few of you. I will think twice before posting again. I am very thankful for the information provided by thoes looking to help. Thanks! I have found my answer.

While you shouldn't re-breed this season, as it is over, for next year, you may want to considering getting another male, or putting the male in with each female twice. I had a similar problem with some geckos this year, producing infertile eggs after fertile clutches, and I think it was because I was putting each individually housed gecko in with the male just long enough for them to mate once, then removing. I think maybe one mating did not provide enough sperm to last the season, particularly with a male I was mating daily. Next year I will be using more than one male (though only exposing a given female to one male), and I will let them mate at least twice.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

That sounds like a good tip.

Thanks StarGecko

Thanks everyone for the info. I will continue to feed them well and then cool them down at the end of the year. I was under the impression that it was normal for the geckos to re-breed in the same season and had thought that 4-6 eggs was a bit light for a three year old gecko. I stand corrected and will take your advice. A few other breeders that I have spoken to have mentioned leaving a male in with the female season long, which I feel, woud put to much strees on the females. I was not trying to hurt the gecko out of "greed", I just wanted to see what the real story was. I read the book co-authored by Ron Tremper which mentioned the possibility for rebreeding. My geckos did the same thing last year and I did not make any attempts to rebreed them. This year I figured I would look into what others were doing.

Just to set the recod strait, like most, I am keeping and breeding geckos as a hobby. I take very good care of them and would never want to do anything to put them at risk. They are all kept very well, feed well and tested for sickness by by a vet every other month. I asked in my post if they were done for the season, which implies that if they are I would not push them to do it for money.

I have personally taken five sick geckos in from friends or purchased them from pet stores because they were sick and brought them back to health. It is hard to look at the geckos at the bigger pet store chains without feeling responciable for helping them. I am new to posting on this forum and I am sorry if my message came accross the wrong way. I understand how it may be easy to jump to conclusions, but I do understand that these are living breathing animals and I am offended by the responces of a few of you. I will think twice before posting again. I am very thankful for the information provided by thoes looking to help. Thanks! I have found my answer.