Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi antomn their is a reptile show coming up in 8-9 days and my mom and step dad are going to let me get a breeder pair of lizards.Ive had experience in taking care of baby live born lizards before(imported tropical night lizard)but now Id like to focus on some egg laying species for a first time breeding project.I was talking to ingo on the general lizard forum and she suggested day geckos or pictus geckos.Im looking fo all the suggestions I can get right now before the reptile show so if you have any suggestions let me know,and my parents rpefer it to be 1.5 foot or under.thanks for your time.
nick

Leopard geckos are fairly easy to breed and are a good overall first pet. You can handle them and even get some interesting colors out of them without much effort. Nothing special though, thats why I took upon the task of taming a tokay thats just me though. In any case, leopards fall under the 1.5 foot range (so do tokays if you're interested) so you should have no trouble keeping them. House geckos are not really handleable especially if adult and pictus geckos dont really like too much contact either. I would do leopards or house geckos if you want to breed for the first time since they should be relatively cheap at the show (doubt they'll have house geckos but leopards are always there). To find out how to breed leopards, ask around on the leopard gecko forum, they should be able to help you out.

thanks for the info.handling does not matter I do not wish to have these as handleable pets they will be strictly for viewing and breeding.does this widen my options.i have been looking into tokays and vietnam goldens too.do you know any about the 2
nick

it may be hard to find a female Golden but its possible. If your really interested in Tokays there simple to care for when set up and very enjoyable to watch. It will cost a arm and a leg though to get a proper size tank for them esp. if you want to breed.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.10 Tokays
1.4.8 Leos(11 albino)
1.2.0 AFT's(amel male)
0.2.0 Stenodactylus Petrii(Dune Geckos)

why would it be hard to find a female golden gecko?also on the tokays I have a pretty big octagon aqaurium right now I need to take a mirrior out of and replace it with glass.I dont know the dimensions at the time as it is at my dads old house and he recently got divorced and we still have to go get.once I get the dimensiions I will tell you.thanks
nick

If I am not mistaken, like other geckos, golden gecko hatching is determined upon temperature. I'm not sure exactly at what temperature they hatch but I can give you an example why leopard gecko females are harder to find than males. For leopards, temps 79-83 yields females, 83-85 is a mix, and 85-88 is straight males. Naturally, the males cook much faster than the females (around 40 days for male, and up to 100 for female). It is in the breeder's best interest to hatch the eggs quickly and therefore they cook them at 88 or so and get straight males. Unless you are breeding, there is no difference in temperment so theres no problem there. I belive it is the same situation with the golden geckos but I'm not 100% sure.

99,9% of goldens in the pet trades are WC. Females do live much more secretive than males, so they are hardly ever imported.
very few people had breeding succes so far with goldens.
Its often not sufficient to just have a male and a female. Males tent to be very agressive gainst females and often kill them. You need luck or/and very big enclosures to be able to keep a pair together. If you are that far, breeding is easy and babies can be reached in the parents tank.
But I would not recommend goldens as a first breeder project.

Ci@o

Ingo

I've checked every golden Ive ever seen at every pet store Ive been in and have never seen a female. Lots of groups of 5-6 males all in the same tank. I think their a neat species and would have a pair if I could find a female and shes in good condition. I've heard of them but like ingo said their extremely uncommon.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.10 Tokays
1.4.8 Leos(11 albino)
1.2.0 AFT's(amel male)
0.2.0 Stenodactylus Petrii(Dune Geckos)

Good to know, looks like I was way off.

I have a female, she laid two clutches of egg back before I had any idea what to do with then.

I doubt that the aquarium will be big ebnough. Tokays are climbers and need tall tanks. 4 ft and more is the choice.

Ci@o

Ingo

thnaks guys for all your help with the gecko questions.hopefully soon I will get tht aqaurium from my dads.once I do Ill tell youo guys the dimensions.thanks again
nick