Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am going to the Reptile Breeders Conference on November 15th to purchase two nice sexable leopard geckos that I will eventually breed. These leopard geckos will be kept in either a 30 gallon or a 40 gallon breeder (whichever I can get ahold of by the time). I was going to ask a few questions about incubators and just overall breeding. My first question was about which incubators are good to use. I recently noticed the Hovabator incubators and saw the Thermo..(forgot the rest) and the turbofan. Which is more appropriate for my intentions and what do they both do? My second question was about the breeding itself. I was wondering what size the geckos will be able to be bred at and also what the babies should be fed. Before I forget I would like to also ask about feeding mealworms as a staple diet. I would be able to cultivate mealworms because they are easy to use, but is there something very bad about them that they should not be used as a staple diet? so far I have read that about half of the people use crickets and half mealworms, and if I can save money feeding mealworms then I would preferably go with them. Thank you for your time

You have a lot to learn before you should even consider breeding leopard geckos.
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chickabowwow

3.2.2 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)
and 1 more egg a' cookin'

You don't need to feed crickets, just be sure to use a good gutload always (carrots, wheat bran, soy protein, spirulina, bee pollen, oatmeal, ground flax seed, phosphorus-free calcium powder). It id nice to provide different food items on occassion, like silkworms or superworms or pinkies for adults, or crix on occassion, but not neccessary. There is absolutely nothing wrong with mealworms, just never let the food get moldy and avoid corn-based feed and peanut products to be safe.

You need the still air incubator (hovabator is the usual choice for small breeders). Do not get the turbo fan model, it will dry out the eggs.

IMO, leos should be at least 45 grams to breed, and preferably one year old or more though geckos who are large for their age (e.g. 55-65 grams at 10 months) can be bred a couple months older than one year with good results.

If you are considering getting geckos, or breeding, you should get the leopard gecko manual and read it, several times. It's full of answers to many questions.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos