Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok,

as you can see i have a lot of questions about breeding......first off....what is a good way to prepare my leos to breed? and how long should it be before i actually breed them? also what is the best way to keep eggs WITHOUT an incubator? also how often do i mist the eggs? also how many eggs does a female usually lay her first time? i know i sound like a rookie at all of this but i am just trying to find the best way to do all of this....i've had leo's for a long time and know how to care for them but i want to know from actual breeders what are the best things to do? thank you very much!

-thor

you don't need to do anything to make them breed except have them separated for the majority of the year.

your females should be around 60 grams not sure about the males though

The best way to keep eggs without an incubator is with and incubator
you can buy the hovabator thermal air flow package at lllreptile.com for like $40

you don't mist the eggs. you put the eggs in a tuperware container with moist sphagum moss (soak the moss then squeeze out excess). Then once a week you check on the eggs, if the eggs appear to have dents you mist a little.

females usually lay 4-9 clutches of 2 eggs. If it is a females first time the eggs may be infertile.

don't worry about sounding like a newbie/rookie the forums are for asking question.s
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

Hi Thor,

First off, you don't have to prepare much. The first time I bred geckos it was unintentional. I just kept a healthy male with a healthy female. Your female should be at least 50 grams and have little bubbles of fat behind her first set of limbs for successful reproduction. She can weigh a little less, but she will be more likely to have "complications". Your male will breed if he's ready, but he should probably be larger than the your female. Both should be at least a year old and you should keep an egg laying box in the cage. I use a small rubbermaid container that has a 2 inch hole cut in the lid. Inside the container is moist ( in between soggy and damp) vermiculite, about 2 inches thick. You will be able to tell when she's pregnant and then you just have to check the egg box once or twice a day. When you take the eggs out make sure you keep them in the same position they were laid and make sure you don't rotate them because the embryo can drowned.

You should keep the eggs in moist vermiculite/perilite at a temperature between 79 and 90 degrees farenhite with about 75% to 90% humidity. You really should get an incubator, save up money if you have to. I have two Hovabators, one for hatching males and one for hatching females. You can find them on the internet for about $40.00. The eggs will take about 6 to 8 weeks to hatch depending on temperature. If you need any other information just ask.

Good luck.

Matt

Albeys site has excellent instructions on how to incubate. Check it out.

Regards,

Terry

click this link to see his site
Link