Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Right now I have 3 leos, 2 female and 1 male in a tank together, all three are about 4 or 5 months old. I was just worried that they could sexually mature and begin to mate too early for the females to handle and they could be eggbound? Would this happen and what could i do to prevent it? Thanks
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund

Right now I have 3 leos, 2 female and 1 male in a tank together, all three are about 4 or 5 months old. I was just worried that they could sexually mature and begin to mate too early for the females to handle and they could be eggbound? Would this happen and what could i do to prevent it? Thanks
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund

This could be an issue of dominance (subtle or physical) within your gecko casa. I'm a firm believer in keeping all geckos seperate if at all possible (until both sexually and physically mature). Though you may not view issues of dominance there is one gecko who's stands above the rest and one who sits at the bottom of the hierarchy. Where this plays out is in growth, hand fed equally or not, those geckos under higher amounts of stress will not thrive (grow, mature etc.) as they would without the stress. Where you could run into a problem is the male sexually maturing before the female. At this point, the male may try his mount and the female will not yet be ready. Which could result in bitting from either sex. As they grow you will notice one that is growing at a "faster" rate, with this accellerated growth he will continue his/her dominance and thrive that much more. Just keep your eyes open for the sake of your loved ones.

I have noticed this a little bit in one of my geckos. It is one of the females however, and it's just that she's a little fatter than the other two, mostly because she has more of an appetite I think. However, all three seem to get along perfectly fine, they've been together since they were juveniles and seem to be perfectly fine together. I've never, ever, seen them try to nip at one another or have trouble getting food from one another, and they have plenty of space for all 3 of them. The male is, in fact, probably the smaller of the 3, or maybe equal in size to the smaller of the females, but in general they are all about the same size, except that one female has a fatter stomach and tail.
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund

were you saying that in any scenario with geckos that there will be one that plays a dominant role?
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund

Dominance may not be visible or physical. But when you have more of one (of anything) one will be alpha.

Also, to the person with the 3 geckos- as far as seeing any display of bitting
Unless your up all night watching, most of their activity will be nocturnal. Also, most bites do not leave any marks as they are not to actually hurt the other herp.

Yeah I guess you're right about the biting.. but I do watch them quite a bit both while they are eating and while they aren't and they seem to love to be around each other and everything. I am going to separate the male from the other 2 really soon though, and i'll probably keep him separate unless i decide to try mating them next spring
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund

On my aft's I keep them together all year, but I simply divide the tank length wise for a week, bump up the temp 2 degrees to stimulate mating. They act like they've never met before when they re-introduce. No matter what anyone says, thinks, or tells you, they are reptiles and they act on instinct- not relationship bonds.

-Scott

Leopard Geckos WILL breed whether you want them to or not. Female Leopard Geckos should not be exposed to a male and allowed to breed until she is at least one year old and weighs a minimum of 45 grams. My personal and professional opinion is that 18 months - 2 years old and over 50 grams is ideal. Males are sexually mature much earlier than females, but a 5-6 month old female could be capable of ovulating and becoming gravid.

If a female becomes gravid before she is full grown, the nutrients and calcium she would normally need for her own cellular and bone growth will go into the development of eggs. This will shorten her lifespan significantly, and put her at risk for dystocia (egg binding), and cause weight loss when she should be gaining weight.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

Ok, this is what i'm going to do. I just got 2 new babies, and i only got them a 10 gal tank. I was thinking of moving them up to a 20 gallon tank, so i'll go ahead and buy them a 20 gallon, then move my male into the 10 gallon they were in. sound good? I'll have to do all of this in about a week or 2, because i'm finishing up final exams and everything and need to study. So say they are like 5 months old. If i separated them now, I could put them back together maybe between christmas time and next spring?
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund

Sounds like a great plan!!!
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

Alright... now the only problem would be that if the two babies turn out to be anything other than two females lol.
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund

When I consider breeding my leopards(or any lizard actually) wieght and overall condition are the only variables I look at. I put my leopards together for breeding when the females hit between 45-50 grams. To me it dosn't matter whether they are six months or 18 months.
good luck

>>Right now I have 3 leos, 2 female and 1 male in a tank together, all three are about 4 or 5 months old. I was just worried that they could sexually mature and begin to mate too early for the females to handle and they could be eggbound? Would this happen and what could i do to prevent it? Thanks
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>>1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
>>0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund
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Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung

Hey there. You really go by weight and condition? I have a pair of 5 month old albinos, who weigh 46 a piece, are you saying a 5 month old animal is ready to breed?

You said something about 6 months... I'm sure you have little to no success with that animal and it's got to cause complications? Whats the youngest you've ever bred. I dont mean to be rude or anything of the sorts, its just kinda socking.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Michael

"I'm sure you have little to no success with that animal and it's got to cause complications?"

Well then, If you are sure, then you already know the answer and don't need my input on the subject. Listen, I post from time to time here to offer my experiences with breeding leopards for the past 13 years. It's posts like yours that make the whole process of sharing and helping a disheartening effort.
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Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung

Oh geeze, I didn't mean for it to come out that way/interpreted that way. I'm very sorry. I guess what I was trying to say is that I dont think you can get much sucess nor it be too healthy for an animal to breed at 6 months.

I wasn't trying to attack you or anything. I apologize.

Michael

Michael,
It's all good...misunderstandings happen all the time and will contimue to happen.
About the pair you said you have that are 5 months and over 45 grams each. If they were in my colony, they would be put together for breeding. I know there are people that disagree, but that is what this forum is for, sharing experiences. I have been breeding leos for many generations going by weight and condition alone, and have not had problems doing so. I just don't see the difference between a 50 gram 6 month old and a 50 gram 18 month old. We are dealing with repiles(lower vertabrates) they can by no means be compared to mammals. I say this, because I have seen people in the past compare breeding young leos to breeding young humans. This to me is pure crap and shows the lack of experience and understanding the people that make such posts. I have heard that if they are not done growing that breeding them will rob then of the nutrients for growth. I have never had this happen to my females. All breeding will do is increase the calorie and nutrient requirement of the female. I have heard it will stunt growth...again, I have never experinced this either. Females will continue to grow into there second breeding season even if bred the first year. I have heard it can cause a female to become egg-bound...not the case in my experience. Finally, I have heard it will shorten life span. Well, I have only been breeding leos for 13 years and would have to say I do not have fist hand experience to share on this one.
good luck

>>Oh geeze, I didn't mean for it to come out that way/interpreted that way. I'm very sorry. I guess what I was trying to say is that I dont think you can get much sucess nor it be too healthy for an animal to breed at 6 months.
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>>I wasn't trying to attack you or anything. I apologize.
>>
>>Michael

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Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung

Hey. I'm glad you explained that for me. I guess I was shocked, because I figured it was a general breeder thing to wait til like 10 months or whatever. I trust your expiriance, but seeing how I've been doing this for only 3 years I obviously don't have the same expirances you do. I was going to wait til atleast 10 months--probably more, but seeing how I dont have an albino male yet, there's no rush.

Thanks for clarifying!

Michael

In the cornsnake forum, some people say that they must be 18 months, some say they must be 34 inches long and other say they must be 18 months AND 34 inches.

That female I lost was too little...and my male surprised me by mating with her sooner than I had expected he would. It's all about size with these critters.

Yeah,
I get hammered on the BD forum for my sharing the same ideas there. I just have not ever had the problems that are said to occur if you go by size and weight alone.
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Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung

:;

I kept thinking that I had more time because my male was young but he surprised me. The girl I lost was a sweety too. She started developing scroliosis, laid eggs immediately after I noticed and then died a week later. I think that the eggs took all her calcium while her body was still trying to grow and it just wiped her out. And, to boot...her first and only clutch ended up being infertiles.

Ok. I'll probably start working on separating them in about a week or two, gotta keep studying right now, gotta get into college. I think my guys are still only like 4-5 months old, so hopefully i'll be separating them early. I'm just REALLY hoping my 2 babies end up being girls, i don't feel like paying for/setting up/cleaning up after a whole other cage
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1.2.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Miniature long-haired dachsund