Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my friend and i are going to breed leopard geckos, we have read loads of articles but i thought it would be a good idea to get oppionions and procedures of other breeders. any help is greatly welcome. thanks.

-jonathan

I am glad to hear that you have read up on the subject before jumping into breeding. A couple of things you need to make sure of: 1) Will you will be able to properly incubate the eggs? (go to Albey's website for info), 2) Will you be able to provide feeders for the small hatchlings? 3) Do you have adequate space to properly house hatchlings? 4) Will you be able to keep the breeders healthy? They tend to lose weight and sometimes other problems can occur. 5) Do you have an outlet to sell/giveaway your offspring? If you are thinking petstore..they usually don't pay much & generally don't like to work with "independent breeders" but work with wholesalers. 6) Are you willing to spend the time cleaning & caring for the extra geckos?
I am not trying to discourage you, but you have to be willing (and financially able) to do a lot of things you may not have considered. Try to make sure you & your partner will be able to handle things before they happen. Good luck & post some pics!

my friend is also VERY worried about the weeks of decreased tempature and no food (hibernation?) prior to copulation. is this step completly necessary and if so what is the best way of going about doing it?

I keep the males separate from the females except for a 2 week breeding period. The "cooling" period for my males is for a pretty short period and it isn't that cool, I drop temps only slightly. I also don't decrease feeding. When my males see the females, copulation takes place within a few short minutes. Some breeders house the males with the females throughout the year. I prefer to think "separation makes the heart grow fonder!" It also prevents stress on the females to remove the male while they are producing eggs. I also separate the females into individual sweater boxes on a rack system so I know which egg was laid by which female. And the females won't have to compete for a laying box. This takes a lot more space and time, but it works best for me.

would you recomend have two or more females per one male? also, i have a chameleon and they will lay second clutches from retained sperm. is the same true for leos? thanks.

-jonathan

I keep breeding groups at 1.3, some breeders have used 1.5 or more females. Kind of a personal decision. I don't like to spread my males to thin. Females leos also retain sperm. I get anywhere from 4 - 8 clutches of 2 eggs from each female. I have heard of females producing more than 10 clutches per season. You really have to be vigilant, they lay eggs at the most unexpected times & in some unexpected places. But make sure you put in a laying box for each female anyway. Try not to start out with too many geckos or you will be quickly overwhelmed.