Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im fattening up my leos now for breeding. they are 7 and 8 months old. Should i go for it or wait it out a few more months?
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0.1 High Yellow
0.1 Tremper Albino

please don't breed a 7 and 8 month old! if you did some checking, you would know that females should be at least a year, and honestly I wait until 1 1/2 to 2 years. I doubt your female is much bigger than 40 grams, for goodness sake, WAIT!
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper, Goldie-now w/SD)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost
3 eggs a-cookin'

lol, calm down. thats why i asked here 1st. they are both around 50 grams cause their giants.
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0.1 High Yellow
0.1 Tremper Albino

OK, sorry. That's way too young though, even at 50 grams. You MIGHT go for the end of this season and make it a short one before you cool them, but I would really suggest waiting till next season.
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper, Goldie-now w/SD)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost
3 eggs a-cookin'

if they are both giants its pretty fine..male gaints reach sexual maturaty as 90 days. females reach it at 8 months to a year, as long as they are both over 50 grams its fine, i know many people who breed giants at this age and have never had a problem
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Dan Quinn
Manhattan Herps

i'll probly wait it out 2-3 more months to be on the safer side. thanks for the responses
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0.1 High Yellow
0.1 Tremper Albino

What is with this cooling thing..... Leopard geckos do not need to be cooled.... There is no cooling period in their natural habitat.... Why would you cool them in captivity.... It is unnessisary and you can wind up with some thin leopard geckos for no reason..... THEY ARE NOT NORTH AMERICAN REPTILES!!!!!!!! They live in the Middle East where there is NO COOLING PERIOD...
I would have to say listen to Dan on this one.... Those animals are old enough and big enough to breed....

Just because the Middle East is a desert region, it does not mean they do not have a winter. Granted, it's not a winter like I get here in Chicago, but it does cool. It took me 30 seconds to find that the average summer temps in Pakistan is 90F, and the average winter temps is 55F. The closer you get to the equator, the less of a change you will get. It is common knowledge that Leos can be found in Pakistan, therefore it does make sense to have a cooling period to kick start the breeding cycle. It may not be 100% nessecary for breeding, but people are correct in having a cooling period to mimic nature.

I have done my research..... Night time temps do not constitute a cooling period..... Again, there is little to no reason to do this in captivity.... Also it depends on the elevation..... In the mountain regions the temp drops moreso than in the lower elevations where Leopard geckos are found....

I wasn't referring to "night time" temperatures. Yes, it does get colder - even below freezing - in the mountains...but even the hottest deserts don't stay hot 100% of the year. There IS a cooling period.

If a person chooses to cool their lizard, they aren't doing any harm. They are simply mimicking nature more closely.

As far as this post, and others I've seen from you lately, you are entirely too arrogant in your "knowledge" about geckos. Everyone will develop patterns in the way they take care of their pets. Many times one way is little to no better then another way. So long as they aren't doing something obviously harmful to their geckos, you need to respect their opinions. There is nothing wrong with loving and personifying (to an extent) your geckos, just as there is no harm in putting your geckos through cooling before breeding (as long as it's done properly). Do everyone a favor, and try to read what you’re as if you were new to geckos - if it’s informative, post it - if it’s judgmental, spare us.

""As far as this post, and others I've seen from you lately, you are entirely too arrogant in your "knowledge" about geckos. Everyone will develop patterns in the way they take care of their pets. Many times one way is little to no better then another way. So long as they aren't doing something obviously harmful to their geckos, you need to respect their opinions. There is nothing wrong with loving and personifying (to an extent) your geckos, just as there is no harm in putting your geckos through cooling before breeding (as long as it's done properly). Do everyone a favor, and try to read what you’re as if you were new to geckos - if it’s informative, post it - if it’s judgmental, spare us.""

so far all of greggs post HAVE been very informative, just in either a joking manner, or with his famous attitude, LOL

with so mant ignorant people here how could you not get a little aggrovated from time to time,

you need to respect greggs opinions on things also, you guys are so quick to judge its making me sick, he states his opinion, and then you all either accuse him of not knowing anything of you start whining about him being mean, no one is an angel..

cooling can cause some problems if not done right, just like sand, i have heard many horror stories from people who tried cooling, other than the fact that cooling destroys the geckos high colors, it can also throw them off feed for a very long time, and this could eventually lead to many problems. it is not necessary at all to cool leos will breed at anytime during breeding season, males especially, without cooling

re-read that end of your post and think to yourself just how judgemental your comments were.
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Dan Quinn
Manhattan Herps

I’m glad someone finds his attitude amusing. Personally, I think the people asking questions get a lot more help if the attitude is left out. As for what I was saying - I’m just calling a spade a spade. I have seen posts from Gregg that are very helpful…but I’ve also seen more unhelpful criticizing from him than anyone else on the forum. If his “jokes” keep coming off bad, maybe he needs to find a way to let people know he’s joking and not just being a jerk.

I dunno i can tell when Gregg is joking... mabye you guys need to develope something really really neat called "a sense of humor" or you just need to know when someone is being sarcastic.

Actually again, Greg is correct, you absoultly do not need a cooling period for them to breed.

Yes, it's TRUE, leo's don't need cooling to breed, but then again neither do corn snakes anymore...Have we found it to be any better when we cool??? Dunno, never tried it without cooling. One thing that works for someone, may not work for someone else. When I say cooling I mean a full on cooling period! 75 during the day, 65 at night. NO FOOD for 8 weeks. First 2 weeks the animals are kept at normal temps to clear their digestive tracts, then comes the cooling for 6 weeks. I know I saw someone say "You're left with skinny animals"...I have to disagree with this point 100%. In actuality we've had animals come out of cooling heavier than they went in. You still offer water, and in their cooled state, they really don't move, expending very little energy. We've have very good success with cooling, plus it gives the keeper a 6 week break. When you have 200 animals a break is certainly welcome!
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MIKE
snmreptiles.com

We had a het for blizzard female in 2001 that laid a clutch of 2 eggs every 14 days for 2 months straight. Once again, what works for me may not work for everyone else. She was completely healthy. Personally now we try and wait until the 40 gram mark, but I don't know anyone that doesn't breed their leo's in the first year!
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MIKE
snmreptiles.com

Anyway, if you do not like my posts or the way I put info out here on the forum, when you see my name attached, dont read it.... Pretty simple..... Arrogant??? I dont think so, but I am sure of my knowledge..... Sorry I am not super nice with the way I type..... But if you would open your eyes and read into it, you will see plenty of USEFUL and INFORMATIVE info..... So instead of jumpimg on me about my "attitude" read the post and learn something.... Also a side note for ya.... It is fine to love your reptiles like they are your kids but it is way off to think they will ever show the same love back..... And cooling is not needed and DOES cause problems..... I have seen it many times first hand in collections where the owner does not know much about the animals they keep...... Its funny how all the problems are with people who frequent forums where there is a ton of people that think they know what they are doing and give out false info and real bad advice..... I find actually that uncooled leos are the best producers and are much healthier than cooled leos in most cases.....

Another thing.... If a female lays 2 eggs every 14 days for two months straight that is a total of 8 eggs right???? Well I have females that lay up to 14 eggs per season.... Maybe you should try not cooling your leos.....LOL

have to admit that i was quick to think greg was being rude, and sometimes he is but i noticed in a joking way he could tone it down but if that is his personality the so be it. he has a lot of good advice and just like he said if you see his name don't read his post. there are a lot of others far worse with the rudness and don't give good advice.
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4.8.4 leopard geckos
1.0.0 cat (storm)
0.0.1 green tree frog
1.1.0 anole
0.0.1 tokay gecko
1.2.0 kingsnakes
0.1.0 cornsnake
mutiple cichlids

Like I said what works for us doesn't work for everyone else. 14 eggs a year isn't unheard of by any means!!
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MIKE
snmreptiles.com