Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was reading the October 2009 issue of Reptiles Magazine. It had an article about Leopard Gecko breeding in it that was written by Ron Temper. He says something that I had some questions about. I could e-mail Ron Temper but his website asked for people to try other sources first so I am doing this here.

In the article he says:

"Poor nutrition, not male sterility is the leading cause of infertile eggs. Another cause of infertility occurs when virgin females aren't introduced to a male once they reach 45 to 55 grams, or when females have not been bread at least once a month"

My question is does this mean once a female gets into the correct weight range I need to let her see males or do I HAVE to get her pregnant? I have a couple females that I would like to breed but I don't have a male that is old enough & that I would like to pair with the females. I have some males I could breed to them but I would rather not make them pregnant if I don't have to. The statement is a little confusing. Do I just need to let her see a male once in a while or?

Finally is this egg infertility permanent or temporary?

No what he means is although the females retain sperm for fertilizing her eggs it is best to let them breed again once a month during the breeding season, that way she is getting fresh sperm which would be more potent and better for fertlizing the eggs.
So when you go to breed next season introduce your male to your female let them breed I would let them stay together for a couple days. Then take him out. 3-4 weeks later introduce him again for a couple days and then again 3-4 weeks after that and do that for the entire season. My season runs from January-August so I introduce my males to my females once a month.
Another option is to let them live together and let nature take it's course. I have a pair that live together and have since I got them and I just let them breed on their own.
Hope this has helped.