Breeding Leopard Geckos The Right Way
Filed Under Pets | Posted on February 21, 2008
Breeding Leopard Geckos can be very interesting, yet also very easy. However, there are some things to consider before you go on with the breeding process.
First and foremost, note that breeding is very hard on the female, so you need to make sure she is at least 1 year old, has a plump tail, has reached a weight of at the very least 50g, and is VERY healthy. The male should also be in perfect condition, so he does not pass any disease onto the female, or the offspring. And of course, make sure you have all the proper housing/living requirements for the new born Leopard Geckos.
Optimum Leopard Gecko breeding season is anywhere between January and September, but is most likely to occur sometime before March. While breeding, if the female accepts (doesn’t attack, move away, stand on all fours, etc.), she will stand still and the male will bite her (harmless) and move into position. The mating process should only take a few minutes. In the event that the female does not accept, remove the male to prevent injury to the Leopard Geckos.
What’s cool about Leopard Geckos is the fact that depending on the temperature, the eggs will produce male or female, so this is very controllable with the eggs in an incubator. At 80 degrees F, the eggs will produce mostly females in approximately 65 days. At 85 degrees, you will get a mixture of males and females in approximately 55 days. And at 88 degrees, you will get mostly male Leopard Geckos in approximately 45 days of incubation time. Keep in mind, to produce “hot” females (aggressive Leopard Geckos that will not mate), set the incubation temperature to above 90 degrees; however, this is not recommended. While in the incubator, place the Leopard Gecko eggs in a small Tupperware container on just-damp incubating medium within the Incubator.
As you can see, it is very simple to breed Leopard Geckos, and under the right circumstances (Leopard Gecko health conditions considered, mostly) it can be a very rewarding process. Try mating different breeds of Leopard Geckos to see what kinds of variations you can come up with! Who knows? Maybe you’ll be responsible for coming out with a new breed of Leopard Gecko.
What I find interesting about Leopard Geckos is that they all seem to have their own unique personalities. I attribute that fact to being one of the primary reasons Leopard Geckos are widely accepted as household pets. When breeding Leopard Geckos, you are responsible for bringing out a whole new set of different personalities, color combinations, and new gecko life.
J. Beebe is a reptile owner and has owned and studied them for years. He specializes in Leopard Geckos and runs an information website called:
The Leopard Gecko Resource (http://www.geckosleopard.com/)
Tags: breeding geckos, breeding leopard geckos, breeding reptiles, leopard gecko breeds, leopard geckos
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