Hi, I am new to this community, I’ve only just realised this was here! Omg I’m not great with technology.
Anyway…I’m looking to breed some of my Crested Geckos this year and there is misleading information out there and so I’m hoping for some clarification as I don’t want to get anything wrong.
Should the female be 40 grams (with tail)?
I cannot find information as to whether the male should also be of a similar weight? Both geckos would be about 2 years or order.
Should I move the male to the female or both into a new enclosure? Should they stay together all the time or a few days? And how many days?
They will have a cooling off period in the winter months but any ideas on how many months this should be? I was thinking Oct to Feb?
Any help would be great…I love my geckos and yes I want them to breed but the Geckos health and happiness are more important!
My daughter has her 1.1 housed together. As long as you provide lots of visual barriers and cover and hides and multiple food dishes then you should be fine that way.
The female should be 35 grams minimum or 30 if tailless. The male can be smaller but not less than 10ish grams and closer in size is best. Generally they do just fine housed together in a large enough enclosure. Definitely recommend at least two feeding stations though and even better if each station can’t be seen from the other. Hoarding resources is the most common cause of bullying so having more than one station helps prevent that and if one is inclined to guard the food, if it can’t easily watch both, it’s less likely to go after the other when it’s eating.
Virgin females will often have incomplete eggs, they will look good, if candled, they will have “stuff” that almost looks right but not a full “cheerio” and they won’t advance and will eventually mold. I’m not totally sure why but something doesn’t line up quite right and that seems to be pretty normal for a virgin’s first couple of clutches, so don’t stress if that happens. And it is normal that they might only have 1 egg in the first few clutches and not 2.
I disagree with the 30g for a tailless female and 35 for a tailed. My experience in 2010-2014 with breeding 30-35g females (tailless and tailed respectively) was a much higher chance of crashing into unhealthy weight over the course of the season. That said I do have one petite tailed gal that tops out at 35g and produces duds steadily. Her overall length and frame is smaller than the rest of my girls, so I don’t expect her to ever top 40 without becoming obese.
It’s much safer to shoot for 40g tailless, 45g with tail. That way, even if egg production loses them 5-10g, your girl is still in the ‘adult’ range of weight. Without cohabbing, your male can be as low as 30g; he’ll get the job done. With cohab you’ll want them within the ten grams Elemental mentioned, as well as their listed precautions on food and hiding places.
Side note- I’ve read breeders care sheets who refuse to breed until their girls are 45-50, with one to two full seasons of producing duds before they’ve even considered adding a male.
Cohabbing them year round is up to you and their personalities. As long as they aren’t fighting, both are eating, and you provide a cool down season with lower temps and shorter daylight, they’ll get the message to stop procreating and plump up for the next season. October through February like you suggested would work great. Even if they aren’t kept together a cool down is a good policy.
If you keep them separate a rule of thumb I’ve heard is sharing an enclosure for a week every two months of the breeding season. Males are sensitive to a females scent so perhaps moving him into hers for that time would be best. Then you’re not stressing her through a move and she’s always near her lay area.
Thank you, I had already decided to wait till my girls are 40 grams but I might hold off till they are 45 grams. I don’t power feed my geckos, I’ve let them grow at a steady rate, the females have been digging around for somewhere to possibly hide eggs, plus tummies have recently got big so I think they might be ready but I’m still going to wait, hopefully won’t be long now
I hope ya’ll don’t mind me piggybacking on this topic, but I wanted to try breeding my male to two of my females since the weather has started warming up again.
I know for sure one of the females is a proven breeder, the other female I have I don’t think is, nor my male I wanted to breed.
Only issue is, I found that my male is super skittish. He tries to scramble and run away any time I touch him, and if I manage to pick him up, I have to be super careful or else he’ll launch himself off of me and try to flee.
He will also sometimes slightly open his mouth and attempt to bite me.
It’s a wonder he hasn’t dropped his tail on me yet!
Anyways, because of this he doesn’t seem to be showing any interest in the female I wanted to introduce him to. I put him in the female’s enclosure, and left to give him privacy and time to calm down. Any time I checked on them he was always hiding away somewhere, nowhere near the female. I’m not certain if they even bred with her because he’s now showing any signs of interest.
Is there anything else I can try to encourage him to breed? Maybe putting the female in his enclosure instead? I know this usually sometimes puts the female under unnecessary stress but if it’s only for a short amount of time I’d think it’d be okay.
This was on the listing from the breeder I purchased him from. I last weighed him on January 9th, and he was 37 grams. So I’d think he’s old enough and big enough to breed.
He may not be mature enough. I obviously don’t know as I haven’t started breeding my Cresties yet, but I’ve received advise from several people saying that they usually aren’t ready until 2 years old. Maybe try again in July? I won’t breed my Cresties until they are 2 years old.
He is probably not mature enough. Also depending on where you purchased him from he may have spent his entire life never handled so now it’s new for him and it may stress him out. Just a thought. We keep cresteds and have a few pairs that have produced for us. I am by no means an expert.
Some geckos are naturally skitty, but yes he could have not been handled regularly. I purchased a 4 gram gecko a few years back, knowing he was skitty and it took several months for him to get use to me. He does still run away sometimes but he has never tried to bite me or anything.
When he is a bit older, he might be fine with the ladies.
I have heard from a breeder that they move the female to the male, then remove the female within a few hours. I’m not sure on this idea as I’m worried the female will stress and loose weight.
Yeah, I have a 9 gram baby that isn’t nearly as skittish as he is. I suppose I’ll give him more time and try pairing up again around July. I wasn’t sure how exactly that worked since I know with snakes the males can be super small and relatively young and still breed. Thanks for the advice!
Did he breed?
Male is perfect age and weight.
My 15 month old male at 30g had his First Lady!
Add females in with the male, that’s what I do then take them out after a few days
Unfortunately I ended up selling the group due to personal reasons. I believe I mentioned it in another thread — I wasn’t as invested in them emotionally as I thought I’d be and felt I wasn’t giving them the proper care as a result.
Hopefully the guy who bought the group will get some nice babies!
