Leopard gecko breeding advice

Geckos Leopard Geckos
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Hello everyone in the reptile community!

I’m new to breeding leopard geckos and would really appreciate some experienced advice before I start my first project. I currently have 10 leopard geckos, but most are still juveniles/not of breeding age yet.

Here are the most promising adults I have right now:

Adult Male: Murphys Patternless (assumed visual based on appearance, purchased without full genetic history, but I’m confident in the morph)

Adult Female 1: Tangerine Tremper Albino Jungle (purchased from a reputable breeder)

Adult Female 2: Super Snow Bold Bandit (from the same breeder)

My main goal is to produce babies that prominently show the females’ traits (Tangerine, Tremper Albino, Jungle, Super Snow, Bold, Bandit) while minimizing the influence from the male’s Murphys Patternless.

A few specific questions I have:

  1. Is Murphys Patternless often carried as het in offspring from a visual male bred to non-het females? Will it really stay hidden in the first generation and not affect visuals much?

  2. Should I keep my current male for these pairings, or would it be better to source a different proven breeder male (one that complements the females’ lines without adding unwanted recessives)?

  3. Any tips on introducing the male/female safely to avoid stress or injury?

  4. What do you do with all the babies? How many clutches/eggs per season is realistic for a first-timer?

  5. Are there any known issues or reduced viability when breeding Murphys Patternless to Tremper Albino or Super Snow lines?

  6. How do you handle hatchlings (feeding, housing, separating, etc.) in the early weeks?

Thanks so much in advance for any tips, experiences, or warnings. I want to do this right and keep everyone healthy and happy! Also if pictures are needed I will provide.

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Hello!

I really wish I had the time to break this down more because there is so much to Leo breeding.
Breeding a male with no history to a higher quality line bred trait like bold bandits can make it more work for you down the line, not because of the recessive gene (patternless) but because the male has not been line bred for the polymorphic traits of bold dark markings.
Ideally you really want a male of a known history with qualities you want to enhance in the breeding

As far as the questions themselves:

  1. Murphy’s is a recessive mutation. The female would have to also be carrying at least one copy (het) of the gene to have visual offspring. Because your male is a visual (hom) with 2 copies of the gene, every baby will be the non visual het. This works the same with albino. Both parents must have at least one copy to have visual offspring.

  2. Find a nice tangerine bold of some kind. These linebred traits do best when bred to similar traits to increase the potential for better offspring. This patternless will dilute it.

  3. I liked to breed mine in trios. 1 male to 2 females, that way they can’t focus and bully only one girl.

  4. First time is a toss up. Some produce only 1 or 2 eggs. I had one girl drop 16 her first year.
    Having a way to sell or re-home the babies is definitely something to figure out before you breed. As well as knowing where a good vet is for issues like possible hemipene prolapse or egg binding in your breeders. Or bad wounds if it goes wrong.

  5. super Snow is the only one of these mutations with the potential for issues. Super snows can have problems with their nostrils being blocked or skull shapes. They sometimes tend to start off and grown slower.

  6. a plastic shoebox with a couple of hides (one moist one dry), water and a dish of vitamins for them to lick at works great for pairs or trios. Just keep them with a 88-90 degree hot spot for belly heat on one side.
    If you are temp sexing your eggs for males or mixed ratios it will be best to separate them after the first few weeks. 2 young males can still be aggressive towards one another

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Awesome! Thanks for all the info. About the first question, if/when the patternless and Albino produce offspring, will the babies show a mix of patternless and albino? How will it work since they both have recessive traits?

And one last question, what would you suggest is a suitable place/way to sell the offspring? I haven’t used MorphMarket before and have never done live shipping or anything like that. I want to explore my options for selling the babies and ask if you could give some guidance on that. Thanks again! I greatly appreciate your insight. :smiling_face:

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The albino and patternless offspring will just be ‘normal’ looking. You need two copies of the recessive genes to have visual offspring. So mom and dad both need to be het or visual for the gene.

As far as selling, MorphMarket is great and does give you the ability to choose local sales only if you don’t want to ship. I’ve also done the wholesale to local reptile shops as well. The leopard gecko market is pretty oversaturated though, so it can be a bit difficult to sell them quickly. Expect to need housing and food for the offspring for a while.
Craigslist is definitely the last resort. Harder to judge buyers and many scammers. Sometimes you get lucky though, like a knowledgeable teacher asking about adopting the rescue snake I was rehoming.

Shipping is pretty easy all things considered. There’s a few good videos showing how to safely box and MM shipping does have the boxes and supplies you would need for purchase.

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Understood. Thank you so much once again, I really appreciate your advice. I see you everywhere on the community and you’re super knowledgeable and help out a ton! Just wanted to extended my gratitude and thank for all the insightful advice you’ve given me! I’m looking forward to a good first breeding season, couldn’t have done it without your help! :smile:

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Awww, thank you!
I just try to be the kind of help I would have appreciated as a beginner. It’s sometimes hard to find someone who can be open about all the aspects of things.

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