This is my first season breeding leopard geckos, and I was wondering what advice or tips and tricks you guys have when it comes to getting your geckos to breed? I’ve tried paring one of my males with two different females that I have but not much has happened. He was licker her and biting her to try and grab her but they haven’t paired up yet. Once the females bite him back he gets turned off and stops trying, so I take him out and I give them a day to themselves before I try again. All my geckos all old enough, healthy and up to weight, and when I try I put them in a different tub from the ones they live in. I’m much wondering what tips you guys have to get them to breed.
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I’m just a hobbyist, but I’ve bred leopard geckos quite a few times. My biggest issue when I started was that I underestimated the importance of having the female being receptive. Many people have mastered the art of knowing the exact moment it’s right to put a male and female together. I totally suck at that, so I just put the male and female together towards the beginning of the season, then watch what happens.
The male should rattle his tail when he realizes there’s a lady nearby. From then on, watch the female. If she looks mad as hell, sort of wags her tail angrily, and tries to either run away or attack the male, then she’s not receptive, and they should be separated. When she’s receptive, she’ll hold still, lift up her tail, and accept the male nipping up her back to her neck. Don’t expect her to look thrilled, though. I give a few moments afterwards (the male will generally lick his personals, so if you see that- it’s normal), then put them each away.
Generally speaking, you only need one successful mating for each female for the season, but I like to have two confirmed matings (at the beginning of the season). In one case, I just could not get the timing worked out, I never seemed to catch the female when she was receptive. It was really frustrating. In that instance, I decided to temporarily house the male and female together (carefully). I supervised the introduction & tong-fed each of them separately, so there would be no fighting over food. I’m under the impression that there’s not much benefit in housing a male and female together for longer than a month, though I honestly can’t remember where I’ve read that. Though most mid to large size leo breeders cohab their geckos for breeding purposes, it’s not an ideal situation for a laying female to be in.
Make sure your female has a good place ready to lay eggs, and that you check for them daily (though don’t disturb her if she’s in there & potentially laying right that moment). Also make sure that, for the entirety of the season, you have a little dish with calcium in it in your female’s cage. I hope that helps a little- I’m pretty sure some of the other leo folks on here would have plenty more tips.
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Ok so here is my advice I have a male just like yours, what I say is keep them together for around a week then separate for a couple days and put pack in and repeat until they pair. The only reason I don’t have babies yet is that I either suck at incubating (likely) or my female doesn’t make good eggs (unlikely). Also as @mblaney said you need to know when the female is receptive that is KEY.
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