New Leopard Gecko

[Catherine]

Quote:Right now I don't have an egg laying box but I'm in no rush. Seeing as it will be awhile before I even put them together. I've been told it's likely I wont get but one or two eggs the first year. I'm excited though. I have these crayons that I can write and wash off easy that I'm using to keep things labeled. If I really get into breeding I may need to invest in a label maker.

I have to work on calming Charlie down but Allison was the same way not too long ago. I'm not worried. It's actually only been in the last month or so that she's really calmed down and will just sit in your hand for long periods. Plus he's still settling. I gave Charlie another 15 millworms last night and tonight there are 3 left. I may need to get him some mice to curb his appetite if he keeps eating like this. He probably didn't get to eat for the 3 days he was at Repticon so that's why he's so hungry. But I've been wanting to feed Allison some mice so this is as good a time as any to try and get to feed him as well. He needs to fatten up anyway.

Reptiles live a long time. My Berber Skink is at least 12 maybe older. Who knows how long she will live. You will have years to enjoy your Geckos.

Stick with the washable crayons. Labels get changed a lot with reptiles. If you stick a proper label on something it is hard to get it off.

Charlie may be eating so much because he is young and growing. You should see a growth spurt soon enough. Remember they don't eat when they shed so when he stops eating for a day or two there is nothing wrong. It is hard to get used to the fact that reptiles don't eat every day. This time of year I have feeds where only half my snakes eat. I thaw out a smaller amount of food and still have leftovers. Fortunately the Hognose snake will eat anything extra so there is no waste.
Do Leopard Geckos eat mice? I know my male bearded dragon, Eric, eats pinkies, but none of my girls would touch them.

[Libby]

yeah I'm used to Allison eat when she feels like it. I just make sure she's got food when she needs it. I'll put a bunch of millworms in her bowl with a carrot and just check it everyday to see if she's eaten and needs more. But I'll go days without having to put more food in. water is the only thing I have to change on a daily basis.
But yeah they eat pinkies. They are more fatty and help keep the females weight up during breeding season. They aren't needed tho. Which is why I haven't tried them yet.



I have some potentially bad news though I think Allison is actually a boy. I'm having someone else look for me in case I'm seeing things but I'm almost positive. However I have a new name picked out, Jack, and I am already looking for a female blizzard or snow. That way I could breed her with Charlie and get white babies or breed her with Allison/Jack and get colorful orange and yellow babies. I knew I should have looked one more time before going to repticon. But then I wouldn't have Charlie and he is a sweet baby. Happy accidents I guess. Just gives me more options for breeding I guess.

[Libby]

I found a female that I may be getting. She is beautiful!
   
She is on the top her sister on the bottom.
   
Her mother on the left top. Father top right.
   
   

[Catherine]

I have a lot of male reptiles with girls names and female reptiles with boys names. I usually keep the name just because I am used to it.
I knew my pine snakes were a breeding pair, but I was surprized when Daniel laid the eggs and Rosie was the father.

If Allison turns out to be a boy you might need to get two girls, one for Allison and one for Charlie. Are you sure Charlie is a male?

The new girls are very pretty. Are you getting one or both? It would be so hard to choose. You should have some interesting babies from them.

[Libby]

Allison id for sure a Jack. I've taken to calling him Jack-Allison now. It sound cool and is more manly lol.

I'm just getting the one for now... I think... I think she's keeping the other or had already sold her. But my new girl will be here Thursday. I can't wait. I may wait to get a second female until January when Charlie is fully grown. I don't know. She has a couple others that are pretty too tho. But she did tell me that she has a few other females that are ready to breed. I'd like 4 unrelated main breeders that way I wont have to worry about inbreeding as much.
It's kinda complicated cause the girl I'm getting now I will end up breeding with Jack-Allison but later she will end up with Charlie and then I will get another female for Jack-Allison. Because the new gecko depending on what morph I want to breed I can pair with either and get different colors. She has blizzard snow and carrottail genes Jack is carrottail and Charlie is the Blizzard snow. She's perfect.

[Libby]

I'm crazy. SO I decided to get a second female. So now I will be adding a female super hypo tangerine carrot tail that is het for blizzard Tremper albino and eclipse (which I've already talked about). The other one I decided on is a female Jungle Tremper albino

   
   
   
   

She was with a Mack Snow enigma eclipse het Tremper albino
So it could be possible that she is gravid (carrying eggs) from him. So I have to keep that in mind.
   

I'm choosing a Lost theme for my geckos because there are plenty of names to choose from
The Jungle Tremper albino is going to be named Kate Austin she goes with Jack
The super hypo tangerine carrot tail that is het for blizzard Tremper albino and eclipse is going to be named Claire she goes with Charlie.

Honestly they way I plan to mate them in the future I should really name Charlie Sawyer and Claire Juliet. Anyone who has not watched Lost will not get this lol.
The sad thing is I'm really considering the name change HAHAHA

[Libby]

here is another picture of the male Mack Snow enigma eclipse het Tremper albino that was with Claire

[Catherine]

WOW!!!!
That is some nice breeding stock. I hope the new girl is gravid. It would give you some nice extra genetics. You have a lot going on genetically. If you put the two pairs together, you can keep a female from each pair to go with the other pair as they are all unrelated and the ratio is usually one male to two females for Leopards.

You better sort out your incubator options soon. You might have eggs before you expect them. You can buy a small incubator for around $100.00, but only a big store would carry one. They are not top of the line, but good enough for Leopards. Some reptiles need very exact temperatures. Are Leopard Geckoes one of the species where you can influence gender by the incubation temperature. I will ask the Gecko guy here, he would know.

Welcome to reptile breeding.

[Libby]

Yeah at 79 degrees they are more likely to be female. at 85-87 it could go either way. at 90 it's more likely to get males. For my first couple rounds I'll probably set it low to try and get females. And I'll probably keep at least one of the babies. I have a few people who already want babies. So I'm really excited once I get out of my immediate friends to see who else would want some.

Claire has laid eggs before so it's likely I'll get eggs a couple times this year from her. Today after work I'm going to look at incubators or to look into making my own. I have instructions all it just takes an aquarium heater and moss and I just have to keep it a little moist but not too moist or they will drown.

When I first get the girls I may keep them together in Jack's old tall 20 gallon tank for the 60 days they have to stay away from my boys. It depends on if they are used to being together or not. If they aren't Claire will get the 20 and Kate will get the 10 until I can put her with Jack in the middle of May. I'm so excited. I'm hoping sometime in the next couple months that there will be a $1 a gallon sell on tanks at Petco. That's how I've bought all my tanks. I save about $30 on a 20 gallon tank. I may not get to put Claire with Charlie for a while so I'm not in any hurry. They usually have the sell in May or June so I can wait until then. Depends on Charlie's size.
The woman who sold them to me is also sending me lots of millworms because she has too many right now. She's sending me enough for all my leo's. I thought that was nice of her.

[Libby]

looks like I'll be making my own incubator. I looked online and the only one either of the pet stores around me has is the zoo med incubator and the reviews were horrible. I can probably make it cheaper anyway.

I need to start looking into timers for the lights to come on and off automatically. It will make their life easier and they will get a set "sun" schedule. It will making breeding easier for them too. Right now I just turn the light on when I wake up and turn it off 9-12 hours later. But depending on my work schedule it could be as early as 5am or as late as 12pm. Most day's though I can get it on at around 9am or 10m and turn it off around 8 or 9. They both have tank heaters that stay on all the time so at least they have that.