breeding ?s

[cam]

so ive done a lot of research for awhile now and im going to keep doing more until i feel absolutely comfortable with everything (even reading the same posts and article multiple times). anyway my female is 42 grams and still growing! her calcium sacks are huuge so i have no worries with her.. and my male is 23-24 grams but has no tail. he doesnt grow nearly as fast as my female.(although my other male is similar as far as growth) im hoping to breed by the end of april at the latest. so my question is do you think hes still too small? hes very healthy and active. i just dont want to make any mistakes with these lil guys!

cam

[samanthajane13]

Wanna breed??   I would SERIUSLY read this thread-

http://www.pangeareptile.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32241&highlight=supply+demand

It discusses MANY aspects of breeding, vending, costs, etc.

A MUST READ for ANY new breeders!!

Read ALL of it!!  Lots of other people's experiences are told in that thread.

Not trying to dissuade you-just want you to realize you're NOT taking an easy path to making money.

That being said-I would watch your geckos closely,and at the first signs of aggression, pull the male from the tank.

You don't want him hurt.

I have one female, Sui, who is nicknamed The Eye Biter.  Not that she goes for the eyeball itself, but grabs the crests right over the eyeball...which could leave one Hell of a mark if it's torn!!

[cam]

ive read this before lol ive seen it posted by you and many others with ?s about breeding. im def not in it for the money i have an AC male that could possibly produce some quality offspring but thats not what im in it for. i have friends that i trust and local reptile specialty shops that i also trust lined up for the babies. this is all outta passion for the lil critters and reptiles in general. i absolutely would not even consider breeding unless i knew that i had homes for the offspring. ive seen many times on this forum that people become overwhelmed with clutch after clutch and cant find homes for the babies and end up with way too many geckos than they can handle. i have actually been so cautious with this that i even "pop quiz" my freinds on how to care or the lil guys just to make sure they have been keeping up on their research on how to care for them properly. i would feel terrible if i gave a baby to a careless owner that ended up in neglect. the reason i ask if anyone thinks he still might be to small is because i know every gecko grows diff and some males just stay smaller in the high 20g range.
p.s. money is not the issue here lol i am giving all of them for free to my friends and the shop willl do 20$ a pop. i just wana know they will be cared for . thats all i truly care about..THANNKS!

cam

[samanthajane13]

LOL-glad you've done your homework!!

It's beyond sad when people think they can "turn off" egg production after one or two clutches, and they get bombarded with babies and have no homes for them!

I've been into cresties for over 5 years, and just started breeding two year ago.

I wanted to know everything I could possibly learn about them  before I ever put a male with a female...just so I would now what I was up against, and what to watch out for in terms of problems.

Guess what!  I'm STILL learning!!

This year I'm cranking my incubation temps down for larger, healthier babies.

Just be very cautious about the size difference with your male and female...don't want any geckos to be hurt if we can avoid it!!

[amcclain1092]

If it comforts you anymore, I have two 55+ gram females in with a 34g male with no problems so far.
I just make sure to check them all over closely everyday for the first couple of weeks of putting them in with new cage mates and I clean and wipe down cages so all "old smells" are gone.

[cam]

actually amcclain that does make me feel better lol and i am very well aware of cleaning the tanks to make sure old smells are gone so territorial problems arent a problem. i think i will plan on pairing them this week and only keeping them together for a short while. i appreciate all the help guys thanks!!

[samanthajane13]

That's what we're all here for-to help and be helped!

You're part of the Ciliatus family now, and when the time comes, you'll help someone else!

[cam]

so another quick ? i cant find a str8 answer to..i dont wana keep them in together for the whole season is a week or 2 weeks long enough?? or shuld i seperate them once a see them mate?

[samanthajane13]

It all depends.

Are they getting along together?  Most of mine do fine together for the season, so I leave the males with the girls.

If they squabble, I remove the males.

If you have another girl you want to breed to him, you can move him to the other tank once they breed.

[honuman]

I agree with Donna.  They can stay together for a season. A week really isn't long enough to ensure that they "got busy".  I only remove my males from the colony if I see them dropping weight because they spend all their time mating and not enough time eating.

[cam]

well theyve been together for about 2 hours now and at first nothing happened they minded their own business..then i ate dinner and was watchin the nuggets and came back up and there in on the side glass face to face but i didnt see much aggresion..she was licking his face and head and than left..so i checked the male just to see if maybe a missed some fightin, looks fine..now my male is hiding in the leaves and she is being very active out n about all over the cage. so everything looks good right now.

[samanthajane13]

Awesome!!!

[Heather]

yep.that sounds like gecko love