Breeding Geckos

Breeding takes up a lot of time! If you have one pair or 100 pairs, you have to feed, mist, clean, keep track of weights, look over your geckos to make sure they are ok, check for parasites, ect. I know how my geckos are doing because I check on them everyday. Do you have time to be a responsible breeder?

That one pair can produce up to 16 babies! Do you have the space to accommodate the babies? They might not sell for a long time! Maybe you chose some hold backs? Those babies won’t be babies forever and will need to upgrade to an adult enclosure. Crested Geckos need to be housed in individual enclosures. Do you have room for all of them?

When it comes to money, you will need spend money to make money. You will be dropping some big cash on breeders. You are looking for good structure, healthy, possibly with great linage, and proven geckos. No one sells their best females for 100$. If you want to produce amazing babies, your best bet is to buy amazing geckos. That can run you a lot of money. Something to think about is buying babies because they are always priced lower, that will grow into amazing adults. I know a lot of people want RTB but if you are strapped for cash, buying babies is a better deal. It also gives you the experience of growing out little ones not unlike the ones you will be producing!

You will need all the necessary equipment and this costs money! I am talking misters, scales, tubs/exoterras, paper towels/substrate, incubation material, egg incubator, foliage, hideaways, insulation tubes, screening, rack systems, food, feeders, calcium, VET COSTS, ect. Are you able to support these geckos?

If you are breeding to sell, chances are you will be shipping! Here I use Reptiles2you and they are a great company that can guide you through shipping. Shipping is nerve wrecking and you have to follow certain rules. You will need buy the supplies to ship BEFORE you sell so that you can get the geckos out promptly and safely. Are you ok with shipping?

You need to be able to control temperature when it comes to incubation. 70F is ideal for eggs because it lets them stay in the egg longer which has been said to give better head structure. If it fluctuates too much, gets too cold or too hot, they can die. Can you control the temps in your house? Do you have a plan just in case something happens?

A female crested gecko can retain sperm up to 2 years after being paired and in a perfect world can lay two fertile eggs per clutch for around 8 clutches, sometimes more! Like I have mentioned before, you need to have a plan of what you want to produce. Remember your geckos might not sell right away so be prepared for that! That is why I said breed for yourself first and people second.

Before you breed you will need certain equipment. For the purposes of this article I will be going through everything you need ( even if you should already have some of this stuff). I also will be describing how I breed with a tub setup.
You will need two enclosures or even three if you want to have a separate breeding area. The first two enclosures are the tubs you house the breeders in separately. You normally introduce the male into the female enclosure. The following is a great example of a 66qt female breeding setup! ( Photo is from Steel City Scales).

So as you can see there is lots of foliage, a hideaway, insulation pipes so they have something to crawl and hang out on, a feeding ledge( optional but is great for keeping poop out of the food), and a very nice lay box filled with sphagnum moss. You don’t have to use moss but it keeps things cleaner and the eggs will not get stained. You will also need a surplus of 6 qt plastic tubs in which to house the babies in. These usually run 1$ each at a dollar store. I find it best to house the babies separately. You will need calcium either powdered or liquid. You can provide calcium in a small top, she will eat as needed. Make sure to have those paper towels in surplus. They will need to be changed out as needed. A scale is your best friend. You will need to weigh your geckos to make sure they are ready to breed, to check for weight gain and weight loss. I use a scale with 0.1 increments that way I know what the weight is specifically.

You will need an incubator and incubation materials! I can control the temp in my house and keep it a nice 70F at all times. I have heard Hatchrite is better when it comes to holding moisture.
You will also need a lay box which can be as simple as a nice sized plastic container with some organic sphagnum moss. Make sure you keep this moist as it will also serve as a nice humid hide. You will need a mister to continue the crested gecko care all geckos should be receiving regardless whether they are breeding or not. On that note, you will be feeding every two days a crested gecko diet such as Pangea.

It is time to put together some pair(s). I always have a idea of what I would ideally like to produce out of my pairs. When it comes to the breeding season it pretty much starts in Feb-October. Crested and Gargoyle geckos can be breed year round but keep in mind that temps and light cycles are really important for a female to know when to start and stop producing eggs. If you live in an area that gets super cold in the off season and you can not regulate temperature, then you are better off just waiting for it to get warmer.

Hold your horses though, because your male and female have to reach a certain weight to safely reproduce!

Males: A male crested gecko in adult age will have these two balls in the back that are not balls at all but two hemipenes (a fancy term for two gecko penises). Yes two! Those white things on the side are called cloacal spurs, and have been thought to help the male in mating. Males can be paired at a lower weight of around 25g but the female will be bigger so its best to do around 35g and up. If you try to pair too early your male can have a prolapse (his hemipene(s) not going back in which can lead to amputation). Do not underestimate the beauty of a nice male. They can be breed up to 4 females in a season!

Females: 40-45g grams is best when it comes to females . If you pair at lower weight you run the risk of them not being able to safely pass the eggs, and they also lose weight while being paired, sometimes up to 5g. Females will need calcium to form those beautiful eggs, and you can check their calcium sacs to see if they need more. Their are different ways to get the female to open her mouth so that you can see those calcium sacs. I like to use my two fingers and lightly press the sides of the mouth. Sometimes this makes them open but I usually get bit. JB Cresties has a video up where she uses a q-tip with the soft end cut off so that she can keep that mouth open without getting bit. You don’t want to do this often, but it is important for breeding to see how those sacs are coming along. If they look like they are lacking you can always have powder calcium available (with D3 if you don’t use uvb). Have it separate from the food so they can eat as needed in a small top. If they do not have enough calcium to make their eggs they will pull it from their bones and this can lead to a calcium crash or MBD. They can only be breed with one male for the season (for the most part) so be selective!

First time breeders (geckos not proven) will do some strange things that might worry you such as:

• lay infertile eggs
• lay one fertile and one non fertile egg
• Male might seem timid and not lock right away.
• It might take months to get fertile eggs

Introducing your pair is very versatile and is done in many different ways from breeder to breeder. In all methods you will need to introduce the male to the female. This can be done in a separate breeding enclosure or you can introduce your male into the female enclosure. What will happen when your male is with your female:

• His hemipenes will extend and he will lick them. Not all males do this but most of my males have.
• He will sniff/lick your female showing interest.
• He will try to bite her legs, sides, or automatically go for her crests.
• He will manage to lock successfully and can hold on to her for around 10 mins or more before releasing her.

Now when it comes to your female there are a few things that might happen:

• When he grabs onto her crests she will lift up her bottom and expose her vent.
• She will allow him to lock on and wait until he releases her.

This is all the ideal though and often it does not happen. Most of the time you will have a female that runs way, will bite back and will make a noise showing her displeasure. This is why it is important to have a male that is at a similar weight or is bigger then her. The noises females make can indicate that she is not interested or she might actually already be gravid or ready to lay, so make sure you keep an eye on these things. You can leave him in there with her until she lays eggs if they seem to get along. Not all males are built the same. He can always be removed and put back in later. One important thing to note is that you will not always view copulation; most copulation will happen at night while you are sleeping. That is why it is so important to keep track when you introduce your male; this can help you gauge when you should be getting in those eggs. If copulation is viewed you can remove the male and wait for the eggs.

For the most part your female should lay fertile eggs in around 30-45 days. First timers can take longer. Sometimes you will not see copulation and will get worried that he did not lock. This is where keeping track of weight is so important. I see a weight fluctuation in females of around 4g sometimes more when they are gravid. Most of the time you will visually see her gravid and her belly will take a pear shape. Some people can feel the eggs by touching the belly. Do this carefully if you do.

When she is ready to lay you may see your female in the lay box, digging around and getting comfortable. Some girls will lay right away and others may play with your heart, it just depends on the female. Eventually she will drop two hopefully fully calcified eggs. Sometimes you will not see her laying so make sure to carefully check your moss for eggs around the time she should be due. Make sure to keep track of when you found eggs and her weight loss for future pairings.

Now that you have found your egg(s), you will need to check and make sure they are fertile. Candle using a LED light and if it is fertile you will see a red ring. If it is just bright yellow then it is not fertile. Keep in mind that sometimes the ring will not show up so well if she has just laid. To be safe I incubate all eggs. Non fertile eggs will shrink and mold over. Sometimes first time layers will lay non fertile or one fertile and non fertile. It is normal. If you want to reintroduce your male, I would wait until the second non fertile clutch just in case so that you don’t put your female through unnecessary stress. If you put a light under that egg and you see thinner patches, a snowflake pattern or possible holes, your female needs more calcium!

Make a mark where you see that red ring so that your eggs will be face up during incubation. Put them in your incubator, label with parents and date. They can take 60-120+ days to hatch. If your temps are cooler around 70F then they will take longer to hatch, temps around 75F take a shorter time. Just leave them be for the most part, although you can check on the baby developing by candling again. I would not bother them too much and visually your eggs will get super round and get stretch marks.

Sometimes your eggs will have problems, such as leaking. You can patch leaks with a piece of paper towel and then leave the egg alone. Sometimes the babies will not be able to make it out and will die in the egg. Some people will cut the egg to help the baby out if they think it is in trouble. After a few experiences of preemie baby’s, I personally would not help a baby out who will be too weak to survive, if it could not even make it out of the egg without assistance. It can very heartbreaking to lose a baby that is otherwise fully formed but for some reason ran into problems. Sometimes you may get a baby that is deformed and makes it out, but does not live very long. These are all very real situations and my best advice to feel better and move on for the babies that do make it.

When the crested gecko baby is fully developed it will make a slit in the pliable eggshell and poke out its head (known as “pipping”) . Sometimes they will jump out of the egg, other times they might just have that head out, and rest for awhile. Just wait until it emerges by itself. When the first baby hatches the clutch mate is usually not too far behind. I like to clean them off with a q tip if they have substrate on them and then place them in individual deli cups that have holes so they can breathe, with a piece of moistened paper towel packed on the bottom for humidity. After they have their first shed, I move them into their 6 qt containers and offer Pangea. You will know they have shed because their features will not look so squished down.
Baby geckos can get dehydrated really easy but at the same time too much water can lead to respiratory infections and skin conditions. Make sure you pay close attention to your babies, how they are eating, if they are pooping ( this is super small at first). Enjoy these moments! This is what all that hard work amounted to!

Remember that your female should cool off after around 8 clutches and have a period of rest where she can get her weight back up! When breeding. she will have experienced temperatures of 70F-75F, and in the fall will experience temperatures in the lower 60s. The fall also brings shorter light cycles. Normally they do it on their own but if you notice that she has not stopped, then you will need to personally simulate the above. If I want to pair her to a new male the next season I wait until she has laid unfertilized clutches to pair. I really hope this article will help you show the responsibility and work that goes into being a breeder. Don’t be shy to ask questions, most breeders are more than happy to help responsible individuals with their breeding!