Leopard Gecko Care and Breeding

[stevesemerko]

I was planning on getting a pair (or colony) of leopard geckos soon to start a breeding project. I know a bit about their care and I have a book on keeping and breeding them but I would like to get some input from some of you who have kept and bred these guys. I am looking for minimum caging requirments (I can only free up so much space because I need to keep some room for my snake projects), feeding requirements (how often to feed, I am breeding crickets already for my tarantulas so that won't prove a problem), vitamin and mineral supplements to use, how to use them and when to use them, and finally, breeding (I need this info to be as complete as possible). And about the caging...I have heard of people using those 3 drawer clear rubbermaid units as housing, is this good to use? Any other info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time

Steve

P.S. What is the breeding season for leopard geckos?

[Bartman]

Minumum requirments imo is ten gallons per leo or a 25 for a male and 2 females is ok. Have like 1 or two hides per leopard. Something like that...for dusting mineral stuff, put the crix in a plastic bag and poor in some powder, then shake n bake and they will be covered in it. Feed adults every other day and females prob every day since its good to fatten them up during the season. As for how many times dusting, if the females are starting to breed then you should dust every feeding. then the eggs will turn out very healthy. Good luck with the project, im starting to breed soon too :)

[Emily-Fisher]

To me, minimal caging requirements means one big rubbermaid container with 1 big humid hide made of a tupperware container, 2-3 hides made of tupperware containers, a warm end, three bowls (such as ash trays) for calcium, water, and mealies, and papertowels as a substrate. That's about as simple as it gets.

Or you can get a bit more complicated like me. I have custom-cut tiles as a substrate, glazed terra cotta dishes for food, two coconut hides, a humid hide, a branch for climbing, a rock sculpture for climbing and basking, a red light, an UTH, and a whole bunch of decorations such as fake plants and a background.

How you house your leos is entirely up to you... I prefer my enclosures being made to look at even if they are more expensive or if I am only putting leos in there but that's just me..

[Tim and Julie B]

Hi Steve!:D

I will try to be informative and brief.

I use the 3 drawer units which house one male and 2-3 females with plenty of room for them to roam and exercise. I provide 2 dry hides and one humid for laying. I use green plastic plant saucers for calcium and water dishes (one for water and one for calcium). Each plastic drawer is lined with unbleached paper towel. I have an ambiant room temperature which I fluctuate to simulate a natural environment, between 87 and 92 degrees with the humid hides in the lower to mid 80's. I feed them every two days (not a constant regemine though) and give them as many food choices as possible. Dust the bugs a couple of times a week with a good vitamin (I just switched to Miner-all with D3 and have noticed an increase in appetite and energy, though they were healthy to begin with). Breeding is simple: Put the male into the female's cage, leave them to mate for one or two weeks (2 weeks is my preference) then remove the male. The female should begin laying eggs about 17 days after successful copulation, so you could have eggs 3 or so days after removing the male if you use the 2 week breeding time. The female should lay 2 eggs every 17 days or so (give or take a few days) for a total of 4-8 clutches depending on maturity and health. It is pretty well up to you when they will breed. Be sure to fatten up your adults and give the female a calcium dish as mentioned above and you will be successful:D Anything else, just ask:D

Julie

[stevesemerko]

Wow! Thank you Julie. That was very informative. And thanks to everyone else. One more question...how easy is it to find adult normals for sale? And what would I be looking at price wise for them (Canadian)? Thanks again everyone.

Steve

[ChristinaM]

I see alot of baby normals for sale....but adults I see on here as opposed to stores. The odd store will have adults. Like my local store right now has a proven breeding pair for 150. At the show's, I've seen adult normals for 25-50$.