Couple Questions

[crestedgecko]

Hi, I just had a few questions. First I had bought a beautiful crestie from the expo (chocolate harlequin, goes black at times with yellow harlequin patterning) from canadian coldblood, they gave me a piece of paper (buisness card) and I was going to email them but forgot the paper at the expo, does anyone know what there website is?

My second question is at what age do you retire females from breeding, how about males? Do you go from how old they are or from how many years they have been breeding? What do you guys keep them in when they retire, because if you were a big breeder you would have to have a lot of extra room to put the retired geckos. Could you put them all in a big sceen exclosure? Anybody can answer this question because I qould like to get everyones preference.

Thank you

Matthew Geddes

[DragnDrop]

My oldest cresties 1.2 were hatched in late '96, I got them when they were just a couple months old, Jan (or was it Feb?) '97. They are all still breeding up a storm, males and females. Their various kids that I kept back are still breeding, though they'd have been hatched in 99 and later. The females show no signs of slowing down, no increase in infertile eggs, no poor physical shape, no lethargy, nothing to say they're into menopause or being pushed too much to breed. The girls look just as good as they do in older pictures.

My original gargoyle females are retired, the females don't generally lay fertile eggs after about 6 years. I've still got all the girls, they're living in a retirement condo ( 75 gallon tank just for the 3 of them). The oldest male is still fertile, but then you wouldn't expect a male to be worn out at 7 years, their contribution to breeding isn't as demanding on their bodies. If and when he retires, I'll set him up in a condo too, but smaller for himself (though I might try to see if he'll safely live with the girls ... all the fun with out the guilt and fallout ;) )

[crestedgecko]

Thanks for the info! By the way about how many females would you be able to keep in a 75 gallon? Could they all be different ages (like 5-10 years apart) and all retired?

Mathew Geddes

[little_dragon_]

I'd say five or six...Give them plenty of folliage and food and they should be fine.

[DragnDrop]

I have no idea how many I will end up keeping in that retirement condo, but I know with all the branches, hiding areas and the pothos jungle, it should be no problem for 5, possibly even 7 living in harmony. They're not likely to be stressing out about roomies since they're not going to be looking for mates, none of them will be considered rivals. Since they are/will be retired breeders, they'll be about the same size, different ages but full grown so none of them will be small enough to be on the dinner menu. Even though gargoyles are somewhat eager to eat tails, I find girls get along if they have lots of room and personal space.
Right now there are only 2 occupants, and it will most likely be 3 years or so before the next one retires, so I've got a few years to think it all out.

[crestedgecko]

Thanks for all the info.

Matthew Geddes