sexing cresteds

[newticus]

I've noticed lately that some people have a way to sex their cresteds before maturation. What is that actual method and how reliable is it?

[clint545]

Some people think that low incubation temps are a for sure thing for females. Some people go by the spurs in the vent area. Females tend to have smaller,more rounded spurs, while males have larger and more of a point spurs. Neither in my opinion can be 100% accurate, best to wait till they pop or don't pop

[HerpAddict]

From Ryan at Gecko Brothel, I learned that males have one to two rows of cells running horizontally (from leg to leg) on their belly that are more pronounced, and have these tiny (and I mean microscope tiny!) pores on them.

Once I learned this, I took a look at my guys, and sure enough, the males all had them, and the females didn't. With my hatchlings this year, I have one that I could never see those pores on, and at 24g, it is still looking to be a female from the lack of bulge. Of two of my 3.5 month olds, I could see the pronounced cells for a long time, and I'm starting to see the bulge now. The other one is sitting half way...doesn't want to show me his/her stuff yet!

The pores show up a bit earlier than the bulges, so it can help you know if you have a male earlier, but not if you have a female, because the pores could obviously develop in the future.

Cheers!

[Betty Miskie]

Well put Amanda, now to see if Ryan is accurate. I had no idea how to explain his method but he seems to be calling it real accurate. I did have one gecko he said was male and was ready to sell him and he said "wait, I think I made a mistake, it appears female." Sure enough, she is a she and I will have to post a picture of it one day (this could be of interest to you Matthew as we named it Geddes).............
She is beautiful!
Betty

[clint545]

Betty Are you guys using a photographer's loupe to look at the pores? Does Ryan do Gargoyles? I've got one juvie Gar that I just can't figure out

[Betty Miskie]

Ryan uses his "eyes" only. He is not like his Mom and is blind as a bat without her glasses to see things up close. Oh to be young again! I will have to ask Ryan if he could help you out and give his educated guess on your gargoyle.
Betty

[HerpAddict]

I have been using my eyes for it. I wear glasses, so it can be a little hard to focus, but I can manage once they are around 7-8g.

I have tried with my digital camera, on super close-up mode, but it's still hard to see, because of the contours on their body, inevitably the exact rows I need to see are barely out of focus. I guess that's all I can expect from a 4.0MP camera:P.

[HerpAddict]

Sorry, my Paint program isn't working, so I can't draw arrows to the pores, but I'm hoping it's clear enough in these pics so you can see what I mean.

The first is a male. The skin cells look slightly larger, and have a little dot on them.



For comparison, this is a female of about the same weight (37g). Note that all the cells look even, and there are none with pores.




And for the heck of it, I have to add in these pics! I woke up the geckos to take these pics just now, and the female (Harli) fell asleep in my hand (that's why her eyes look heavy). She's such a ham, and quite pretty in my opinion. She gets a deep chocolate brown when fired up, and the more orange areas go an orange/honey brown color. She's from Lindsay of S&M geckos, and I picked her up at the April show as a little one of about 4g, and now she's up to 37g. Thanks Lindsay! She's definitely a keeper for me!




And another to show off her lovely pattern...which I have a hard time describing, I 've just guessed a harlequin partial pin....is that about right?



I'm hoping that the pics of the male/female will help you out. I tried to get them of my 17g male, but he was not feeling photogenic, and almost pooped on the camera!

[Grove]

Yah, I use the same method as Ryan. It`s a pretty acurit
way of predicting your creastie`s sex.