Introduction to Leopard Gecko Breeding
Breeding leopard geckos is the same as breeding other reptiles. This includes mating between a male and a female leopard gecko. The eggs' temperature depends on the sex of the male or female Leopard Gecko. They are known to be easy to breed, but they require the correct temperature setup as well as a habitat for breeding.
In the wild, they breed for a specific period. Females lay their eggs under rocks or logs, and once incubation has begun it will take about eight weeks (depending on the temperature).
It is a complex task to breed a leopard gecko at home. You need to know all the information about how to breed leopard geckos safely. In this article, you will find all you need to know about the breeding of the Leopard Gecko.
Which season is most suitable for breeding leopard geckos?
A leopard gecko is likely capable of producing eggs at any time of the year. However, it is most suitable to breed them between January and September. Most people in the United States, Canada, and Europe follow these months to breed Leo geckos.
How many eggs can Female leopard geckos lay in a breeding season?
A female Leopard gecko lays between three and five clutches of eggs in a breeding season with each clutch consisting of approximately one to two eggs. A clutch is a collection of eggs laid at the same time.
What is the right age and size for a leopard gecko to breed?
It's very important to know the right age and size of a leopard gecko for them to breed because that determines their sexual maturity.
Generally, a leopard gecko should be at least 9 to 12 months old and should weigh between 40 and 45 grams for breeding.
When you breed them too early, this could lead to health problems as well as even death for them.
How long does it take a leopard gecko to mate?
The leopard gecko spends nine months of the year in its breeding season. Of these nine months, the male and female of the leopard gecko will interact many times just for the sake of mating. The interactions for mating are short, lasting only three to five minutes at a time.
What are the requirements for breeding leopard geckos?
In order to successfully breed your leopard gecko, you must know what requirements you must meet. Below we have provided you with those requirements.
- Two separate tanks for male and female Leopard geckos around 20 gallons and a 40-gallon tank for breeding only.
- Supplements of calcium and some nutritious insects and water for a pre-mating diet.
- A shoe box lined or Tupperware container with moist sphagnum moss or vermiculite makes an excellent egg-laying box.
- An incubator box, reptiles incubator.
- To maintain the temperature, you need a thermometer.
- For a baby leopard gecko, a small 10-gallon tank.
- A little substrate for a baby leopard's gecko, such as paper towels and a hide box, and some food such as crickets.
What should you know before breeding leopard geckos?
In order to ensure your leopard gecko's health, we provide you with a list of some key points you should know before breeding your leopard gecko.
When breeding leopard geckos, you should know their gender
In order to properly care for and provide your leopard gecko with a safe breeding environment, you must know its gender.
In male Leopard geckos, the pre-anal and femoral pores are very visible. However, the pores of female Leopard geckos are small and difficult to see, and female Leopard geckos do not have hemipenal bulges, whereas male Leopard geckos have. Check How to tell if a leopard gecko is male or female for better understanding.
Ensure leopard gecko breeding is done at the correct age and size
It is important to know what size and age leopard geckos should be bred in order to avoid health issues. This is because breeding them too early or too late can lead to health problems.
A leopard gecko should be at least 9 to 12 months old before it should be bred. They should have a healthy weight of 45 grams and it is recommended to breed them between January and September.
Proper diet and care should be given to them before breeding
In order to ensure that you keep your Leopard geckos healthy and be able to breed them safely, you should provide them with a healthy diet such as calcium and protein-rich insects and to provide them with extra calcium supplements such as calcium plus vitamin D3 powder for the female Leopard geckos.
Breeding processes such as egg production and hatching are very stressful and energy-consuming processes for Leopard geckos. In order to ensure they breed safely, they should consume a healthy diet.
To breed them, you need to provide the right environment
To make sure that they do not suffer from any health issues, you must provide appropriate humidity levels and temperatures for them. This is if you decide to breed them. The temperature should be between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit and you should always provide water to prevent dehydration.
Note- Before breeding your Leopard gecko you should read the above points in order to avoid health issues.
What is the safest way to breed leopard geckos?
There are a lot of challenges for first-time pet owners when it comes to breeding Leopard geckos, but don't worry today we will provide you with a step-by-step guide that will help you have the best experience breeding your Leopard gecko.
Prepare the cage for breeding Leopard geckos
Having read all the facts regarding breeding Leopard geckos as indicated above, the first step should be to buy three tanks for the Leopard geckos; a tank for the male Leopard gecko, a tank for the female Leopard gecko, and a third tank for both during the breeding season.
- It is recommended that the tank for both a male and female Leopard gecko should be 20 gallons. The tank for breeding should be 30 gallons. You should add 10 gallons of space for each female you add to the tank.
- In Male 20-gallon tanks, put the same setup as you would for leopard geckos. However, in female 20-gallon tanks, place some substrate, an egg-laying box, and water in a dish.
Put both Leopard geckos in their respective tanks and take good care of them
As soon as their tanks have been prepared you can now place them in their respective tanks. You should separate them until the time comes when they mate.
After putting them in a tank, give them proper care, such as feeding them a healthy diet as we discussed above, and keeping an eye on them.
Put both male and female Leopard geckos in a breeding tank and breed them
The first thing you should do is place both of them in a breeding tank. Keep an eye on them to monitor.
To pair them, you can use the following two methods
- You can keep them together for a long period, such as a week. I recommend you shouldn't put them together for a long period since male Leopard geckos can bully them which will make the female Leopard geckos stressed out.
- You can keep them together for a limited period, such as a few hours. If male Leopard geckos are aggressive and bully female Leopard geckos. If this happens, you should wait and put them back in their tank and try again after a few days.
When male Leopard geckos accept female Leopard geckos and do not bully them, mating will begin. As soon as the female stands still, the male vibrates his tail. If he is successful in winning her over, he climbs on her and tries to mate. This process takes about three to five minutes to complete.
It is very important to place your Leopard geckos back in their enclosure once they have mated successfully in order to avoid harassment. You should feed both of them calcium and protein-rich insects. This way, they can regain their energy. Further, you should give the female Leopard proper care and check for any injuries while mating and consult their health care provider.
In order to confirm that their mating was successful, the female Leopard geckos show the following signs of gravid.
- Lack of appetite,
- Having a bulging stomach,
- Digging aggressively in hiding places.
- Their abdomen was swallowed,
- Their belly is pinkish.
Add an egg-laying box to the tank of the female Leopard geckos
In a female Leopard gecko tank, you should add an egg-laying box if you see signs of gravity in female Leopard geckos as mentioned above.
In about a week of mating, you can add a shoe box or Tupperware container for laying eggs inside a female Leopard gecko's tank by doing a few modifications - cut a 2-inch diameter hole in the lid to give the lizard access to the interior and add several inches of damp potting soil, sphagnum moss or vermiculite. Ensure the egg-laying box is placed in a warm hide area in a tank that houses female Leopard geckos.
If your leopard gecko so shows signs of gravid then you except for the female leopard gecko to lay egg eggs, it is estimated that the gestation period is about 15 to 25 days after mating, and, as soon as the gestation period is over, female leopard geckos start clutching eggs every two to three weeks in egg deposit containers that are added into their tanks.
Once the eggs have been laid, move them to the incubator box
After a Leopard gecko lays eggs in an egg-laying box, it would be best if you transferred those eggs into an incubator box so they can hatch.
It is very easy to create an egg incubation setup by first buying a plastic tray. Then, you can put a layer of moist substrate such as vermiculite about 2 inches deep at the bottom of the tray. You then put this tray into the reptile's incubator. Reptile incubators can be purchased at your local store or online from the site below.
Buy Eggs Incubator Box from Amazon
The temperature of incubation determines the sex of the leopard gecko. This is called temperature-dependent sex determination.
- If you do not care which sex emerges, you can simply incubate your egg at a temperature between 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit if you do not care.
- If you want to produce all male leopard geckos, then it is best to maintain a temperature high between 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit.
- If you want to produce all-female leopard geckos, then you should keep the temperature low between 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the temperature of a reptile's incubator is set, place the tray in the incubator. In the meantime, inspect and vent the eggs continuously as well as check the temperature of the incubator every couple of days.
Keep an eye on the embryos as they develop
When you put eggs in a reptile incubator after a few weeks, you will be able to see the eggs using candlelight. You will see that the red blood vessels are colliding inside the eggs.
Egg hatching
In around two months, depending on the temperature at which the eggs are incubated, they will hatch and baby Leopard geckos will appear.
After hatchling's new Leopard geckos have been released you should avoid disturbing them. You should leave them there for around 12 hours to help them adapt to their new environment. After 12 hours, transfer the baby leopard to the new tank.
Take care of a newly born leopard gecko
After hatching and waiting for 12 hours, you should then transfer your baby leopard geckos into separate tanks.
Before the leopard gecko babies hatch, you need to set up a baby leopard gecko tank for them so that they have safe homes. First, buy a 10-gallon tank, and fill it with small substrates such as a hide box. Place some small crickets for feeding. Always make sure there is water available.
The baby leopard gecko should not be placed with the adult leopard. Make sure they are kept in a separate tank to avoid bullying. When they become juveniles, you can put them with an adult female Leopard gecko in the same tank.