Breeding Leopard Geckos 101

There are different types of lizards that one can adopt for a pet and one of those varieties that belongs to the easiest to be bred are the leopard geckos. Breeding leopard geckos enables breeding of species with unique and new physical attributes. They have striking and beautiful patterns and breeding them can result to exquisite and more superior patterns.

When breeding leopard geckos, it is of utmost importance that the male and female geckos are matured sexually. Knowing the sex of a leopard gecko is easy. When you look at its underside when you turn them over, and when you notice two pronounced hemipenal bumps or bulges behind the tail side's opening, it is a male leopard gecko. And also, you will observe a V shape when you look on top of its opening, just between its hind legs, that is called the pre-anal pores. Hemipenal bulges doesn't exist in female leopard geckos but you if you look closely, you will find it has pre-anal pits. Be careful not to be confused by an obese female leopard gecko because they can be sometimes mistaken for bulges that are present in male ones.

It is very important that when you breed a leopard gecko, they are of right age and weight. The minimum age for the male leopard gecko is 8 months and 45 grams in weight. And for the female leopard geckos, a minimum age of one year and 50 grams in weight.

Breeding leopard geckos is almost effortless. Leaving them in a cage is the first step. They can mate almost instantly, but there are also cases that it will take a while before they warm to one another. When this happen, all you have to do is separate them for a few days and try again.

When the leopard geckos are mating, the male geckos are quite aggressive compared to the female leopard gecko. You will also tell that the male leopard gecko will try to mate if he shakes his tail tip. One of the trait that the male leopard gecko has is he bites the female while trying to mate and will look as if they are fighting. But this is just a common behavior that can be seen in them. But when the female fights back or bites back, it means that she doesn't like to be paired with the male leopard gecko.

The breeder should provide container that is appropriate to be lain with eggs by the female leopard gecko. The most suitable would be a humid hide container that has a suitable amount of moist bed-a-beast. The female leopard gecko, after 4 weeks will lay its first clutch of eggs, if mating is successful. A clutch means two eggs and they tend to have at least 8 clutches a year.

When the female leopard gecko succeeded in laying eggs, the eggs need to be incubated for a more vivid color in its appearance and for the sex of the baby leopard geckos. If you want to have female leopard gecko babies, a lower temperature is required for the incubator. If you desire male leopard gecko babies, higher temperature is needed, around 90 degrees. But if you want to have both male and female leopard gecko babies, the temperature that you will need is around 85 degrees.

Noel Patterson is a leopard gecko expert. For more information on breeding leopard geckos, visit http://theleopardgeckoguide.com.