Breeding Season:
Leopard Geckos are among the easiest reptiles to breed in captivity, it`s so simple to do, yet so easy to get it wrong!
Breeding season in England usually starts towards the end of January/early Febuary and can last all the way through to October. In early spring, the ambient air temperature and hours of daylight slowly increase, and spurs the leopard gecko out of ther winter slumber (Brumation). A false year-round breeding season can be achieved by dropping the temperatures for a few weeks at a time, and then raising them again. However here at FunkyGeckos, we prefer to follow the natural cycle in order to allow our females plenty of rest, and to give them ample time to rebuild their fat reserves for the coming, arduous season.
Initial mating/egg laying:
When a male leo is introduced to a female, or the moment she becomes sexually receiptive, the male will start to follow her around the vivarium, violently shaking his tail in the fashion of a rattle snake. This is intended to let the female leo know that A: he is male and B: he`s going to try to mate with her. If the female is receiptive, she will lay still and often raise her tail for ease of access. If she isn`t receptive, then she will let the male know by biting him back with real intent. If this happens, then don`t persevere at that time with forced mating - seperate, and try again a week later. During mating, it may appear as if the male is being excessively aggressive towards her - he`s not! It`s totally natural for the male to bite hold of the females body and neck, to ensure that she doesn`t move during copulation. The actual deed may only last 30 seconds to a minute, but copulation will occur many times over the course of a few days. Technically, a female only needs to copulate once a season as they possess the ability to store sperm for upto 9 month, to use as and when her eggs need fertilizing. However, to ensure the best possible chance of fertility, I`ve found it`s best to reintroduce the male to the female every 3 weeks or so, for a few days at a time.
After the initial mating, the first eggs are usually laid around 3 - 4 weeks later. After this, a consant supply of eggs should be laid around every 2 weeks or so (though this varies greatly fom female to female). Females who lay for the first time often only lay 1 egg - the usual is 2 per clutch - and the initial few in a new mother`s first season are often infertile, though not always. After the age of 2, it isn`t uncommon for a healthy female to lay 20+ eggs per year - though this number decreases slowly, year after year, after the age of 5/6 years old.
It is essential that a nest box has been prepared for the female well in advance of her due date. This gives it the chance to warm up and also gives the female the chance to become comfortable with her new furnishing. Substrates often used in nest boxes include sphagnum moss, vermiculite, perlite, coconut coir and even unfertilized compost. It is also essential that whatever substrate you decide on for her box, that it is kept moist - there`s nothing worse than eagerly waiting for your female to lay, only to discover a couple of shrivelled eggs in the morning because you had forgotten to mist the nesting box! Signs that your female is due to lay her eggs are general restlessness and, the biggest giveaway, is constant scratching around her enclosure (she`s trying to find the best spot and prepare a `nest`). The female will also develop a lovely rounded bulge either side, just in front of her back legs. At this point, the eggs are often visable from the side of female - looking more pink that white, and are a good indicator that the actual egg laying process in imminent.
During breeding season, extra calcium, food and nutrients must be provided for your females. It`s an exhausting time of year for them, and egg laying vastly depletes their fat reserves - many females often lose 20+g in weight such is the strain on them, though with proper practices, weight loss can be kept to a minimum. Any calcium intake is also rapidly used up in egg production. Without adequate amounts of calcium and nutrients, the eggs often remain soft after laying, thus increasing the likelyhood of them going `bad`. Also the female becomes very prone to MBD and any hatchlings that do make it, are pre-dispositioned to developing MBD regardless of how much calcium is offered to them after birth. Please also remember, that it`s often the case that males too will lose weight during this period, as they have a habit of becoming fixated on breeding, at the expense of other important things such as eating!
A hatchling`s first seconds of freedom:
Incubation:
Once the eggs have been laid, it is important that you get them into your pre-prepared incubator as soon as possible. This not only helps prevent the eggs from sticking to each other and the nesting box, but also prevents them from being trampled on - though experienced mothers will cover their eggs to help prevent this. However, you must never allow the eggs to be turned as the embryo inside the egg may very wll be drowned by the yolk sack - always keep them in the same position as they were laid.
If the eggs are found to be stuck to either, but not the container, then it`s a good idea to leave them as they are if they cannot be seperated easily - placed in the incubator still attached to each other. This prevents any risk of damage to the egg. If the eggs are stuck to the container itself, then try very carefully and patiently to prise them away. If removing them from the container isn`t possible without a guarantee of no damage to the eggs, then it`s possible to tape the entire lay box up and place this in the incubator as a whole (though this is a last resort, and proper ventilation and moisture levels must be ensured).
The most common incubator used by small breeders are home-made ones. These are easy to construct and consist of a poly-box (available from any aquarium and/or petshop), a heat mat, digital thermometer and preferably a pulse stat (rather then a mat stat) to regulate the temperature at all times to within 1 degree that you set it to. Mat stats allow the temperature inside the incubator to drop as much as 10 degrees before heating up again - when at such a delicate stage, it`s vital to keep as constant a temperature as is possible. For this reason, pulse stats are the overwhelming choice, 1 degree fluctuation being far better than 10!. There are many articles/walk throughs available on the internet as to how best to construct one of these incubators. Many ready made incubators are available to buy - and are often used with great success - such as the Herp Nursery and Hovabator. Though basically, any container that can hold the correct levels of moisture, temperature and allow adequate air-flow are essentially all that`s needed to successfully incubate leopard gecko eggs.
The most commonly used incubating mediums are vermiculite and perlite (though I`ve found sphagnum moss works very well also) . Which should be moist but not damp ie if you squeeze it then no drops of water should fall and the ball you made whilst sqeezing out the water, will break easily when pressed with a finger. An accurate way of ensuring the correct moistness of the incubating medium is to use `Albey`s Method` - which is 1 part vermiculite to 0.8 parts water (by weight). For example, simply measure out 100g of vermiculite, place in incubating tub, and then mist to moisten with 80g of water (1 to 0.8). If you are using a sealed container (a tupperware box is ideal) for incubation, then this medium shouldn`t ever need to be re-hydrated during the whole of the incubation process. However, an air exchange once or twice a week is essential to allow fresh air in and to prevent a lack of oxygen getting to the eggs (believe it or not they soak up moisture to increase their size and actually `breath`!). Some people prefer to have small breathing holes in their incubating tubs to allow constant fresh air, though a more careful eye will have to be kept on the moistness of the medium, in this case, cricket/live food boxes are perfect.
A small indent should be placed in the medium with your thumb and the eggs carefully placed in these hollows. The eggs should then be half covered with the medium. This ensures that the eggs won`t roll and that the owner can keep a eye out for any eggs that have started to either go mouldy or start to sink. Sunken eggs can often be revived by burying the eggs in the medium and then wetting the medium from above, similarly, a wet tissue placed over the top of the egg for a few days, is often sufficient to re-hydrate them. Mouldy eggs are a bit more problematic, as it can spread like wild fire. Any mould that is spotted should be immediately wiped off using a damp cotton bud, and severe cases may have to be treated careully using an anti-fungicide ie athletes foot powder. Any eggs that are not responding to treatment should be seperated from the other eggs to prevent the problem fom spreading. However, try to keep incubating such eggs as many a hatchling has come from even the mouldiest or sunken egg, when it has seemed that all hope is lost!
A fertile egg will be firm to the touch and exude a pinkish hue. An infertile egg is usually soft to the touch and will exude a yellowish hue that turns to orange. A method called `candling` is often used to help decide whether an egg is fertile or not. This is when an egg is carefuly lifted, and a strong torch is used to `see through` the egg - fertile eggs will display red veins and a pink glow, as mentioned, infertile eggs glow yellow. After a few weeks incubation, it is often possible to see the developing embryo inside the egg in the form of a dark patch (many times I have seen them move!)
As the sex of leopard geckos is temperature dependant, it is vital that you prepare the temperatures in the incubator according to the sexes you are after. Although, temperature sexing isn`t 100% accurate, it is on around 90% of occasions. Incubating your eggs at between 78-83 degrees should give mostly female leos, 84-87 will give you a mix of both sexes, and incubating at over 87 degrees should give you mainly male leos. However if the temp is too high - over 91 degrees - then you run the risk of producing what are known as `hot females`, these are females with male tendencies (aggressive, territorial etc) and are said to be wholly infertile, which has yet to be proved, they may not be worth taking the chance on. The incubation period can last anything from 26 to over 80 days long - usually the hotter the incubation temperature, the quicker the eggs hatch. Though, as with anything, there are exceptions to the rules. Our personal record time for eggs hatching is 28 days - totally going against the grain though as they were incubated at 80 degrees, were female and 100% fertile. Hopefully, this should also help to show that you should always expect the unexpected and always be prepared!
The most vital aspect of the incubation process, and nearly all succesful breeders will agree, is preparation! Make sure an incubator is set up well in advance of any expected egg laying date - be they home-made, shop bought or a simple cricket box placed in the parents vivarium. Many first time breeders make the innocent mistake of placing eggs on cold (though correctly made up) medium and then allowing it to heat up in the incubator. By doing this the egg/embryo gets an initial shock going from a warm lay sight to cold medium, then another shock going from cold medium to warm medium - which initself can take a day or 2 to reach the optimum temperature. Very few eggs will recover from this, irrespective of how constant the temperatures are kept afterwards.
Size comparison of a hatchling to a Wax-worm tub:
Hatchlings:
The hatching process can last anything from a few minutes to a few hours, and it`s vital that the young leos are allowed to come out in their own time and be left undisturbed. Many young come out with a partial egg sack still attatched, and many breeders choose to leave them in the moist incubator until this has either been absorbed or it has dropped off. Other hatchlings, without any yolk still attatched, can be moved to their new homes immediately.
The housing requirements for a newly hatched leo are simple: a small tupperware box or even a cricket tub are ideal. They need a calcium bowl, water dish, 1 hide and a moist hide. They also need to feel secure in their environment, that`s why a small tub or cricket box is ideal for the first few days/weeks of a hatchlings life. They come into the world afraid, nervous and very defensive - don`t be shocked if your new hatchling lunges for you and hisses hysterically at you, it`s perfectly normal as the baby hasn`t had the chance to learn yet that you aren`t going to eat it. Most hatchlings calm down after a few week. It`s also best to house any new hatchlings individually - to prevent any bullying, competition for food and nipping - and it`s imperitive to house them away from their parents, as a hatchling could easily be mistaken for a tasty snack by a hungry adult. Basically, a hatchling`s housing requirements are the same as an adults - in miniature.
It is also imperitive that you do not feed your new arrival until after it`s first shed. You will know when it has done this as there will be a green poo waiting for you to clean up! Up until eating it`s first shed the hatchling is still absorbing the rest of the yolk it has left over from the egg - any food items offered before this time will not be eaten and cause undue stress to the leo. Ideal starter foods are mini-mealies and pin-head crickets. Though don`t be too surprised if your leo looks as if it`s come face to face with monsters the first few times they are offered! It can take quite a few attempts, over the course of a few days, for your leo to realise that he`s gonna be eating them - not the other way round. Once the hatchling gets a taste for food, then their appetites are insatiable, eating anything upto 20+ crickets in one sitting - every day! As with gravid females, proper supplementation of the food is essential (Vitamins and calcium), as hatchlings grow rapidly and use vast amounts of calcium for growth.
And basically that`s it. Have fun breeding your own leos - there really is nothing more exciting than waiting for an egg to hatch! If you have any questions or problems regarding anything then please feel free to either e-mail me (funky1@sky.com) or drop me a line on www.reptileforums.co.uk where I am known as Funky1.
