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NOTE: Please find other gecko species' breeding sheets above.
- Before You Breed Your Gecko....
Before beginning a discussion on breeding, I must ask the following question- Are you prepared to breed your gecko?
That seems fairly obvious otherwise you wouldn't have visited this page. However, there are several points I would like to bring up before going any further
- Do you have the knowledge? Well, hopefully that is why you are here.
I have heard so often, or read on the internet so many times, "I have eggs, what should I do now!". Gaining the knowledge before breeding will benefit you, the new babies, and the parents.
- Are the Parents ready? Geckos generally do not breed during the cooler months of winter. Are you sure you have a pair? Are they healthy? Are they the right size? Is this the right season?
- Do you have the necessary equipment- incubator, scale, etc.?
- Are you prepared for the babies? Do you have the extra time and facility to check and care for the eggs and to house up to 20 babies per female you breed?
- Do you have a home for the babies? Who will take them once they reach sellable size?
- Oh Boy! It's a boy!
The first thing you need to determine is whether you have a male and a female. Do not assume that while you may have purchased two geckos as a pair you actually have a boy and a girl.
Do a check before introducing. As I've mentioned in the husbandry section, males do not tolerate each other and will fight with resulting injuries.
To check, flip the gecko over on its back.
A male will possess large preformal pores in a row right before the vent (where the tail meets the body) in the formation of an up-side-down V.
The female will either be lacking this inverted V or if it does exist, it will be far less developed than the male's
- Size Does Matter!
So how old does your gecko need to be to breed. Day geckos can begin breeding quite early at around a year for the smaller species and about a year and a half for the larger species.
Males are generally ready before females so some caution should be taken with introducing pairs. If there is a significant size difference, especially if the male is much larger than the female,
there may be rejection from one or the other. Watch them closely for over aggression.
- The Happy Couple
Ok, you have a male and a female. Now What? You can either leave the male and female together continuously,
separate and only introduce them during the breeding season, or introduce them briefly for a few days at a time with the sole intention of mating.
As day geckos so quick, my preference has always been to keep pairs/groups together permanently.
This is really your choice as to how you wish to keep your geckos.
It is important here to note that if the male is kept with the females throughout the year, breeding will not stop at all and the female will eventually 'burn out' from laying eggs.
Most breeders slow down their day geckos by allowing them to experience the same cooler, winter months as they experience in the wild.
- The Honeymoon Suite
Special enclosure additions are not needed with day geckos. Most females prefer to lay their eggs in a secluded location, such as between plant leaves or in tube structures in the enclosure.
- On your Mark, Get Set....
While you are waiting for those first eggs, there are a few things you can do to prepare. First, get your incubator ready if you do not have a spot to incubate the eggs that is at least 72 F. Don't have one?
A good, inexpensive on is available from Hova-bator can be found on ebay for about 40 bucks. I'm fortunate to live in the
Midwest as I find mine at the local feed store for about $35.
Setup your new incubator BEFORE you get eggs. Set it at the temperature you prefer (see below for temperature ranges) and let it sit. This may take a couple of days to work out.
Also, what are you putting the eggs in. You could use margarine or whip cream cups. You could also use deli cups. Some breeders buy/cut holes in their cups, some do not.
Next you will need a medium you will use in the cups to hold the eggs. This material will function to hold moisture in the cup while the eggs incubate.
The preferred products are vermiculite, perlite, and newest on the scene is Hatch Rite (which is similar to Turface).
- Eggs!!!
Your first eggs! Congratulations. Don't get discouraged if they do not hatch out.
Young female geckos can initially lay eggs the first few times without producing fertile eggs. Be patient.
Once you find eggs, the next step is to transfer them to the incubator.
Since you planned ahead (see previous section) you have everything ready to go.
Prepare the cup by filling it up half way with the medium. Add water until the contents are slightly moist but not soaked.
This is a very difficult judgment until you get some experience. If you are using perlite the mixture is 1 part to .8 parts water by weight.
If you choose to use Hatch Rite, their directions are listed on the packaging. Put two indentations in the medium to prepare the eggs to sit half way into the mix.
Now you can collect the eggs and add them to the cup. Gently lift the eggs (SEE SPECIAL NOTE BELOW) and keep them from shifting.
Place the top on the container, use something to mark the top. I use a small piece of masking tape so I can reuse the container. Record the hatch date, the number of eggs, the mother and father, the species and group (if have more than one group of day geckos or more than one species of day gecko).
Now you can put the cup in the incubator. You should have a gauge to monitor both the temperature and humidity in the incubator (details to follow on temp and hum.). Check this on a daily basis.
**SPECIAL NOTE- some day gecko eggs adhere to the plant/side of the tank and cannot be moved. You can place a container over the area they were laid and tape it
securely.
- My, It's Getting Hot In Here! Temperature and Humidity
Day gecko eggs should be incubated between 79 and 84 degrees F. Cooler temperatures will result in longer incubation times.
Of course if kept too cold or too hot the eggs will not hatch.
While it might seem more desirable to hatch day geckos out as quickly as possible, there may be some sacrifice to the animals health.
Day geckos' sex is temperature determined during incubation.
Incubating their eggs at lower temperature results in mostly females. Incubating at higher temperatures results in mostly males.
Humidity is underrated when considering its importance when related to temperature requirements in hatching gecko eggs.
It is important to keep the incubation medium slightly moist but not wet. However, it may be more important that the humidity in the cup is kept high as well.
Monitor the eggs being incubated. If one egg goes bad, take it out. Infertile eggs usually start to look bad after a week or so by turning brown and developing a fungus growth.
I usually do not remove eggs unless I see the fungus starting to grow then will get it out right away.
Also, if the eggs do not hatch when you expect them to, it doesn't hurt to them to continue to incubate. It is far safer to continue incubating the eggs than to try hatching them manually yourself.
- Finally, Your First Gecko Babies
So you look into the incubators window one morning and there it is. Your first gecko baby. Congratulations!
The baby can be kept similarly to the adults- water dish, misted, etc. It is best to use paper towel for a substrate for younger day geckos.
I've found that increased misting improves the health of young day geckos more than almost any other rearing detail as they go through many sheds as they grow.
Young geckos can act a bit skittish when you first transport them to their new enclosure. I prefer to move the cup to the enclosure and slowly tap behind the gecko to motivate it to crawl into their new home.
Handling of small geckos under 10 grams should be minimized.
These babies will eat similar foods as their adults- powered diets, small crickets, and mealworms, and fruit flies to start out (dusted of course). It has been written that the size of their meals should not exceed the width of their head.
With proper care and feedings, your baby gecko should grow quickly. It should be mature in about a year's time.
- Gecko Genetics
This section will discuss the genetic process in geckos.
Here you will find other great Day Gecko Care Sheets
next topic- Foods and Nutrition
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Copyright Walter Kern, Supreme Gecko ©2007
All images and text Copyright Supreme Gecko ©2007 unless otherwise noted
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