Leopard Geckos

[chris]

Hi All,

as some of you know i have a small colony of leopard geckos, i've been trying to breed from them for a year now without any success, however that all change last night when i caught the male 'doing the deed':lol:

i've been cooling the geckos for 6 weeks and stopped feeding to simulate winter conditions, and about 2 weeks ago i started cranking the temperature back and began feeding them up gradually. it's now about 80'F in the hot spot of the tank, and they are finally coming into breeding condition, now i've seen them mate it's only a matter of time before they lay 2 eggs (unless the other female gets involved in the meantime in which case it will be 4 eggs). I'm uncertain how long these take to hatch but i'm checking it out todayso i have plenty of time to prepare. i think it's 2 weeks to lay the eggs, and around 6 weeks to hatch at 85'F

i'll keep ya posted

Chris;)

[laurab]

Well done Chris!

My daughter has a Leopard Gecko.

[Waxbillman]

well done Chris mate you are now green, feathered, and scaled fingered.
have you any pictures?

Matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Good on ya Chris,

I wish you the best of luck in breeding your Leopard Geckos, they are lovely creatures that I intend on keeping myself when I have the room to do so.

Do you fancy swapping some Leos for some Tri-Coloured Dart Frogs next year?:lol:

Paul.;)

[chris]

Hi Paul,

i might yet take you up on that:lol: i would love to keep some dart frogs and similar but don't have the space or equipment to do so yet. then again, the tank the leos are in now was specifically built for frogs it just happened my mate ash was selling off one of his geckos as he belived it to be male:lol: turned out to be female (i was always a bit suspicious) and now it's the pregnant one:lol:

i might have a deal struck up with ash anyway as we've always said if i breed any females he'll be the first to have any.

Matthew, i did have pics but lost em on the format a few month ago. i need to take some photos of the weavers etc. so i'll try to remember today unlike yesterday!

Chris;)

[chris]

Gecko photos!

this one is the male

[chris]

and these are the females,

the lighter, less heavily spotted one is the first one i had off Ash a few years ago, and the one that will be producing eggs soon. the darker, more heavily spotted one (last photo) is the 2nd female that i had last christmas. this one may or may not be pregnant, who knows

Chris;)

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

Nice pics:D, one question though, what Morph is the male?

Paul.;)

[Waxbillman]

cheers Chris

great they are. i hope they do reproduce well.

Matthew

[chris]

Hi Paul,

the male is a Hypo

Chris:wink:

[PAUL HEARN]

Cheers Chris,


Paul.:wink:

[laurab]

Hypo? Does that mean he is mad? :-|

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura,

If it lives in the same house as Chris, somethings got to rub off onto the poor Gecko.:lol:

Paul.:D

[chris]

Hi All,

the female is clearly carrying 2 eggs now:) they seem fairly large so i guess it won't be long before she lays now. Hopefully i'll catch em in time, and she'll lay them in the right place but this is the first time so it probably won't go to plan.

Laura,

a Hypo is a mutation that lacks, or has very little spots on the body:-)


Paul,

yeah he probably is a bit mad as i make him work for his food, the only exercise they get really is chasing the locusts round the tank, so i keep hold of the locust and make them move that bit quicker. i haven't been bit yet, but i expect it will happen as hand feeding always carries a risk

Chris;-)

[chris]

Hi again,

i can expect eggs from the other female also now, as the male has just 'done the deed' :razz:

looks like i'm going to need a fair few more containers for eggs and hatchlings in a few months, not to mention the food.

i think i have now found a suitable name for the male gecko at least "Randy Andy" :shock: :lol: :roll:

Chris

[Waxbillman]

:lol: perfect name, when will they start to lay?

Matthew

[chris]

Hi Matthew,

the one female seems about ready to lay now, so i'm expecting to find eggs over the next few days. The other female doesn't appear to be gravid at the moment so it will be from 2-5 weeks before she lays any. There's around 10-35 days between clutches, and the number of clutches can vary from 1 to 10 in a season, so i can expect between 4 to 40 eggs:shock: if they all hatch that's a LOT of leopard geckos!

i can't wait to see what mutation they are as you never know what genes they may be hiding and not showing

Chris;)

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

Nice one mate, Randy Andy is certainly a fitting name,:lol: he seems to be living up to his name so far and I hope he will continue to do so for a long while.;-)

I don't think you have much to worry about regarding a bite due to your handfeeding regime of these lovely creatures though do you?:)

I also look forward to hearing what the offspring will turn out to be, the Leopard Gecko is one of the few Reptiles that has so many Morphs that a new one seems to be turning up every year these days.

Paul.:-D

[kenny]

hi chris
great pictures mate,and hope that you get some youngsters from them

ken

[chris]

wooo!!!! i have eggs!!!!

I've just got back from band practice (and making up a pretty good riff...) and have found 2 leopard gecko eggs sitting in the vivarium. funny thing is the female doesn't seem any smaller round the belly!:???:

the eggs are now in a tub containing a layer of damp sand and some damp moss ontop, and have been placed under the heat source with the probe in the tub to keep it at around 80'C which should hatch 2 female geckos in around 65 days (temperature determines the sex of many lizards, including geckos)

i'm really chuffed, hopefully when i candle them they will be fertile but even if they aren't there's still plent of time yet

Chris:grin: :grin: :grin:

[Waxbillman]

hello Chris

that brilliant news, shame it takes so long to hatch them. i look foundto seeing photo's of the offspring

Matthew

[kenny]

hi chris
thats excellent mate good luck with them maybe you will get an extra christmas present this year ................babies

:-D :-D ken

[chris]

Hi all,

i don't know whether the eggs will hatch this time round, as it is this particular gecko's first breeding season and it is known for such geckos to not the the 'egg mix' quite right the first few times round. however the other female has bred before so i have high hopes for that one.

the eggs are actually quite large, about the same build as a CPQ egg but twice as long, soft leathery skin. what does have me a bit worried is that they aren't exactly round like i expected, but this might be normal as gecko (and other reptile) eggs don't have the hard shell that bird eggs have. hmmm, i'm gonna have to ask on the reptile forum for that one

the interesting thin is that if i raise the temperature to 85'F the result will be a mix of males and females hatching, raise it a bit more to 88'F and only males hatch, and the time taken to do so is less (45 days rather than 65). mine are currently at 80'F to produce all females, the reason being they are less agressive and can be housed together whereas all males MUST be housed separate from other males. the really interesting bit which i want to try is incubating the eggs above 90'F, as this strangly produces 'hot females', however they have the characteristics of a male being even more aggressive than an ordinary male, slightly bigger, and near enough impossible to breed from. makes Anne Robinson look like a cuddly toy:shock: :lol:

hopefully in 2 months time i'll have a few hatching out, but i'm not counting on it this time round

Chris;)

[kenny]

hi chris
as you know i dont have any stuff like that but when you see other reptiles like crocs and turtle eggs they are all oblongy square shaped do its possible that they will stay that shape,but maybe they are that shape when they come out so they are easier to lay,if you have ever seen a human being born their heads are bullet shaped when they first arrive as their skulls are really soft and in a couple of days they change shape

ken

[chris]

Hi Ken,

sorry mate what i wrote wasn't quite what i meant:oops:

what i meant was the eggs are more flat rather than round around their diameter, almost limp. i'm hoping increasing the humidity might correct this as taking on extra water might cause the eggs to swell and become more firm.

i think it's most likely that the eggs are infertile due to this being the first time round, i'm hoping now that one of the gecko breeders on the reptile forums can tell me otherwise but only time will tell.

cheers, Chris;)

[Waxbillman]

its interesting how the temperature effect the sex, now i read a theory a few years ago how birds choose their sex amazing really, we don't not knowingly anyway.

Matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Matthew,

Your last post is relevant to my long awaited post regarding the determination of Birds sexes, only the theory is that sexes of Birds are dictated by diet and not temperature.

Later, Paul.:grin:

[Waxbillman]

thats brilliant, tello me how i can get all hens bred then?

Matthew

[chris]

Hi Paul/Matthew,

the answer to what determines the sex of birds is really quite simple, it's genetic.

as you probably know, in the case of humans males carry an X and Y chromasome, the X chromasome being the female gene, and the Y being the male gene. the Male gene is dominant over the female gene thus XY = male and XX = Female, YY is impossible to achieve as this would require a child from 2 men, and since we can't give birth or get pregnant it's never going to happen and the sex of any unborn child is 50/50 split (however this is already determined by whether the sperm cell has an X or Y chromasome, egg cells always have an X chromasome)

so basically, the male determines the sex in humans.

if you look in the cage& aviary paper from 2/3 weeks ago there is actually an article on how the sex of developing birds is determined. it is identical to what i have said above with one small difference, in birds the cocks actually have 2 X chromasomes and the hens have the XY chromasomes, meaning the hens determine the sex, but it is still a 50/50 split either way of whether the egg will be male or female.

hope that makes some sense:lol:

'professor' Bananaman;)

[Waxbillman]

i know all that DR. Chris

scientifically yes thats how the sexes are produced, however there is the thoery as Paul will hopefully someday point out (hint, hint) thats the sexes can be detrmined another way i also read some time ago an interesting article on Zebra finchas and that the hen decides the sex. it makes in theory why do we tend to breed more cocks than hens (for me anyway) to cut out competition maybe? so the mother gets plent of misters.

Matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

Congratulations mate!:D

I hope your first Eggs are fertile, good luck Chris.

Paul.;)

[chris]

Hi again,

the problem causing the eggs to be soft was a lack of humidity on the spot they were laid. fortunately since they've been in the incubator box they've gradually swolen up and they are now nice and firm. i'll candle them in a few weeks time to see if there's anything developing, if there is then it's time for me to get that other vivarium finished!:-D

Chris:wink:

[Waxbillman]

good luck Chris

Matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

I'm pleased you have all angles covered so far, good luck mate.;)

Paul.:D

[chris]

Hi all,

the first 2 eggs were infertile as expected, however lucky me as the same female has laid another 2 eggs this morning, both perfectly formed this time nice and firm and round. finger's crossed she's got it right

Chris;)

[Waxbillman]

thats a shame, fingers crossed with the next round though

Matthew

[kenny]

hi chris
its a shame mate but as matt says lets hope you have better luck with the next lot

ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

Good luck with the second clutch mate, fingers crossed this time everything goes right for you.:wink:

Paul.:grin:

[PAUL HEARN]

G'day Chris,

Any update on the Gecko's matey?

Paul.;)

[chris]

Hi Paul,

no more eggs have been laid yet, however the incubation of the 2 so far is going well, i have candled the eggs and they appear to have a slight red area at the top, so i reckon they are fertile although i'll know for certain by the end of the week when i candle again.

funnily enough one of my old mates from school has asked me today if i'll be selling any and is on the waiting list. if only CPQ sold that easy:lol:

Chris;)

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

I'm pleased to hear your second batch of Leopard Gecko eggs are doing well mate, I look forward to hearing any progress.

Paul.;)

[chris]

Hi all,

the same female has just this second laid another 2 eggs:-D , i've now moved them into the incubation tub along with the other 2 eggs. finger's crossed these will be fertile also

Chris:-D

[Waxbillman]

fingers crossed mate.

Matthew

[kenny]

hi chris
same goes for me aswell mate lets hope you have better luck with these mate

ken

[iguanaman]

Chris
You will be able to tell if the Leopard gecko eggs are fertile after a couple of hours of them being laid if the eggs go firm and swell alittle they are fertile if you gently squeeze them they should feel like rubber if there very soft like say a balloon there infertile so bin them also fertile eggs should appear white while infertile eggs will be a yellow/off white colour
Darren

[chris]

Hi Darren,

thanks for that, i take it you have had experience breeding leopard geckos then?
the way i was checking fertility was by candling after a week or so, if they are red inside and/or have veins developing i know they're fertile if not i wait another week and check again before binning them

Chris;-)

[iguanaman]

Chris
Yes ive bred Leopard's for the past 10yrs or so are you also aware that you shouldnt turn the eggs where as bird eggs needs to be turned reptile eggs must(once laid and the female finishes covering them) stay in the same postion or it will kill the developing baby some people mark a dot on the top of the egg with a feltip/marker pen then the dot must always stay in the same position
Darren

[chris]

Hi Darren,

yes i am aware that gecko eggs must not be turned, thanks for the tip anyway:smile: all going well the second round should hatch in the middle of February, the first round was infertile but that was expected.

out of curiosity, how old must geckos be at a minimum before selling on? i already have a few people waiting for any young that hatch out, fortunately they have kept geckos before so know how to rear them. i was thinking about a minimum of one month or so old before passing them on but am unsure

thanks,

Chris;-)

[kenny]

hi chris
i dont know anything about breeding these things ,but it all sounds fascinating to me,but with their eggs being like rubbery is there any chance that they might absorb the felt tip stuff,which i believe are toxic or am i mistaken

ken

[iguanaman]

Chris
I always use to sell my babies after 4 weeks but i know some people who sell them after 2 weeks but i liked to make sure everything was ok with them and they had a good couple of weeks food in them

Ken
Your only meant to put a very small dot on the egg so i dont think it causes any problems
Darren

[kenny]

hi darren
ok mate just wondering about it as i said dont know anything about them,but very interesting all the same this is better than reading a book at least you get first hand info,i used to keep tropical fish a while back but they got to much for me but i loved it while i had them.

ken

[iguanaman]

Ken
Ive cut the Leopard geckos back aswell i used to have about 50 breeding adults which when they got going produced alot of babies but ive only got 7 adults now
Darren

[chris]

Hi Darren,

thanks for that mate, i though a month would be roughly right. 50 breeding adults! crikey how many vivs did you have then, what size and how many geckos per viv?

at the moment i've got the 3 adults only 2 of which are breeding. the vivarium is 30" x18" x18". i've nearly finished work on a small block of vivs which are roughly 2 foot square on the base and 18 or so inches high. might yet put another block ontop but am unsure as of the moment

cheers,Chris;-)

[iguanaman]

Chris
I was keeping them in 36x18x18 vivs and there was 1 male and 2 or 3 females per viv at the time i wasnt working due to ill health so i had the time to put into them during the breeding season it was very time consuming due to the fact that i kept every baby seperate but now im working again there is no way i could cope with that amount again so thats why i cut back on them
Darren

[kenny]

hi darren
thats a lot of geckos and vivariums you must have had and i thought my fish were hard work:lol:

ken

[chris]

Hi Darren,

i am also considering housing all the hatchlings separate, what size containers did you use or did you use something else?

Chris;-)

[iguanaman]

Chris
i used some plastic boxes i bought off someone who got them from aboard somewhere but i also used plastic food boxes they are about 1.5ltr size i will check later and let you know i just found them easy to stack and also keep an eye on the babies to see if they where eating etc but it dose make it more time consuming having to do each baby seperate and i also marked each tub with who the parents where hatch date just so i could tell people how old they where
darren

[kenny]

heyup there darren
how about those cartons you get from the take away that are see through plastic they stack easily and as i said you can see through them

ken

[iguanaman]

Ken
I know the ones you mean but there to small really because you need a water dish and hide for the babies and then there wouldnt be enough room left the ones i used where about 18"long x 12" wide
Darren

[kenny]

i see now they would be useless

[chris]

Cheers Darren,

i was going to get some 10 x 8 inch containers, i'll step the size up a bit as i haven't had the need to buy any as of the moment.

Chris;-)

[iguanaman]

Chris
Yes that size may be a bit small i used 3" flower pot saucers as a hide (just cut a bit of the side away so they can get in) and small coasters(the sort you put under a chair leg to protect the floor)as a water dish
Darren

[chris]

Hi All,

just a few photos of the incubating eggs, i don't know why i didn't do this earlier

Chris;-)

[kenny]

hi chris
excellent pics there mate,when will we be parents then

ken

[chris]

Hi Kenny,

sorry about the late reply i must have missed your post somehow, the first lot of eggs are due to hatch around the 16th February, and the second lot about the same time in march. i reckon there'll be more eggs on the way in a week or so anyway.

i have candled the eggs again just to check all is well, and there is now an embryo developing in at least one of the eggs. i would have missed it however i noticed movement inside the egg so took a closer look:)

Chris;-)

[kenny]

hi chris
fantastic mate,we are all going to be daddies................................. and mammies of course

ken

[chris]

Hi All,

well they were due to hatch today, but the little babies have other plans by the looks of it:lol:

i've candled the eggs and i'd say another 2 weeks at least yet

Chris;)

[Waxbillman]

fingers crossed then Chris.

something to look forward to

Matthew

[kenny]

hi chris
yeah fingers crossed mate,and lets hope you will be a daddy soon

ken

[chris]

Who's the daddy:D

[Waxbillman]

well done Chris
it looks very cute
Matthew

[kenny]

hi chris
nice one mate ,got any names yet

ken

[laurab]

Well done Chris, that is fantastic news! Great pictures too. :p

[chris]

Hi Kenny,

nope no names, i still haven't named my 3 adults let alone the baby! plus if i have to start naming things i have 25 birds to name also, over well 100 fish to name...:lol:

Laura,

the photos there aren't great as i used the camera on my phone, however i should be taking some *proper* photos tomorrow with the digital camera. maybe also a little video of the little bugger trying to kill my finger while screeching at me:lol: definately has both her mother and father in her, gets the climbing around the tank and restlessness from her mom, and the biting habits from the father who decided it would be fun to eat my finger yesterday...:lol:

Chris;)

[chris]

here we go

[chris]

and some more, the big yellow thing is an upturned waxworm tub converted into a hide

[Waxbillman]

great pictures Chris

Matthew

[laurab]

Awwww..so cute ;-)

[kenny]

hi chris
they are real beauties mate.
ken;)

[chris]

Hi All,

second egg hatched this morning, i will get the photos one here later when i get home

Chris;)

[dave85]

hey chris,

nice baby gecko! btw what is he - same as mother being standard leopard or as it taken after its dad in colouration?

Thanks
Dave

[chris]

Hi Dave,

She is an abberant so i've been told, the dark patches will break up into spots although i have been told by another breeder that he has bred some with Hypos and they went on to lose all their spots as a hypo should- only they don't look like baby hypos. the new one that hatched today is a normal due to the colour and distinct bands across the body. you'll see what i mean when i post the pictures.

Chris

[Waxbillman]

well done Chris

i look forward to see the pictures

Matthew

[chris]

here you go, baby no.2

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

You are The Daddy mate!!!

Pretty good going too, theres not a single ginger hair in sight on their gorgeous little heads.:lol:

Congratulations Chris, I bet you are a very proud Dad right now, Normal, Abberant (what does that mean anyway?:shock: ), Hypo, Purple and Green Zigzags, it doesn't matter they are as cute as very cute things.

I reckon I know a couple who may now want a mate for their Daughter's beautiful Leopard Gecko named Dave, (formerly known as Davina, but the Jury haven't reached their verdict yet?:lol: ).

Laura, Roger, is it going to happen, will we hear the patter of tiny Dave feet in Dorset someday soon??

Paul.;)

[chris]

Hi Paul,

abberant just means that it doesn't have the standard pattern. normally there would be bands across the body, since the one has patches rather than bands that makes it an abberant.

anyway, what's wrong with a few ginger hairs:lol:

Chris:wink:

[chris]

Hi all,

here are the photos of the eggs hatching

[kenny]

hi chris
great shots there mate,isee that your hotmail is on the leading edge with the geckos aswell mate,nice one

ken:lol:

[chris]

Hi All,

3rd egg has hatched, about 2 weeks earlier than i expected however the temperature of the incubator had been raised to 85'F to speed things up. i dunno what to think of this one, looks like an abberant but darker than the first. also the first to hatch seems to be going hypo on me, and the otehr 2 are about an inch longer than the latest to hatch.

Chris:wink:

[chris]

last one:

Chris;)

[Waxbillman]

very nice, well done Chris.

Matthew

[gregd]

What a fantastic topic Chris,

I really enjoyed reading it and the pics are superb:grin:

Greg

[kenny]

hi chris
really pleased for you mate.but what are you going to do with all the extra ones are you keeping them all!

ken

[chris]

Hi Kenny,

i have a few friends who are interested in them so they'll be buying them when the geckos are old enough. i might keep the hypo for myself though as i'm only going to be buying more later in the year anyway, so that's one less female to buy and saving about £60

Chris;)

[Rogerb]

hiya cris my elsa has leopard geco It is truly buutifuul but we dont know If Its male or female { yes laura says that about me to }:grin: Im just a nice boy realy ?:p what is the best way to tell ? if there is one thanks roger b

[chris]

Hi Roger,

if you catch up the gecko and either place it in a glass tank, or hold it upside down. look at the base of the tail, in a male gecko there will be a bulge and a line of dark pores in a V shape. in a female there is little/no bulge and the pores are white and hardly show, if at all.

don't worry about the gecko droping it's tail when it thrashed around, it'll only do that if you grab/catch the tail

http://www.thegeckospot.net/leobreeding.html#sexing

if in doubt, place it in a glass tank, take a photo of the underside and post it on here and i'll let you know

Chris;-)

[chris]

Hi All,

the final egg has hatched today. the hatchling looks much the same as the previous only a very slight difference in the pattern on the back (fortunately that's enough for me to know the difference)

no sign of the female wanting to lay any more eggs, and given that she is now gaining weight and her tail is fattening back up i don't think she will be untill next year now. not bad for my first year anyway if these are the last

Chris:grin:

[Waxbillman]

well done Chris,

that make you a bit of money.

Matthew

[kenny]

hi chris
i am starting to get that itch about keeping other things but my wife says no way! i have kept a lot of other stuff in the time i have been keeping my birds,and i showed my wife the pictures but its a no i am afraid i did have an iguana quite a while back but i ended up giving it away as it hated her with a passion and used to whip her with its tail as often as it could.its a shame as i think i could get to like them at least i have the next best thing i can see yours on here

ken

[Rogerb]

thanks criss I will di this and lett you know what I come up whith will talk soon :-) roger b

[Karl-D]

I bought my son his first leopard gecko yesterday cracking little critter.

[Rogerb]

:grin: nice one karl hope he dose whith it :-D

[Rogerb]

sorry mate hope he dose WELL with it :D :D

[chris]

Hi All,

just an update, the geckos are doing well and growing fast, enjoy the photos:grin:

[chris]

and the rest

[Rogerb]

nice to see your pics criss thanks:grin: Iv still not had a looked at elsas yet but will do soon and let you know :wink:

[Waxbillman]

great pictures Chris,

keep them coming

Matthew

[kenny]

hi chris
they are coming on great,buddy they are really growing now aint they
ken

[chris]

Hi All,

been a while so here's an update. the 3 normal baby geckos were sold on to a 'friend' a few months ago. the first one he had several weeks before the next 2. all were in perfect health, i even provided some supplement and food to keep them going for the first week or so until he found his feet and provided all the advice i could give. unfortunately the first died after 2 week of being with it's new owner. after checking the setup it was obvious a mistake had been made as the light was at one end of the tank and the heat mat at the other... the hot weather and this meant the poor thing had no way to cool down and had literally cooked! we corrected the problem and i gave some advice on how to keep the tank cool to aviod any problems in the future. my thoughts were 's*** happens, so i gave the benifit of the doubt and sold him the other 2 geckos a few weeks later as promised.

a month ago, the second gecko died:evil: this time the problem was apparent. he had said that it wasn't feeding before hand so i had been down to check up on it and see how i could help. the waxworms i took with me provided it with a needed meal as they will eat these over just about anything. i left a tub of waxworms to keep it going until he got some for himself. with the first gecko i had noticed that he repeatedly chased it round the tank to catch and handle it. it was clear that the gecko didn't like this at all, so i suggested he didn't do this due to the stress involved and that it would be better to place his hand in the tank and let the geckos come to him, as mine do at home. he took in the advice, however obviously doesn't give a **** about my advice as he did the same thing with the new 2. i bought it back up despite risking seriously p*****g him off, the gecko died a week later due to not feeding, due to stress of being chased around the tank :x i checked out the body and notice the very thin tail, then i asked if he had been using the supplement i'd provided... the answer was "oh":evil:

now i've heard from this person's sister that he blames me for the 2 dying, interesting really considering one of mine is 6 years old and i've never lost any to date. good thing she has the sense to realise her brothers a t***.

needless to say i'm worried about the remaining gecko now as there is sod all i can do, this person is no longer talking to me and hasn't ordered any crickets as we used to for several weeks!!! my guess is it's probably already dead but then again i'm sure his sister would have told me if this were the case.


now for some good news, the baby i kept is now only an inch smaller than it's mother:shock: she also has a mixed personality of her mother and fater, the stupidity of the mother as she doesn't mind falling great distances when trying to walk off the edge... fortunately so far i've prevented this. she also has the aggression of her father in that she's quite happy to bite my fingers off while feeding. the good news is unlike her father she doesn't nip me when i have to pick her up! all going well she may well be big enough to start breeding at the end of the year, now i just need to find a suitable super hypo male to pair her up with. wouldn't want to pair her to anything less considering there's not a spot on her body apart from head and tail!

i'll try for some photos just now

Chris

[Waxbillman]

what a dam shame all that has happened, i hope the other makes it alright,

it was nice to see them in the flesh a few weeks ago.

Matthew

[chris]

here's the photos as promised

[chris]

and the rest ....

[kenny]

hi chris
they are fantastic mate,they look in really good nick aswell i know i have never had any but you can just tell they are !


ken

[Waxbillman]

i'll second what Ken said

Matthew

[Rogerb]

:D thanks chris the pics are realy good :D IV still to find out what elsas gecko is IE boy or girl must do soon try to get some company for him/ her :lol: MR B

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

Do you have an update for us on your Leopard Gecko youngsters mate?:wink:

Paul.:D

[chris]

Hi Paul,

the remaining gecko that i kept is doing fine, very tame and an eager feeder. the surviving gecko that i sold is still alive and hopefully things will stay that way from now on. i'm just getting the adults ready for breeding next year now, slowly cutting down on the daylight hours and lowered the temperature a touch down to 80 in the hotspot. they still need a bit of fattening up yet before i take the temperature right the way down to the high 60's and stop feeding for 6 weeks before reversing the whole thing. hopefully i can time that to the period where i'm at uni until, then start the breeding cycle during the christmas holidays when i'm at home.

the baby hypo did try to make a break for it the other week while i was working on the viv, as the vibrating slowly opened the sliding doors... lucky she caught my eye before leging it across a bale of hay!:lol:

Chris;-)

[kenny]

hi chris

nice to here about your geckos again,i know i dont keep them but i always like to here about them as i think they are fascinating

ken

[laurab]

Hi Guys
Here is a picture of Elsa's Leopard Gecko; I never noticed the detail in the eyes before!

[Waxbillman]

thats stunning Laura

Matthew

[chris]

looking good

Chris;-)

[vixen]

Hi all,he looks good,we have got a new praying mantis will get some pics of it soon,still to busy to get back up to speed trying to keep awake to write this.Ashley my son and I met Austin Stevens at our local Garden Centre at the reptile shop.Got a sighed book for Ashley,chatted to him for quite a while his programs are fab.My marine tank is great know, have lots of stuff in there got my first fish, in will get a thread up soon with pics hopefully.speak to you soon
Trudy

[chris]

Hi Trudy,


sounds great, the only invertebrates i'd be interested in keeping would be tropical ants and butterflies/moths. anything else is just feeder food!:lol: although i think i'm rediscovering my roots with the amphibians again as this is the first year i've kept any for a while now yet the birds are having no luck at all

Chris

[laurab]

I'm with you with the butterflies and moths...but tropical ants! :-P

Actually, I am considering breeding cockroaches for food.

[laurab]

Elsa was cleaning her Gecko out today so I thought I would take the oppertunity of a photo or two - turned out to be one as it moves so fast! :lol: