There are a plethora of different type of lizards and geckos available to the consumer and of these, the leopard gecko is probably one of the easiest to breed in captivity. The enormous variety of available colors and patterns make leopard geckos among the most beautiful and unique lizards around, and even more variety and beauty can be developed through selective breeding.
Ok, in order to begin the breeding process, we first must make sure that we have both a male and female and that they are both sexually mature animals. People new to leopard gecko care often have trouble telling the difference between the sexes but its really not that difficult if you know what to look for.
Gently turn your leopard gecko over and examine the area between the hind legs and the tail on the underside of the animal. A male gecko has two "hemipenal bulges" which are visible just behind the vent under the tail. Sometimes, if you have a particularly fat female on your hand, you may mistake some excess fat for the hemipenals but there is another clue to determining sex because the male gecko will also have a series of enlarged pores on the underside in the shape of a "V". These are known as the femoral pores and are located just below the anal opening. While females may have some visible pores as well, the ones on the male will be much more apparent.
Once you have identified that you have both a male and a female, you must be sure that they are both healthy, and full grown. The female should be a year old at a minimum and will usually be slightly larger than the male. He should be at least eight months of age in order for him to take care of business. Now all that you need do is put them together in the same habitat and let nature will do the rest. Sometimes, the little buggers will get right down to it but more often than not, it will take some courting on the part of the male to get the female in the proper mood. To do this, the male generally exhibits what you might mistake as aggression. He will bite the female repeatedly and he may dance a little mambo for the female, vigorously shaking his tale. This is all quite normal. If the girl wants nothing to do with the boy, she will bite him back. This may go on for a while, but you want to make sure you monitor the situation because the courting ritual shouldn't go on longer than 2 or 3 days. After that, I recommend you remove the male and let him rest for a couple of days. As with most males, it takes a couple of days after dealing with a non-cooperative female, to be ready to head into the fray again. After a few days, put them together again and monitor their progress. It should not take more than one or two repetitions of this process before you have a pregnant female.
After they have completed mating, you will need to provide a humid place for the female to lay her eggs. A humid hide is ideal for these purposes. You simply take a small container and place some damp sphagnum moss or your favorite lizard bedding material in the container. The female will use the humid hide when they are shedding and when the female is laying eggs. Once the humid hide is in place, the female will begin laying eggs in clutches which generally consist of one or two eggs which she will continue to lay as many as eight times a year in two to four week intervals.
After the eggs have been laid, you should remove them and place them in an incubator. Once in the incubator, you will now be able to determine the sex of your babies! Most beginners don't know that the temperature at which the eggs are incubated will determine the sex of the newborn geckos. Eggs incubated at 80 degrees or thereabouts will hatch as female geckos but if you increase the temperature to around 90 degrees, your hatchlings will be male. If you'd like to get a mix of both sexes, just keep your incubator set to 85 degrees.
Breeding Leopard Geckos can be fun and the difficulty level is not too great if you follow the advice I've outlined for you in this article. Enjoy!
Felix Silva is a lover of leopard geckos and enjoys sharing the information he's gained over the years. If you would like more information about Breeding Leopard Geckos, please visit http://www.leopardgeckoplanet.com where you can learn lots more about caring for your precious pet.
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