Breeding Leopard Geckos

Leopard Geckos are relatively easy to breed compared to other types of reptiles. Put a healthy adult male with a healthy adult female and breeding will occur.

The female should be at least a year old, be ingesting plenty of calcium, and have good fat stores for the best chance of success.

The big difference between Leopard Geckos and most other reptiles is that instead of laying a clutch of eggs all at once, the female will lay two eggs at a time over a period of weeks. Eight to ten eggs per season is the norm. Sometimes only one egg will be produced early in the cycle or if the female is a first timer.

Preparation
Make sure your female is receiving plenty of calcium before mating occurs and during gestation. She will also need extra food, especially after she begins to produce eggs.

A gravid female will walk with her body lower to the ground and if you gently examine her underside you can actually see the protrusion of the eggs. At this point a nesting area must be initiated in the habitat, although the humid hide can also serve the same purpose.

Deli cups (16 oz) lined with damp sphagnum moss makes a good laying ground inside the habitat, but there are many variations on this. Using something see-through makes it easy to see when there are eggs that need to go into the incubator.

When removing the eggs for incubation do not turn them. They must be kept in the same position. The baby has attached itself to the top of the egg and if the egg is rotated the embryo will die.

Remember this especially if you are impatient and must candle your eggs to check for fertility. You must not - at any time - turn those eggs!

Incubation
A plastic shoebox with a 2-4 inch layer of damp vermiculite is an acceptable bed for the eggs that will take up to eight weeks to hatch depending on your choice of temperature. Set the box, with the lid on to keep humidity in, inside the incubator and have it preheated and stable before your female begins to lay eggs.

For the eggs you want to produce females the temperature needs to be kept at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature for male hatchlings is 90 degrees.

If you want some eggs to develop into males and some into females, use separate incubators. Geckos hatched at a mid temp to get a mix of sexes produce lizards that do not become healthy, reproductive adults.

Kat Magnus has been caring for geckos for over 25 years. Her newest book, "Gecko Care Made Easy," teaches Gecko owners absolutely everything they need to know about caring for their reptiles. http://www.reptilegecko.com/beb.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kat_G_Magnus

The Amazing World of Carrot Tail Leopard Geckos

Leopard geckos had been brought into the United States to be used in the exotic pet business. These geckos arrived out of their natural environment with incredibly little information regarding this species. Since these geckos came from the wild, they were grouped into a couple of diverse varieties and subspecies. The exotic pet business was not conscious of these contrasts thus breeding them collectively which ensued in an extensive assortment of genetic variables creating many different colors, sizes, with designs.

The variables are regularly genetically driven; meaning these variations may well be encompassed into upcoming generations as a result of selective breeding. What you see in these lizards came about as genetic errors that made one gecko diverse from another gecko.

The carrot tail geckos are lizards that comprise a lot of orange pigmentation in their tail. This orange pigmentation is commonly at the base of their tail but now and again the gecko might include as much as ninety percent of its tail covered in orange pigments. For a carrot tail to be classified, it must have at least fifteen percent or one-quarter of its tail orange. The amount of orange skin color will be different from a solid orange tail to a small band at the base of its tail. This characteristic is line bred, meaning, the two geckos that had the carrot tail attribute were bred and their babies will, in general, be carrot tails also.

For the leopard geckos to contain more carroting than previous generations, breed the lizards that have the largest amount of carroting collectively. Carrot head is another line bred feature. The characteristics of the carrot head are found with orangey spots on the top of the geckos head and generally will be elite to Tremper Albinos.

The carrot tail has been seen in many morphs. It can be looked at in RAPTOR's and Albey's Tangerine. These individual geckos are in addition to the Murphy and Patternless lizards but for the most part seen in the Hypo and Tangerine morphs and within all of the albino strains (Rainwater, Bell, with Tremper) in addition to a little in the Blizzards.

As you become more involved with your leopard geckos you might feel like breeding your own carrot tail lizards. You will want to factor in space, resources, in addition to time required, to control the breeding in addition to their little ones. You also need to pose questions to yourself - like what will happen to the little ones if they don't sell right away. Will you have the time and room to house them and assume care of them?

Everything considered, enjoy your new and expanding leopard gecko venture. Enjoy how fun, unique, interesting, in addition, how magnificent these geckos are.

Jon learned the hard way (death of his first leopard gecko within 3 weeks) about the proper care, handling, and breeding of these lizards. Leopard geckos have a lifespan of 20 years if cared for properly. Start today receiving your free mini-course on raising healthy, happy geckos Leopard Tail Gecko, visit http://www.leopardgeckocaresite.com

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Feeding Your Leopard Gecko

The Leopard Gecko is a carnivore. They eat only meat proteins in the form of insects or worms. The staple diet of this lizard includes but is not limited to: crickets, mealworms, silkworms, superworms, and roaches.

The size of the insects offered should always be smaller than the space between the reptile's eyes. This prevents injuries that can occur when trying to swallow something that is too large.

Always gut load your feeder insects. This means to provide them with highly nutritional food, either commercially prepared or your own mix, before you feed them to your lizard. The insects will also need to be dusted with a calcium supplement.

Also be sure to provide a piece of potato or fruit to keep the insects hydrated. A wet sponge also works well. Giving your reptile hungry or dehydrated insects can cause your pet to become lunch for the insects. They will bite and burrow into your lizard - and will blind them as they see the moist eyes as a source of water.

This makes it important to remove any leftover feeders as soon as your reptile is no longer interested in eating.

You may also leave calcium in a shallow dish for the geckos and they will lick it as they feel the need.

If you give your Leopard Gecko insects or worms that are hungry and dehydrated they will not be receiving the high level of nutrition they need for optimum health.

As a general rule, the larger and older a cricket is, the less nutritional content and more chitin it contains. Chitin is the hard outer shell that is not digestible.

Hatching Leopard Geckos do not eat for about the first three days. Their yolk sack is digested during this period. They will shed and defecate before they are ready for their first meal.

Be sure to have insects small enough for them to consume. Tiny crickets and the smallest mealworms are good starters.

There is some controversy about feeding pre-killed prey, but live prey allows the Geckos to actively seek and find their own food providing activity and stimulation.

Kat Magnus has been caring for geckos for over 25 years. Her newest book, "Gecko Care Made Easy," teaches Gecko owners absolutely everything they need to know about caring for their reptiles. http://www.reptilegecko.com/beb.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kat_G_Magnus

Albino Leopard Gecko

When the word albino is used to describe a Leopard Gecko it does not indicate a lack of color. It only indicates a lack of black coloration. They also do not have to have red eyes to be considered albino.

An albino Gecko's color may be hues of brown, gold, pink, white, yellow or orange. The variety of color and pattern in these animals are almost limitless - there is just no black skin or eye pigment at all.

Strain Types
There are currently three strains of Albino Leopard geckos.
• Tremper
• Rainwater
• Bell

The Tremper Albino Leopard gecko is the most common and is considered the original strain. Their color may be anywhere from brown to vivid white or even pinkish. The eye color of these geckos range from tan to bright red.

Rainwater Geckos are the smallest of the three strains of albinos. They are usually pinker in color and have darker eyes than the Tremper at adulthood.

The Bell strain stands out because they keep a paler pink eye color through adulthood. It is also not unusual for them to be more colorful and have more defined markings. The lavender Bell Albino Leopard Gecko is quite striking with its brown spots.

Genetic Incompatibility
The breeding of a male and female albino gecko from different strains will only produce normal looking Leopard Gecko Babies. This is because each strain has a different genotype. The albino gene is recessive, so two recessive genes have to line up just right to produce the phenotype (or look of) the albino lizard. Otherwise the dominate gene takes over and produces a normal looking lizard.

However these normal looking Geckos will carry the recessive gene for both albino strains.

Care of Albino Geckos
All Albino Geckos are very sensitive to light, especially as juveniles. They need to be kept in low light conditions or they will constantly hide and refuse to eat. Minimal lighting does not hinder their ability to catch and consume their prey.

Lighting is the only difference in care of normal or the albino Leopard Gecko.

Kat Magnus has been caring for geckos for over 25 years. Her newest book, "The Golden Book of Leopard Gecko Care," teaches gecko owners absolutely everything they need to know about caring for their reptiles. http://www.reptilegecko.com/beb.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kat_G_Magnus