[LeoLover1989]

Hello everyone,

I did do a search but couldn't find an answer to this:

I have a female 10 months (nearly 11) weighing in at 65g and a male also 10 months weighing in at 47g
From what I have read on most care sheets, these two should be fine to start breeding towards the end of the month.

My question is this... Should I introduce them now (I did let them say hello in my "run" I've made for my leo's a lot of tail wagging from the male and licking occured) or shall I introduce them slowly. Or just put them in at the end of the month when Im looking to start breeding?

Just wanted to check with other gecko owner's before I do it

And don't worry. I have asked myself and I do have the time, dedication and sure will and love for my leo's to breed them. as well as somewhere to sell/give up the babies (except for some of them that I will keep )

Thanks all !

[Saskia]

Hello LeoLover!!

Unfortunatelly I am going to have to say something you might not want to hear (well, read), a 10 month old female is not ready to breed, she should be at least one year old, and in my personal opinion I recommend to wait at least until they are one and a half years old... she might have the size and weight but that doesn´t mean she is mature enough (you can compare her to an obese, oversized teenager), I mean, fisically she will be able to produce eggs (although an important percentage will probably not be fertile), but you could be reducing her life span... it´s like a teenager being pregnant, she can do it, but it is definitively not the best choice and will definitively impact her life negatively, the male is perfectly ready since he won´t have to endure the egg production process...

Sorry to say this, I imagine you are very excited about breeding, and it is absolutely your decision, but it´s my honest opinion (I have been breeding for a while now) just having in mind the best interest for your animals, if you decide to do it anyway the best way to introduce them is just to do it, you´ll probably see the male biting the female´s neck and chasing her, that´s normal, they will probably mate very soon and very quickly since they are 2 teenagers, keep them together for a week or so and then separate again.
I really hope you decide to wait until next season for her, you can always buy a mature enough female if you are absolutely decided and prepared to breed this year.

[acpart]

In the scheme of things, I agree it's better to breed an older gecko than a younger one, but I have done fine breeding females of appropriate weight that were nearly a year old. They are not yet old enough to know if their lifespan has been affected, but at 3-4 years they're quite healthy. Last season I bred 2 young females. One laid 16 eggs resulting in 16 healthy births. The other laid 6 eggs in the water bowl mostly, and none was fertile. The only other thing I've noticed, that the females (many of them young) I've bred who have laid lots of fertile eggs the first year, drop off quickly in subsequent years and by the 3rd year aren't laying that much. I have no idea if this is related to them being bred when young or not.

Aliza