Getting some Levis Levis in 4-7weeks:D

[Knobbie]

Hi all, I am new to the forum, I live in Ipswich, Qld Australia. I have been keeping pythons for 11months, I have 1 Antaresia Childreni and 2 Morelia Spilota Cheynei's.
I will be breeding the Jungles and hoping to make that as my career, but I would like to have some little Smooth Knob tail geckos for fun. I will be breeding them for a lil extra money and I am really excited.
I will post pictures of the Snakeys, sometime today, so keep and eye out for it!

I have a 3ft aquarium, 40 Gal, that I will be using for some Levis. I'm trying to find a breeding trio to put in there then put a few of there babies with them for some more company
For the substrate, I will be using red desert sand. A heat mat, yet I may get a heat cord for my heating. That will be placed at the bottom, under the sand. I will first be putting 1-2cm of sand in on the heat mat and see how the heating goes, if it is to much, or not enough heat, I'll be taking or adding more sand to get the temperature sitting around 29-30degrees.
On the cool end, I will be making a "hill" that is 15cm high of sand that is which sprayed with water ever 2days. I will be using a terra cotta cup thingo that will be compacted in the sand upside down for a "burrow" like feature, then the water bowl above that, and enough room for digging.

There will be a hide in the middle made out of logs from the backyard. Then at the warm end, I'll be placing a Exo-terra cave, these hides will all be big enough for the 3 animals, then upgrade the hides until I have 7 Levis. 1m, 6f He'll be having a good time....;-)


Now for the questions. These are all about breeding these fella's.

Can I have the heat mat set at 29.5degrees year round, or do they absolutely need a cool off period through mating?

Will the two females happily lay eggs in the same tub?

When taking the eggs to put them in a incubator, can I have both cluthes in one incubator?

Do the eggs go well in a home made incubator?

That is just about it. If you can lead me to a good breeding sheet for further info, that'd be great.

Cheers,
Ned Fischer.

 

[Knobbie]

Bump

 

[Sebastian]

For the substrate, I will be using red desert sand. A heat mat, yet I may get a heat cord for my heating. That will be placed at the bottom, under the sand. I will first be putting 1-2cm of sand in on the heat mat and see how the heating goes, if it is to much, or not enough heat, I'll be taking or adding more sand to get the temperature sitting around 29-30degrees.

If you use heatmats or cables you should control them with a thermostat because of animal and fire security.
Deeper sand is preferred by the N.levis.

There will be a hide in the middle made out of logs from the backyard. Then at the warm end, I'll be placing a Exo-terra cave, these hides will all be big enough for the 3 animals, then upgrade the hides until I have 7 Levis. 1m, 6f He'll be having a good time....;-)

As levis are not known to live in groups I think keeping them seperate is better or at least use one hide per animal.

Now for the questions. These are all about breeding these fella's.

Can I have the heat mat set at 29.5degrees year round, or do they absolutely need a cool off period through mating?

Females benefit from a cool period because they can recover from the egg laying season. Also it is a stimulus for mating.

Will the two females happily lay eggs in the same tub?

If there is enough room, I see no problem here.

When taking the eggs to put them in a incubator, can I have both cluthes in one incubator?

Yes but you should put them in different container.

Remember that females should have reached an age of at least 18 months and/or a weight of 28g before breeding them. So putting babies to the adults would be not a good idea IMHO.

Best regards

Sebastian

 

[Knobbie]

If you use heatmats or cables you should control them with a thermostat because of animal and fire security.
Deeper sand is preferred by the N.levis.
Yep, I've got the thermostat ready there. I was gonna make it a deep enough, but not to deep, as I don't want them to start breeding to early.

As levis are not known to live in groups I think keeping them seperate is better or at least use one hide per animal.
Alright, I'll make a few extra hides.. I was only going to keep babies if they had really nice colouration.

Females benefit from a cool period because they can recover from the egg laying season. Also it is a stimulus for mating.

If there is enough room, I see no problem here.

Yes but you should put them in different container.

Remember that females should have reached an age of at least 18 months and/or a weight of 28g before breeding them. So putting babies to the adults would be not a good idea IMHO
I wasn't planning on breeding them with the adults untill they were alot older.
18months, and approx 30g. I will probabley make a small 2ft enclosure for the bubs until they are old enough.

Best regards

Sebastian

Thanks, I'll have to post pictures of their tank when I get it all set up.