A few questions on age and gender.

[Amrgecko71]

Hello! I have one leopard gecko. He(sorry I call him he but not sure about that) is about six inches and still has a white tail with black spotted stripes all over his body. He also has a spotted tail. How will I know when he is about one year old? I was also wondering when I will find out his gender.
Thank you!
-Aedan:biggrin:

 

[Crocodidlian]

If he/she still has a lot of bold stripes, then he/she is probably still a juvenile. They usually just have spots when they are adults. How long have you had him/her? You may already be able to tell which gender it is. Look on the underside between the back legs (but do not hold him/her upside down). If you see a V shaped row of small black pores, then it is a male. The females sometimes have this V shape, but if so it is much less noticeable.

 

[Yoshi'smom]

I'd try posting a picture and then we'll be able to give you a better estimate on age. Usually you can sex a leopard gecko around the 8 month mark. It also depends on the gecko. Sometimes sex can be determined earlier.

 

[_Amazon_]

I agree with he post above, and females mature faster than males...so it depends on that as well...usually the females have little slits near their sex organs so you would be able to tell that way. You can take it to a local pet store and they would be able to tell you.

 

[Amrgecko71]

Thanks for responding everyone! I have had my gecko for about three months but I am not sure how old he is because I got him from Petco(not so reliable). I also do not see any black pores. I was also wondering if putting a plastic lizard in his tank would be good for him. I have been told that it gives them something to play with but i feel like it would just depress him.

 

[_Amazon_]

Dont put that in the tank, if anything put rocks or anything he can climb...maybe you can buy a leveled rock at your local pet store..kind of like the ones you put in fish tanks..and i think 3 months is old enough to know the sex so you can take it in to be identified anytime...if it is a female when she gets older (about a year old) you can put a thing of dirt in her tank so she can dig. Female geckos love to play in the dirt (they have the natural instincts to dig to hide their eggs) Males usually dont dig in the dirt. Hope this helps.

 

[Yoshi'smom]

Usually you can't visually tell a leopard gecko's sex until it reaches the 6-8 month old mark. Then you can look for pores and the hemipenile bulge.

 

[_Amazon_]

I guess it depends on the gecko, mine was 3 months and she matured fast to be identified as female.

 

[Yoshi'smom]

Yeah, sometimes breeders temp sex their eggs as well, but I'm not terribly familiar with that method.

 

[_Amazon_]

Yea usually i think if its warmer its a female im not too familiar with that either.

 

[Saskia]

Well, actually it´s the other way around, when eggs are incubated at warmer temperatures they are males, and cooler temperatures they hatch females (I do use the system, from 27C to 30C and I hatch females, and from 31C to 33C I hatch males, anything between 30 and 31 and you get a 50-50 chance), if you got it at Petco I´d guess it´s a female because they sell more females to avoid fights, and in fact comercial breeders do hatch more females in order to be able to have them all together longer with no risk (or I would say less risk) of a fight, remember the size doesn´t determine the age because they grow depending on their intake, I have a 10 gram who´s clutchmate (they hatched the same day) is 32 grames, the size difference is huge and they are the same age...... so, it´s virtually impossible to tell the age by looking at it´s size, you can only estimate, try posting a picture!

 

[_Amazon_]

Oh okay yeah im not familiar with temping the eggs...i got two of my geckos from breeders, and two from pangea pets.