Incubation

[N8thegeckogeek]

Hello noob central May not be the place to put this but with incubation do you need a real incubator for incubating eggs or would a hot lamp work? I do not have eggs currently but I am wondering what I would need to breed geckos (leopard)

 

[Mardy]

You don't need a real incubator, what's more important is keeping your temperature & humidity steady. If you can provide a condition for your eggs where the incubation temperature stays within a few degrees, and humidity stays around 80%, then you should be fine.

So however you think you want to do it, just make sure to run extensive tests before putting an actual egg in it. Run it for days & weeks to make sure you can get the temperature & humidity readings to see how well it'll work. You're looking at incubating for 30-35 days for males at 89 degrees, or 55-65 days for females at 81/82 degrees.

 

[N8thegeckogeek]

Thanks! While I don't have eggs yet I'm pondering buying a female gecko

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thanks! While I don't have eggs yet I'm pondering buying a female gecko

Breeding opens up many additional responsibilities and expenses. Many leos can be found right now by adopting as well as by purchasing.

 

[Jstoker1238]

Hello noob central May not be the place to put this but with incubation do you need a real incubator for incubating eggs or would a hot lamp work? I do not have eggs currently but I am wondering what I would need to breed geckos (leopard)

If you're looking to breed, I recommend an incubator. If you want to casually attempt to hatch an egg or two, then what Mardy said is true. I currently have a female who started laying eggs shortly after I obtained her. She was mated and I was not informed. . (what a nice surprise). I decided to incubate one egg by keeping it in a Tupperware container with vermiculite as a medium in a corner of her enclosure. The other eggs I gave away to my local reptile store. Just keep in mind that if you have a female laying fertilized eggs, you will need new enclosures, additional heating, food, and of course the care each baby gecko requires. They will lay eggs in pairs generally once about every two weeks, so over the course of a month you could end up with more eggs than you have room for once they are hatched. They can lay up to 10-12 eggs or so I've heard. So if you do intend on breeding, the advice I can give you Is that being prepared will be your best friend.