Breeding Cresties?

[JLC]

My first thoughts, when seriously considering using that 45 gal tank for cresties was to make sure I had all females or something. The thought of breeding them seems a bit overwhelming.

But is it really? I have yet to start my in-depth research on these little guys, which I will do for quite awhile before buying any. But what do you think, Marla? (Or anyone else with an opinion/knowledge on the subject!) How complicated are they to breed? How much risk is there of an early mating if you raise up unsexed babies together and end up with male/female?

I can't imagine how tiny the newly hatched must be! Gads, that would be cute!!!

[Soul_Of_Fire]

Hey Judy I don't know to much about Cresties although I recommend then to everyone who wants a simple friendly cute little critter in they're house however I found this site here thats got a great breeding topic post enjoy.

Crested geckos are prolific breeders, generally producing between 10-20 clutches a year of two eggs each. The number of clutches depends on a variety of factors including: the age of the female, the quality of the diet, and most importantly, temperature. In fact, the only way to get this geckos to stop breeding is to lower the cage temperature to between 50-60 degrees F for a few months and reduce the amount of food offered. Crested geckos are generally sexually mature at about 8 months, but I have found that females of at least 12 months of age are more reliable breeders and produce larger clutches with a greater percentage of fertile eggs. Crested geckos are difficult to sex as babies, but as they mature, the males develop a LARGE hemipenal pouch under the base of the tail and are easily distinguished from females that lack this appendage. This bulge becomes very noticeable about 4-6 months of age. A cycling period is recommended to promote breeding, 3-4 months with a cage temperature of 50-60 degrees seems to work well for me. After the cooling period, the daytime high should be allowed to reach into the 80's and the nighttime low can drop into the low 70's or high 60's. Increasing misting at this time may also promote breeding activity. It is not easy to distinguish developing eggs in the abdomens of gravid female crested geckos like it is in other gecko species such as leopard geckos. However, gravid females do exhibit a slight bulge in the lower abdomen prior to oviposition, but you have to look carefully. Oviposition occurs in loose, moist substrate on the floor of the cage. In my enclosures, I provide one section that is a mixture of peat moss and vermiculite which is kept moist at all times. Other breeders have found that crested geckos will utilize open containers of moist loose substrates. Eggs can be incubated from 70-80 degrees F, but temperatures above 82 degrees should be avoided for extended periods. Babies hatch between 65-80 days, depending upon temperature. Babies are small but hardy and do well housed in small aquariums (5 to 10gal) with screen lids. Babies will eat after the first shed (sometimes before depending upon the individual) and should be offered small crickets and baby food.

Heres the link
http://www.kingsnake.com/rockymounta...RMHcrested.htm
Andrew

[Soul_Of_Fire]

I also recommend them cause there are some super cool colour morphs.
Andrew

[Marla]

You certainly could get all females, but that's an expensive proposition to do it that way because when they're guarateed female the price shoots up or they come off the market as a rule. I can see why breeding them would seem overwhelming, but if you do it the way most people do with rodents ("hey look! babies!") then the hardest part should be scooping any babies who show up out of the tank before they get eaten. They're only 2" to 3" total length at hatching and apparently quite appetizing-looking as well as cute.

As far as how difficult they are to breed, I haven't managed to do it yet but from everything I read it's like housing opposite sex rodents together -- if you do that and they're sexually mature, eventually there will be eggs. If you use peat moss or potting soil (without added fertilizer, etc.) or a mix of one or both of those with sand as your substrate, the female will partially bury the eggs in the substrate and they will generally hatch 65-90 days later (higher temp = shorter time to hatching). Alternatively you can provide a laying box and remove it when there are eggs in it, put a top on it with a little ventilation, make sure the substrate stays moist but not wet, and put them up on a shelf somewhere to hatch where there are no adults waiting to eat them.

The females will lay 1-2 eggs at a go, though they may come a few days apart, and there's no indication currently that sex of offspring can be reliably manipulated by temperature (unlike with some other reptiles). The eggs don't require special tending, but the babies should be moved to small aquaria, critter keepers, Rubbermaids, or anything else reasonable as soon as they're spotted. All they need in the basic baby enclosure is paper towel substrate (moistened), something to climb on, and something to hide in/under. The last two can both be provided with a bit of eggcrate. You can put multiple hatchlings in together as long as there's not a significantly bigger crestie in with them.

That probably answered some of your questions. I'll know more when I have successfully bred them, but for now that's a summary of what I've read from numerous sources including breeders, keepers, and the Rhacodactylus book. As far as I know, it's accurate, but I don't guarantee it.

[JLC]

Thanks for the link, Andrew.

Marla, thanks for typing all that out! I'm definitely vacilating about whether I would want a breeding pair or not. Definitely NOT a colony! LOL I guess the question would then become how difficult is it to find homes for the babies? I have no desire to have a big gecko breeding project...but I suppose if the babies aren't too hard to keep and find homes for. But if the article that Andrew posted is right...10-20 clutches a year??? You'd have babies hatching and needing new homes all year!

[Soul_Of_Fire]

HEHEHE the joys of life some species are just more difficult I mean I don't understand females at all they complain about the pain of one baby, and then go out and lay 10-20 clutches a year. Come on whats up with that LOL.
Andrew

[Marla]

Judy, that's an overestimate from what I understand. If a female laid that many eggs, a good portion of them wouldn't survive and she wouldn't either (because of the calcium required for egg production). Nine clutches a year is about what breeders seem to find reasonable, though they can come as soon as 3 weeks apart. It shouldn't be difficult at all to find homes for the babies if you can find either a local pet shop with a reptiles section or someone who frequently goes to the Birmingham shows as a vendor. What you could do is buy a few babies, raise them up to 6-8 months or so when they're definitely sexable and sell off any males you have. Or you could keep one male in a separate container and just put him in with the females when you want them to breed. They can't get ahead of you with too many babies if you do that.

[JLC]

All excellent suggestions, Marla! THANKS! I may do just that...to buy three or four babies...then separate them by sexes when they get old enough. By then, I may be too attached to sell any...but then if I DO decide it would be cool to try for some babies, I'd already have my males and females to put together as I wished!

[Marla]

Sounds like a definitely workable plan! The sex ratio of hatchlings is a pretty consistent 50% so far, despite all efforts to manipulate it, so if you bought 3-4 babies you'd have a pretty good chance of ending up with both male and female. It takes many months for "cresticles" to become visible, but if you have an 8x or better jeweler's loupe, you can sex them by checking for preanal pores as early as 3-4 months. Then you can plan ahead for what you need or want to do as far as selling, keeping, separating, etc.