Leopard gecko breeding questions

[Erie_herps]

Since they're air tight you could either put 1-2 small pinholes in it or just crack it open about once every 1-2 weeks. I don't think you would need to open it since eggs use very little air. It depends on the size of the container. And mistakes are how we learn. Just a few days ago I had a mourning gecko escape (luckily I caught it), but that quickly taught me to check enclosures much better, lol.

[Malum Argenteum]

I don't open mine except:

-- to add more eggs, up to 8 eggs max in a 16oz cup, and
-- near the end of the incubation period when the eggs respire more, I fan them out every few days, and
-- to remove hatchlings.

I don't vent leo egg containers, as I find they dry out too fast if I do. Other species I do differently (big masses of colubrid eggs, for example).

Everyone has tricks that work for them, and figuring them out takes practice.

[Lizrd_boy]

Awesome. I'll probably just put a pinhole in the top of the container and leave it... I don't know.

I looked at the high and low temps for the incubator after it had been running for long enough for the temp to go through about 3 cycles of heating, shutting off, and heating, and the highest was 90.6, and the lowest was 88.3. To verify, these are the right temps to get males? Everywhere I look says 87 produces an equal ratio of males-females, and 90 produces males. This is slightly higher than 90, will that be a problem?

Also, I heard that leopard geckos have females at low temps, males at medium-high temps, and females again at high temps. is this true, and at what temp would I start getting "hot" females?

Thanks!

[Bogertophis]

...I'll probably just put a pinhole in the top of the container and leave it...

For what it's worth, when I've incubated & hatched snake eggs- (many times successfully, & never lizard eggs, btw), the eggs were in moist vermiculite, covered with but not touched by plastic that had one or 2 pin-holes in it, & the only time I ever opened the plastic over the container was to remove a bad egg, to adjust the humidity, or to briefly candle (check on) them. Best of luck!

[Malum Argenteum]

I never successfully incubated for males - a couple 'off' animals made the one major attempt I can recall not worth repeating. Last year I got 2 or 3 females at 80.5F anyway.

Not sure why you'd want a male, since backcrossing is problematic enough to not do it without a very clear genetic goal in mind, one that overrides the inbreeding issues. Best to get an unrelated male with the looks/genetics you want.

[Lizrd_boy]

I never successfully incubated for males - a couple 'off' animals made the one major attempt I can recall not worth repeating. Last year I got 2 or 3 females at 80.5F anyway.

Not sure why you'd want a male, since backcrossing is problematic enough to not do it without a very clear genetic goal in mind, one that overrides the inbreeding issues. Best to get an unrelated male with the looks/genetics you want.

What exactly do you mean by 'off'? What do you think the problem was? If I lower the temp a degree or two, and go for a single male, would that probably be better?

I wanted a male to breed with my other unrelated female, Lea, sell the offspring, and buy another unrelated male.

[Malum Argenteum]

I don't know what the problem was -- like I said, I don't really have temp sexing experience (my incubator is at the temp it is because that gives me the healthiest animals, considering all the species I incubate simultaneously), and so don't have a lot of info. Trying to work with a 2F+ range when pushing the high end of safe might have been the problem, I don't know. But try it, it might work for you.

By 'off' I mean the geckos behaved oddly. I try to shoot for best overall outcomes from incubation (and from everything else, really), and the temps I run give me those results. Trial and error, and you'll find your preferences too.

[Lizrd_boy]

So how big temperature fluctuations can kill the eggs? Right now the temps are staying between 87.5 and 89.1. Is that to big?

[Erie_herps]

Temperature fluctuations are natural in the wild. I think that's fine except it will have a higher chance of producing females. In theory I think a fluctuation between 80* and 90* would be fine, both are within the temperature range. I know of some breeders that change their temperature at a certain point through incubation to result in better colors.

[Malum Argenteum]

I agree ^.

European keepers in the past did allow night drops in temps as a general practice, from what I recall reading a big handful of years ago. I'm not sure if anyone does that anymore, but for many reptile species that's a pretty natural state of affairs. I'm not sure how big a drop is appropriate or tolerable, or at what rate of temp change. I've not heard that any fluctuation it is actually beneficial so my current aim is to keep it tight.