age vs weight

[boutiquegecko]

Do you go by age or weight or both for females for breeding? I thought they didn't get to ovulating until they were almost a year, but do some mature early? Once they start hitting 40+g? In the older gecko manual it says some breeders go by age, some by weight. And then I see so many ads saying the female is ready to breed and I'm guessing due to weight, because they're born this year. What's the real deal? I prefer to wait until they're at least a year and the bigger the better.

 

[Grinning Geckos]

I would guess most good breeders worth their salt go by both age and weight. Personally, I wait for 1yr old and 50g+. I've had females start to ovulate at 7 - 8 months, and they were 50g+, but I held off breeding for their sake. On the other hand, Peek-a-boo is about a year, and still only 40g. She won't be put in with a male until she crosses that 50g mark.

As far as what's being advertised, I imagine they are going by weight. If they hatched in early January, they would still be under 7 months old. That's entirely too young as far as I'm concerned. They are just trying to make a sale to an uneducated, or overly eager breeder who's not 100% concerned with the gecko's well-being.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I agree with Shanti. I will wait until a female is at least a year old even if she is 50+ grams. Keep in mind that there are females that will never reach the 50 gram mark, and as long as they are at least 45 grams or so by the time they are 1-1/2 to 2 years of age and have a good fat reserve, they should be OK to breed.

 

[KelliH]

I breed almost all my leopard geckos for the first time at under one year of age. As long as they are of good weight (55+ grams female, 45+ grams male IMO)this does not seem to have any detrimental effect on the geckos, and I have never seen evidence to the contrary. I seriously doubt that they are all patiently waiting until they are 1 year of age to breed in the wild! However, I do not know about their exact breeding habits in the wild, I'll look into it though (I doubt there is anything published on the subject but it's worth looking around for). Since these are captive bred animals that live in completely different conditions and have an entirely different diet in captivity versus the wild it is a bit of a mute point, but still would be interesting to find out more.

 

[Grinning Geckos]

Keep in mind that there are females that will never reach the 50 gram mark, and as long as they are at least 45 grams or so by the time they are 1-1/2 to 2 years of age and have a good fat reserve, they should be OK to breed.

Good point Marcia. Is it just me, or are the small females becoming more of a rarity? Almost all of my girls hit 50g well before they're 1yr old.

Kelli, I'm sure they don't wait either!! Once they ovulate, I'm sure the males don't care how old they are....they're gonna chase some tail. No such thing as gecko jail bait, eh? LOL

My guess (COMPLETELY hypothetical) is that they won't ovulate as early as their captive sisters - food is a lot harder to come by in the wild. It does the species no good to have a bunch of babies when there is no food around. I would also think, in the wild, the breeding season is much more....seasonal (LOL), making even the very last eggs to be laid a healthy age by the time the next breeding season comes around. But...seeing as I haven't been wandering around in Pakistan hunting for geckos as of late, I could be COMPLETELY off base.

 

[nwheat]

I try to wait until they are at least close to a year and well over 50 g (preferably more like 60). However, I lost a gecko to Xanthomatosis this year. This, I believe, is caused by too much cholesterol / high fat in the diet and perhaps (?) a genetic predisposition. I had some of my other geckos cholesterol levels checked and they all were high. My thought is that the culprit is too many mealworms (I've gone back to a cricket/mealworm combo now). Another possible contributor is resorbing follicles! Apparently, resorbing follicles causes females to deposit cholesterol all over their bodies. So... my new breeding plan is to breed them when they ovulate as long as they are over 50 g and close to a year. Earlier this season, I was passing up the first ovulation in favor of waiting for that one year mark.

 

[boutiquegecko]

All our females we bred were at least 50+g too before we bred them. But they are all already over one. Was thinking for next year on what we hatch out this year. I didn't think everyone waited until 1 year old.

I see a lot of females out there under a year that are 45/50+ and not many small ones any longer. I wonder if over the past decade or so with continually breeding larger leos it's now a gene thing? I know our one guy is 9yrs, and he's twice the size of his parents at 10.5" and 115g. I don't know if that was norm back then or not, he was just so much bigger everyone thought he was a freak. But now so many other leos are about his size.

I imagine the wild ones ovulate later too based on the food, but ya never know. Or are they smaller in comparison to our captive bred ones? What was the last import and how big were they? Goes back to size again.

 

[PaulSage]

I try to wait until they are at least close to a year and well over 50 g (preferably more like 60). However, I lost a gecko to Xanthomatosis this year. This, I believe, is caused by too much cholesterol / high fat in the diet and perhaps (?) a genetic predisposition. I had some of my other geckos cholesterol levels checked and they all were high. My thought is that the culprit is too many mealworms (I've gone back to a cricket/mealworm combo now). Another possible contributor is resorbing follicles! Apparently, resorbing follicles causes females to deposit cholesterol all over their bodies. So... my new breeding plan is to breed them when they ovulate as long as they are over 50 g and close to a year. Earlier this season, I was passing up the first ovulation in favor of waiting for that one year mark.

That's some very interesting information there, Nancy! Thank you for sharing! :main_thumbsup:

 

[leopardgecko95]

I would wait til 50 grams and a year old because just think of a 10 year old human having a baby

 

[brandy101010]

The only reason a 10 year old (well maybe not 10 but 13 )having a baby would be so odd to us is because of the way we are reaised and the morals in our society. women are able to have children at a young age and way back in the day it was not uncomman. I mean my aunt was married at 16 with a child.