sperm retention in U. milii

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I have 3.9 U, milii, and they are VERY prolific breeders! I had a 100% hatch rate with mine until the very last egg of the season didn't hatch within 24 hours of it's clutchmate, and when I opened the egg the baby was fully-formed but dead.

My girls have not been exposed to a male since June, but in the last 2 weeks I have had 3 unexpected clutches laid, and 5 out of the 6 eggs are fertile! I did not 'officially' cool them, and I certainly did not expect them to start laying again until they were bred again for the 2008 season.

I wonder how many eggs they will lay from the retained sperm of last June's breedings?

 

[preacherman]

Very interesting, Marcia! I'm glad to hear that they are so prolific. It will be very interesting to see if those eggs are fertile. I can't get enough of the pair that you sent me. They are fantastic little geckos, and (in my opinion) hold a huge amount of potential. I hope they continue to grow in popularity. I'm going to have to get some more from you soon!

 

[Leopardbreeder]

Wow, thats amazing.

 

[dprince]

Holy smokes!! That's very interesting. Definitely let us know how these go - geckos never cease to amaze me.

 

[Ccrashca069]

I don't know about how long for geckos but turtles and tortoises can retain sperm for like 3 years.

 

[ileventhal86]

hey Marcia, man if they are retaining that sperm, congrats! Mine did that a few years back when I didn't cool them but they were infertile. Since then I've always cooled them so I don't know, but good luck with 'em.
-Ira

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Well, I just got my 4th clutch of fertile eggs from 4 separate females that have not been bred since las June! I hope they all hatch and the babies are healthy.

 

[Zbiz]

Hrm... I guess they do retain for quite awhile... Thats good to know.

 

[PacHerp]

wow, that is amazing! good luck with them Marcia!

 

[Ccrashca069]

Congrats Marcia and good luck with them

 

[barbatus]

I know when I bred velvet and marbled geckos back in Australia, I was volunteering at the Museum of Victoria in the Herpetology department and it was documented that these geckos would retain sperm for 2-3 years. The original hypothesis was that they sometimes don't meet mates due to shift in raining seasons/storms and droughts. Apparently if the food source is low they save the sperm for a better time to produce eggs. Hope that helps. By the way- I can't believe I remember facts like this back from high school !

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

WOW!!! This is interesting!

 

[liljenn]

I just happen to read this thread and I was wondering, Marcia, if these clutches were fertile & if they hatched.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Jenn, the first few clutches were fertile, and I now have 5 babies from last June's pairings! I re-introduced the males when their eggs were no longer vialble, so I now have 5 gravid females... again!

 

[Ccrashca069]

Thats very cool Marcia I guess they can retain the sperm for awhile like turtles and Tortiouses.

 

[liljenn]

Wow! They must be very prolific breeders! So, on average, how many fertile clutches did you get from the June pairing?

They are such neat geckos, I think I will be doing more research over the summer about the different Australian Geckos. (Once I finish home schooling for the year, I will have time!!) I read some where that the U. Milii is one of the easiest to keep of the Aussie geckos. Why don't I see more around??

 

[gage]

thats very intresting and awsome at the same time