Thinking about breeding - How to familiarize yourself?

[procyonloser]

Hi there, like I said, I'm beginning to think about breeding two of my leopard geckos (in possibly 2021) and I was curious to talk to other breeders.

I don't want to breed really to become a breeder, moreso I'm curious about the process and the results of a possible clutch.
I have a female that is a normal giant 66%het RAPTOR who is also 50% Fascio (never bred) & a male mack snow RAPTOR (has been bred, but not by me.) She's a good size, being a giant, and he's very large for not being a giant - so I have to admit I'm curious how that size might carry on, and if she is het RAPTOR, how big a variety I might get. Not to mention how the E. Macularius Fascio in my girl might affect how the morphs are visually displayed.

I didn't get them with the intention to breed, I've had them for a few years. I've been thinking more about what their offspring could look like, and began looking into breeding.

I'm learning more about the genetics as I go (the calculator on morph market is very helpful, but I know not the end all to be all.)
I've been looking into the core aspects of cost to breed, hatchling bins, food, medical aspects of things that could go wrong.

But, I'm curious - how do you familiarize yourself with morph differences, even at young age of the hatchlings? Is it just time and skill?

Thanks, I know this was a lot of word vomit all in one go.

 

[acpart]

It's great you're asking now as opposed to sometimes when people say "I just got two eggs. What should I do about an incubator?". There are a few articles below that may help. The other thing to do is to google "breeding leopard geckos" and read everything. You'll find that a lot of the information is the same. Come back to the forum and ask about information that conflicts.
Here are the articles. One is about breeding on a small scale and one is about some basic genetic information:

Guide to Breeding Leopard Geckos on a Small Scale - Gecko Time

Breeding leopard geckos is relatively easy and rewarding. There are so many exciting images on the internet of gorgeous and unique animals that many of us get bitten by the breeding bug. We may dream of producing beautiful specimens and even of developing our own lines. Few of us, however, have...

www.geckotime.com

Breeding on a Small Scale Revisited - Gecko Time

In April 2009, after breeding leopard geckos for 4 seasons, I wrote an article for Gecko Time about breeding leopard geckos on a small scale. Since its publication, the article has consistently been the second or third most read on the site. Now that I 've been breeding geckos at this level for...

www.geckotime.com

Fun with Hets: Leopard Geckos Teach Genetics 101 - Gecko Time

A successful reptile breeder, in addition to knowing the mechanics of breeding and caring for hatchlings, must also understand basic genetics in order to plan and execute reptile pairings. In addition, the only way to make a positive contribution to herpetoculture requires the ability to provide...

www.geckotime.com

Aliza