At what age to leopard geckos atempt to breed?

[Golden_Gecko_Lover]

Hey! I have 3 leopard geckos, 2 females and 1 male. I was wondering if you guys could help me because I don't know when leopard geckos will try to breed! They are all around 1 1/2 - 2 years old now, the females were bought in Nov. 2012 while the male in Dec. 2012 (all as Xmas gifts.) The one female is around 50 grams and has been tearing and shredding the paper towels in the moist hide. The cool side in the tank is usually 75-80 degrees F, with a dry hide and a moist hide. The hotter side is around 85-90 degrees F with one cave hide and a heating pad on the side. It also has a heat light. I haven't seen any signs of breeding in any of the geckos, and I thought that was a little odd because most geckos breed at a few months, even, so I was wondering what age is appropriate to witness breeding in the geckos. Thanks, any help would be great!! :biggrin: (Also, if needed, I can give all the tank and gecko information I have.)

Thx again!

 

[PaulRyan22]

I want to know this answer too..My two geckos, male and female are housed together..Never fight and they are both almost a year old..When will I be a grandpa?

 

[Mardy]

During their first year, males become sexually mature at around 5-7 months, females a bit later usually 6-10 months. A female is not going to be receptive until she starts ovulating, so she'll likely fight the male off. A good male would leave the female alone when she says no, a bad male will try to mate when she's not ready and stress & injuries could occur. So it's not always a good idea to house male & females together.

After their first year, the usual breeding season starts in January through August. A female should ovulate starting around January, that's when you can expect to see mating copulation. Remember if the female isn't ovulating, she's not going to want to breed no matter how much you try. So it's a good idea to make sure the female is ovulating first, check for a pink/red circle on their stomach. You should be able to google up some pictures.

 

[Golden_Gecko_Lover]

I just saw that there's an answer! If you want to know the answer(s) below can help!! And LOL funny comment

 

[Golden_Gecko_Lover]

You helped me so much! The male and the 2 females are about 2 years old now. I haven't witnessed any mating and the male shows almost no interest in the females. I don't know if he's the good kind of male? But I probably should've said this in the thread-- I don't want them to breed, but I want to be ready! I have googled some pics now. Thx! But also, +Thx for the breeding seasons. So I only have a little while to get my male a cage and a place to put it... I'm pretty sure he'll try to breed this year. If he does, I'm getting a new cage because I'll just end up killing any eggs. Babies I can handle. Eggs, no-no! I cant buy all that stuff, anyways... But thanks for the great answer <3!!!

 

[vgorst]

Just a heads up - If your female is trying to dig in the moist hide it could be that she's getting ready to lay eggs (fertile or not). Get a proper laying area in there to avoid any problems. It's also worth remembering that leos can retain sperm for quite a long time, so if there was mating while you weren't looking she could still lay fertile eggs months down the line.

 

[Golden_Gecko_Lover]

A few months ago when she started, I looked for any signs of eggs. None. I kept doing it monthly and no sign off eggs. I am going to put a digging box in but I don't know what to put in it!