RYL Underground

Here s a snapshot of the relevant parts of a mature male Leopard

Summary: Here s a snapshot of the relevant parts of a mature male Leopard Gecko Notice the well developed row of pre anal pores hi lighted here in blue Under magnification these pores can be seen as open holes often capped with a waxy build up Sexually mature specimens will exude a waxy substance from these pores which is smeared about the cage This is a form of scent marking Many beginners think their gecko is being cute wagging his butt all over the cage In reality he is staking out his territory Do NOT put another male in with a mature male They will fight violently often to the death The real giveaway in males is the presence of the two enlarged hemipene bulges at the base of the tail hi lighted here in red If these are evident on your gecko it is without doubt a male Juveniles of both sexes will often show a bulge in this area but it is not neatly divided in two as shown here A male Leopard Gecko This seemingly simple question is often overlooked by the novice They simply take whatever the pet store says to them and consider it correct Well it may not be correct Nine times out of ten when I am questioned by someone unable to breed Leopard geckos it turns out they have two females Females may cycle and begin to produce eggs without a male present if conditions are right This can lead the beginner to believe he or she is incapable of incubating eggs correctly despite all attempts It can be very difficult to sex juvenile Leopard geckos accurately Most often they are sold as unsexed meaning the breeder cannot tell or as temperature sexed Temperature sexed refers to geckos which hatched from eggs incubated at temperatures known to produce primarily a given sex This is not a guarantee they will be sexed correctly however You still must mature them and verify the sexes visually Visual sexing cannot take place accurately until the gecko is about two thirds grown usually at about five months of age This will vary a bit based on individual growth rate Are your geckos properly sexed This seemingly simple question is often never considered by the novice There are several reasons to consider NOT breeding your Leopard Geckos   First do you have a market for the offspring once they have been produced Leopard Geckos can be very prolific If you don t have a place to sell them you can quickly tire of feeding all those little mouths and then cleaning up after all those little well you get the idea   Second do you have adequate food supplies and caging for the offspring A typical Leopard Gecko will produce around a dozen pairs of eggs each season a total of about two dozen offspring We ve had as many as 20 pairs of eggs from particularly prolific females That s a lot of babies all needing their own little cages and gazillions of crickets Third are you willing to risk the life of your Leopard Gecko Breeding your Leopard Gecko is not without risks Dystocia commonly known as egg binding is fairly common and poses serious health risks that may require expensive veterinary services More common is the incredible drain on body resources that egg production places on the female If not in perfect health a female can become severely weakened and may succumb to renal failure or disease Here s a snapshot of the relevant parts of a mature male Leopard Gecko Notice the well developed row of pre anal pores hi lighted here in blue Under magnification these pores can be seen as open holes often capped with a waxy build up Sexually mature specimens will exude a waxy substance from these pores which is smeared about the cage This is a form of scent marking Many beginners think their gecko is being cute wagging his butt all over the cage In reality he is staking out his territory Do NOT put another male in with a mature male They will fight violently often to the death The real giveaway in males is the presence of the two enlarged hemipene bulges at the base of the tail hi lighted here in red If these are evident on your gecko it is without doubt a male Juveniles of both sexes will often show a bulge in this area but it is not neatly divided in two as shown here A male Leopard Gecko This seemingly simple question is often overlooked by the novice They simply take whatever the pet store says to them and consider it correct Well it may not be correct Nine times out of ten when I am questioned by someone unable to breed Leopard geckos it turns out they have two females Females may cycle and begin to produce eggs without a male present if conditions are right This can lead the beginner to believe he or she is incapable of incubating eggs correctly despite all attempts It can be very difficult to sex juvenile Leopard geckos accurately Most often they are sold as unsexed meaning the breeder cannot tell or as temperature sexed Temperature sexed refers to geckos which hatched from eggs incubated at temperatures known to produce primarily a given sex This is not a guarantee they will be sexed correctly however You still must mature them and verify the sexes visually Visual sexing cannot take place accurately until the gecko is about two thirds grown usually at about five months of age This will vary a bit based on individual growth rate Are your geckos properly sexed This seemingly simple question is often never considered by the novice There are several reasons to consider NOT breeding your Leopard Geckos   First do you have a market for the offspring once they have been produced Leopard Geckos can be very prolific If you don t have a place to sell them you can quickly tire of feeding all those little mouths and then cleaning up after all those little well you get the idea   Second do you have adequate food supplies and caging for the offspring A typical Leopard Gecko will produce around a dozen pairs of eggs each season a total of about two dozen offspring We ve had as many as 20 pairs of eggs from particularly prolific females That s a lot of babies all needing their own little cages and gazillions of crickets Third are you willing to risk the life of your Leopard Gecko Breeding your Leopard Gecko is not without risks Dystocia commonly known as egg binding is fairly common and poses serious health risks that may require expensive veterinary services More common is the incredible drain on body resources that egg production places on the female If not in perfect health a female can become severely weakened and may succumb to renal failure or disease

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