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Breeding What we doSexing the geckosMale fat-tailed geckos are easily distinguished form females. Males have 10 to 13 pre-anal pores. Mature males also develop a bulge behind the underside of the tail base where the hemipenes are stored. In young animals, it may be necessary to use a magnifying glass to count the pre-anal pores. Fat-tailed geckos are generally sexually mature at 12 months, although if fed heavily some animals may be ready at 8 months.
Because males will fight aggressively, they shouldn’t be housed together. Fat-tailed geckos can be bred in pairs or in a group breeding situation. In a sweater box rack system, one male and four females can be housed comfortably The pair or group can be housed together year-round, but separate any animals that are not gaining sufficient weight. Many breeders routinely separate the male from the females after the breeding season. This can be beneficial because it gives the females a chance to recover, and reintroducing the male in the next cycle can stimulate courtship activity Fat-tailed geckos should have a slight cooling period to induce breeding activity Prior to this period, the geckos should be kept at normal temperatures but not fed for two weeks, so they may clear the contents of their intestinal tracts. For four to six weeks, keep the geckos in temperatures ranging from 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit during the night and up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. Do not feed them during this time. After this brumation period, warm the animals slowly over the course of a few days. After several days at normal temperatures, begin offering food. Breeding behavior will begin at this time. During copulation, the male will bite the female on the neck while he tries to move his tail under hers to insert one of his hemipenes. If the female is not receptive, she will resist, and copulation will not occur until she is ready Oviposition (egg-laying) will occur anywhere from 10 to 35 days after breeding, depending upon the temperature in the enclosure. Higher temperatures produce shorter intervals. Fat-tailed geckos will lay two soft-shelled eggs in each clutch, and anywhere from two to 10 clutches can be produced in one season. Make sure the females have adequate food and calcium during this period. If they do not, they may still produce, but they will become emaciated and ill. The developing eggs can be easily viewed through the skin on the underside of the female. The eggs become more pronounced as oviposition nears. During the breeding season, it is advisable to include an egg-laying chamber in the enclosure at all times and check it frequently An egg-laying chamber can be made out of a plastic shoe box half-filled with moist moss, with an access hole cut in the side. The females will usually choose these sites for laying eggs, but if kept in a display enclosure, they may also choose to bury the eggs in the substrate. If the egg-laying chamber is above the heat source, make sure to keep p the substrate moist, or the eggs will desiccate before they are found and moved to an incubator. The eggs should he placed, slightly buried, in a water and vermiculite mixture (ratio of 1:1 by weight). If mixed-sex offspring are desired, incubate at 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Fat tails, like leopard geckos, are temperature sex dependent. Temperatures below 83 degrees Fahrenheit will produce mostly females, while temperatures above 87 degree s Fahrenheit will produce mostly males. The incubator should be opened at least three times a week to flush out carbon dioxide buildup. This is especially important in the latter periods of incubation. Also make sure to check the eggs' hydration. If they begin to indent, add a little more water around the incubation medium. Bad eggs will mold and cave in after a few days in the incubator and should be removed. Incubation times range from 60 to 75 days, but if an egg looks good and goes longer than this without hatching, leave it alone and it should hatch eventually. The neonates should be housed individually. Crowding young fat tails can cause them to produce more melanin, making them darker, and smaller individuals may fail to thrive because of competition for food among their larger siblings. Baby fat-tailed geckos should not be housed on loose substrates, such as peat moss or sand, because of younger animals' tendency to consume large amounts of these substrates while lunging at prey. This can cause intestinal blockage, which can easily kill a small gecko. The safest substrate to use with baby geckos is paper towels or newspaper. Other than those provisions, baby fat tails can be housed with the same environmental conditions as used for the adults. Unlike leopard geckos, many of the fat tails offered on the market today are still wild-caught, imported animals. Imported at-tailed geckos generally do very poorly and are not suitable for the average hobbyist. A far better choice is captive-bred Fat-tailed geckos, although they can be somewhat harder to find. Captive-bred fat-tailed geckos are an excellent choice for beginning and advance herpers. They are easy to care for, beautiful and docile. Most adult Fat-tailed geckos for sale are suspect as imports, even if a vendor says otherwise. Purchasing baby fat-tailed geckos from a reputable dealer will ensure they are healthy captive bred animal capable of living their 15 to 20 years of recorded longevity (Written by Petra Speiss © by Fancy Publications Inc copied with permission from Reptiles USA magazine)
Gex and Gomez What we doWe didn't do anything special go get our fat-tails to lay eggs. We just left the male and 2 females in the tank and we got eggs. Lots of eggs. As expected, the first clutch of each fat-tail did not hatch. But we did have a total of 10 clutches to date. (March 21, 1999. Just found another clutch today.) We have a chicken egg incubator that we use for the fat-tail eggs to "cook". The thermometer is standing up in the front of it. we keep it at a steady 84° F. in a place where the temperature doesn't vary much.
{incubator}We have 1 pint plastic deli containers, filled half way with damp vermiculate (damp enough for it to stick together). The eggs are placed half buried in the vermiculate. The lid has 4 to 5 pin holes in it. (We made the holes a bit larger by moving then pin around in the hole.) When the eggs are found, I carefully place them in the container. The container has been sitting in the incubator so it is the correct temperature. I lay the eggs in the same position I found them in (usually they are stuck together). I put the lid on the container, write the date I found them on the lid and put it in the incubator. After the eggs are "cooking", I just sit, wait and watch. 70 days after the second clutch was laid, these 2 hatched, one day apart from each other.
{the babies, 1 week old}The babies need to be in a separate tank from the adult geckos, and I had this one ready to go weeks before the first babies were born. As you can see, there is not much difference than the adult tank, just a smaller scale.
{babies home, 10 gallon tank} |
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