acouple of questions on getting my crestie a mate

[giaindell]

I baught a crested gecko last early july so im guessing hes has to be about a year and a half and I wanted to get him a mate. I know that when or if I ever get a female I would have to put her in quarantine for a month but how would I introduce them? He is 4 inches long nose to vent mature enough to mate?

 

[Trillian]

JBs Cresties is a perfect resource for you: http://www.jbscresties.com/breeding.html she answers all those questions. Once I was sure both mine were heavy enough I just put the male into the female's vivarium, after cleaning it thoroughly to remove as much of her scent as possible, and rearranging it a little so she had home advantage, but it was still 'new' territory for both of them. The mating happened the first night, and though he attempted a few times a week, usually, she would squeak at him and he'd leave her alone for all but once a month, when she was in the mood.

The mating can get aggressive, and is pretty nerve-wracking for any observers, I'd definitely recommend viewing the breeding videos that JB has on her site too, just to familiarise yourself with how things will be, and so you can spot any problems.

I was pretty irresponsible with mine and they lived together for about a year, it's better to give the female a few months 'off' a year. It took me a while to get the incubating right too, but I currently have 3 hatchlings and 6 eggs!

 

[Higgins]

It's not about age with crestie's, but more about weight. You want them to be around 35 grams before attempting to breed, 30ish if they lost their tail! As for housing them together, just don't be surprised if your guys lose some fingers or tails!

 

[giaindell]

thank you for the replies i will definitely go on that site how do i weigh them?

 

[Higgins]

http://www.amazon.com/Weigh-MS-500-...TF8&qid=1343098383&sr=8-4&keywords=gram+scale

if you need to calibrate, 100 nickles = 500 grams. These work awesome. I usually set a cup on the scale and "tare" it, then set the gecko on the cup. Easier than trying to get them to sit on the scale. Also a very easy way to monitor your gecko's health... that and watching the tail and calcium sacs!