# ideal weights for leopard geckos when breeding



## geckoboy92 (Dec 21, 2008)

ideal weights for leopard geckos when breeding


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

minimum 50g-55g and a minimum of a year old ~ a lot of breeders prefer them to be heavier and older before breeding as it can take a lot out of the females.
following links may be worth reading if you're considering breeding ->
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/breeding/244367-breeding-leo-s-few-thoughts.html
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/lizards/320956-thinking-breeding-please-read.html


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## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

Defo with Sleepy on the minimums, I`m also one of those who much prefers to use heavier females. I`d much, much rather use a female who weighs in at 60g plus than one who`s only just struggled to make the minimum.
That said, there are some females out there that are naturally on the small side - in their case, consider their age and whether you think they will ever be a much bigger leo or not. Also consider their proportions in terms of weight and importantly - their overall health. Once you use a `good` female, it`s important to provide her with the very best diet possible - to help maintain a decent weight, help egg/shell production and also to help produce the healthiest babies possible.


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## Captainmatt29 (Feb 28, 2009)

We have bred ours at 40grammes and had no problems with them, aslong as you can keep the weight up through the egg development period you should be ok.


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## forgottenEntity (Sep 7, 2008)

messengermatt said:


> We have bred ours at 40grammes and had no problems with them, aslong as you can keep the weight up through the egg development period you should be ok.


You mean you've put a male in with a 40g female at the start of a breeding season?

Or do you mean you've had females that have dropped to as low as 40g during a breeding season?

Or were you referring to using a 40g male with nice healthy 50g+ females?


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

forgottenEntity said:


> You mean you've put a male in with a 40g female at the start of a breeding season?
> Or do you mean you've had females that have dropped to as low as 40g during a breeding season?
> Or were you referring to using a 40g male with nice healthy 50g+ females?


you beat me to it ~ good questions


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## Captainmatt29 (Feb 28, 2009)

forgottenEntity said:


> You mean you've put a male in with a 40g female at the start of a breeding season?
> 
> Or do you mean you've had females that have dropped to as low as 40g during a breeding season?
> 
> Or were you referring to using a 40g male with nice healthy 50g+ females?


I have had females drop as low as 40g some lower than that.

A female at less than 50g however can be just as healty as one that is above.: victory:


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## forgottenEntity (Sep 7, 2008)

messengermatt said:


> I have had females drop as low as 40g some lower than that.
> 
> A female at less than 50g however can be just as healty as one that is above.: victory:


It's not about "health" - it's about how much energy and how many nutrients a female has to expend on producing eggs. It also depends on other things - like if you leave a male in with your females for long periods or on if you take the male out after a day or two, once he's done his job.

Don't take this as me being pointy... I am not sure from what you've replied with there as to whether you actually do put 40g females in with a male to start breeding or if, as I am hoping (although it's a big drop in weight if you do mean it) that you start from 50g+ females and they drop during the season due to the diet you are providing not being enough to keep the weight up, etc.


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## Captainmatt29 (Feb 28, 2009)

forgottenEntity said:


> It's not about "health" - it's about how much energy and how many nutrients a female has to expend on producing eggs. It also depends on other things - like if you leave a male in with your females for long periods or on if you take the male out after a day or two, once he's done his job.
> 
> Don't take this as me being pointy... I am not sure from what you've replied with there as to whether you actually do put 40g females in with a male to start breeding or if, as I am hoping (although it's a big drop in weight if you do mean it) that you start from 50g+ females and they drop during the season due to the diet you are providing not being enough to keep the weight up, etc.


Yes they start off at atleast 50g where possible, some of my girls cant get to the weight no matter how much you feed them especially my WT.

I think i have managed to get a balance on the weight now, i offer a pinkie and gutloaded mealies after they lay and it tends to put the weight back on pretty quick,


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## forgottenEntity (Sep 7, 2008)

messengermatt said:


> Yes they start off at atleast 50g where possible, some of my girls cant get to the weight no matter how much you feed them especially my WT.
> 
> I think i have managed to get a balance on the weight now, i offer a pinkie and gutloaded mealies after they lay and it tends to put the weight back on pretty quick,



erm I may end up looking thick here (not first time!) but... what does WT stand for?


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

forgottenEntity said:


> erm I may end up looking thick here (not first time!) but... what does WT stand for?


I think he may be refering to wild type.
to be honest I've had wild caught and have wild type and they have no problem gaining weight or achieving 50g+ and nor have I had problems with them losing excessive weight during breeding ~ the most any of mine has lost was 4g and that was after laying 8 clutches.


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## Captainmatt29 (Feb 28, 2009)

SleepyD said:


> I think he may be refering to wild type.
> to be honest I've had wild caught and have wild type and they have no problem gaining weight or achieving 50g+ and nor have I had problems with them losing excessive weight during breeding ~ the most any of mine has lost was 4g and that was after laying 8 clutches.


Sleepy, im not sure why one of them doesnt gain weight.

The vet says she is fine, we have another WT that is 90 grammes so it doesnt make sense.


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## Mouki (Apr 29, 2009)

geckoboy92 said:


> ideal weights for leopard geckos when breeding


Males ideally should be 45g+. They don't need to be as big and weighty as females as they mature much earlier and as they don't bear eggs...breeding doesnt take much out of them. They still need to be at least this weight though cos sometimes they may stop eatting a bit if they have other things on their mind...:whistling2:

Females should be at least 50g...but preferably more. In my experience the bigger and heavier the female is the better chance she stands of being able to cope with laying eggs...resulting in better healthier eggs...and it means she's still healthy after laying


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## I want a beardy (May 3, 2008)

I put my female with my male when she was 54g and after 2 clutches she was down to 40g. She decided to not eat after she had layed so she lost too much weight. Luckily she started eatting again on gutloaded locusts and mealies and she's now 58g :2thumb: 
So I'd suggest at least 55g but that's only from experience I've had this year.


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## wheaty5 (Feb 3, 2008)

SleepyD said:


> I think he may be refering to wild type.
> to be honest I've had wild caught and have wild type and they have no problem gaining weight or achieving 50g+ and nor have I had problems with them losing excessive weight during breeding ~ the most any of mine has lost was 4g and that was after laying 8 clutches.


 

You say 4g is alot but one of my females who started off at 84g beginning of the season and by the time she finished laying (only 6 eggs) she was down to like 60g. Thats like a 24g weight loss, but now shes finished about 2 months ago shes back up to 88g


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

wheaty5 said:


> You say 4g is alot but one of my females who started off at 84g beginning of the season and by the time she finished laying (only 6 eggs) she was down to like 60g. Thats like a 24g weight loss, but now shes finished about 2 months ago shes back up to 88g


like I said the most any of mine has lost during breeding season is 4g and two of the females actually put on weight (one gained 9g and the other gained 6g) so for me yes 4g is a lot : victory:


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