Hi!, I'm getting in to breeding crested geckos and was hoping to find some other people who are already in breeding projects that would be willing to give me some tips. I would like to work my way in to working with charcoal crested geckos as they have become quite popular and have really caught my eye at the moment I've been working on breeding my dark Dalmatian harlequin male with a darker female harlequin to get started and have even been working on my red striped male gargoyle with a similar female of darker colors. If anyone is willing to give me some tips it would be greatly appreciated!
Critter Horizen
I breed myself so happy to help.
Females 45+ grams. Males 35+. I won’t breed unless those weights.
I will say I add the female in to the males viv. I’ve found that is the best way myself, as the male scent doesn’t stay in her viv then.
I add for 3 days then take her out. Then a month later I do the same and that’s it. I don’t pair them again as they hold sperm usually so isn’t any need.
You are coming up to end of breeding season now though so best thing would be to pair her in February as they usually start laying again March time.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Females 45+ grams. Males 35+. I won’t breed unless those weights.
I will say I add the female in to the males viv. I’ve found that is the best way myself, as the male scent doesn’t stay in her viv then.
I add for 3 days then take her out. Then a month later I do the same and that’s it. I don’t pair them again as they hold sperm usually so isn’t any need.
You are coming up to end of breeding season now though so best thing would be to pair her in February as they usually start laying again March time.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Indeed! I saw I was to the end of it and my female isn't up to weight just yet so I was planning to wait for next season for her to pack on a bit more weight as is. However I'm not sure how to work my way up to other morphs such as the Charcoals, I've been looking on like and doing all kinds of research however I cant find very much on the charcoals with them being a some what newer variety every breeder I've found cost far in to the thousands and I feel like I'm coming up on a dead end I'm hoping to for now breed my two darker crested pair to hopefully increase the dark pigment
With the charcoal morph you would need a charcoal, or you can’t call it one, it would be ‘dark’ or dark based etc depending on the morph. For instance, I have a young tangerine phantom quad here with ‘pink’ dorsal I produced, ac reptiles named theres they produced years ago ‘bubblegum pink’, I can’t call mine that though as it’s not from that line. So you wouldn’t be able to calls yours charcoal.
You will however be able to make darker morphs with your pair, keep in mind depending on there lineage you will get ‘Kinder Surprises’. Basically you won’t just get their morphs out as their parents, grandparents etc may of been something entirely different.
Also Just keep in mind you can’t get rid of Dal spots easy so if you don’t want spots to always be in the mix I wouldn’t just use him personally.
If looking for dark Cresties people don’t want the spots as they are a pain to get rid of, a lot of people recently I’ve seen selling are selling because they don’t want the spots. With a lot of morphs now people want them clean and only that morph, no spots included unless working with Dalmatian.
Any pics of your pair?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You will however be able to make darker morphs with your pair, keep in mind depending on there lineage you will get ‘Kinder Surprises’. Basically you won’t just get their morphs out as their parents, grandparents etc may of been something entirely different.
Also Just keep in mind you can’t get rid of Dal spots easy so if you don’t want spots to always be in the mix I wouldn’t just use him personally.
If looking for dark Cresties people don’t want the spots as they are a pain to get rid of, a lot of people recently I’ve seen selling are selling because they don’t want the spots. With a lot of morphs now people want them clean and only that morph, no spots included unless working with Dalmatian.
Any pics of your pair?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’m looking in to getting a new male that’s darker and patternless at the moment my makes more of an ash tone then a dark one. I’ve thought of breeding him just to see what kinda babies he would produce however he’s more of a pet then a breeder at the moment I don’t have any more pictures of him and he’s started to shed to I’ll have to wait to get more pictures of him
I am new to breeding, I'm waiting on my first pairing 🤞
Lineage is important, without lineage the selling price will be lower and people might be less likely to buy.
I am not a dalmation fan, I prefer Cresties without the spots, unless there are no other patterns. That being said...I do own a few with the spots and pattern because I just thought they were awesome lol not sure how well the offspring will be so I might only need them once to see.
Best advise I can offer is breed only what you can keep (just incase you can't sell them) and don't mass produce. I have 12, soon to be 13 Cresties but I plan to only breed 2 pairs next year so I don't have too many at once.
Lineage is important, without lineage the selling price will be lower and people might be less likely to buy.
I am not a dalmation fan, I prefer Cresties without the spots, unless there are no other patterns. That being said...I do own a few with the spots and pattern because I just thought they were awesome lol not sure how well the offspring will be so I might only need them once to see.
Best advise I can offer is breed only what you can keep (just incase you can't sell them) and don't mass produce. I have 12, soon to be 13 Cresties but I plan to only breed 2 pairs next year so I don't have too many at once.
First thing to consider is to be realistic in what you want to achieve - do you want to breed to better your own collection, do you want to breed to sell to local keepers or do you want to become the biggest producer of Crested Geckos in the US - their is no right or wrong answer but your decision making process going forward will be influenced by what you want to achieve or how you measure your success.
Something else to remember is always aim for QUALITY over QUANTITY - its will be far better in the long run for you to become known as someone who produces the absolute best of the best. In other words it is better to produce 10 exceptional animals each year rather that 100 reasonable animals.
Finally, remember to enjoy the process and never pin your hopes on producing x, y or z to pay your mortgage as things have a way of not turning out as you had hoped.
Something else to remember is always aim for QUALITY over QUANTITY - its will be far better in the long run for you to become known as someone who produces the absolute best of the best. In other words it is better to produce 10 exceptional animals each year rather that 100 reasonable animals.
Finally, remember to enjoy the process and never pin your hopes on producing x, y or z to pay your mortgage as things have a way of not turning out as you had hoped.
Also Crested gecko morphs are not really proper inheritable predictable morphs, they're more just descriptions. So you cannot really predict what you will get. Morph crested geckos really aren't a thing, other than the Lily white gene (which has some negative effects on the animals health) and axanthics (which are few and far between).
The lineage is only important to other huge crested gecko fans that actually follow it, in reality it means nothing at all and to most people/buyers is not relevant.
The lineage is only important to other huge crested gecko fans that actually follow it, in reality it means nothing at all and to most people/buyers is not relevant.
As said quality.
I was breeding 1/2 pairs when I first started. Now I have 11 adult males and 14 females. I breed the morphs I personally love myself. All but 3 have lineage, including US and polish.
People also want big heads, or atleast great structure. Not small heads, not really sought after. And as I’ve already said the spots would put some people off as hard to get rid of. Though I’ve managed to rehome all mine with spots because the lineage was great, so they don’t always put people off! Unsure if yours have lineage?
Take time with it. As said I only had 1/2 pairs when I first started! This year is the first year I’ve had a lot of pairings/trio on the go! And I currently have 16 young here between 1 week and nearly 4 months old. And a lot of eggs still incubating. (I don’t rehome until 10/15g and sexed so I do keep mine longer than most breeders I’ve found)
But I’ve been blessed with some incredible morphs this year, more than I hoped for! So it’s all worth it if you want to get into it. It’s enjoyable and I love watching them all grow and find new homes (unless they stay) [emoji6][emoji23]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I was breeding 1/2 pairs when I first started. Now I have 11 adult males and 14 females. I breed the morphs I personally love myself. All but 3 have lineage, including US and polish.
People also want big heads, or atleast great structure. Not small heads, not really sought after. And as I’ve already said the spots would put some people off as hard to get rid of. Though I’ve managed to rehome all mine with spots because the lineage was great, so they don’t always put people off! Unsure if yours have lineage?
Take time with it. As said I only had 1/2 pairs when I first started! This year is the first year I’ve had a lot of pairings/trio on the go! And I currently have 16 young here between 1 week and nearly 4 months old. And a lot of eggs still incubating. (I don’t rehome until 10/15g and sexed so I do keep mine longer than most breeders I’ve found)
But I’ve been blessed with some incredible morphs this year, more than I hoped for! So it’s all worth it if you want to get into it. It’s enjoyable and I love watching them all grow and find new homes (unless they stay) [emoji6][emoji23]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
