Plans for Breeding

Crested geckos do not become sexually mature until about a year old, although there are many cases of it happening much earlier.
Rocco and Savannah are in the same enclosure, and so if they were to mature early they would be getting up to their shenanigans right away.
If it were to happen early, I need to make sure that there are plans in place for whatever might happen, and I need to know what I'm doing.

Preparing for Eggs

When female cresties lay their eggs in the wild, they will bury them into the soil or the earth and leave them in the same position until they are hatched. It could have a negative impact on the growing gecko's development if the egg is moved around too much.

We purchased some Eco Earth super early and filled it reasonably deep in our geckos' enclosure. It's a soft, soil-like material made up of shredded coconut fibres. Some come in a block for you to break up, but mine came in a ready shredded 8.8 litre bag. It can be used moist or dry in the enclosure, and I thought it would be a natural material for them which would be easy for Savannah to bury into.

Some people don't fill their enclosure with substrate in case hunting cresties consume it by accident. However, due to Rocco and Savannah's lack of hunting skills, the substrate shouldn't be a problem in this sense. If you do have concerns about your gecko consuming the substrate, you may want to read up on nesting boxes, as these can be effective for egg-laying too.

 This picture shows the substrate on the floor of my vivarium. There's lots of room around the enclosure for Savannah to lay her eggs and bury them.

This is a front view of the substrate through the vivarium glass. You can see how deep it is. We filled it about 2/3 of the way up to the front doors.

For the next few months, we will keep checking the substrate carefully for eggs about once a week. When they are definitely sexually mature, we will make sure we do this more often.

Preparing for Hatchlings

Until we find any eggs, and until we know Rocco and Savannah are sexually mature, this isn't something we have to worry greatly about.

On the other hand, I think it is important for us to know exactly how to care for the hatchlings and how their needs differ from the needs of an adult gecko.

We have a critter keeper, and I have been told that this can make a great home for hatchlings in their first month or so of life. An enclosure that is too large can make hatchlings feel intimidated and they will struggle to find their food. I want my hatchlings to be able to hunt, as I believe this is a healthier and more natural option for them.

We are keeping the critter keeper aside at the moment for the hatchlings, and we are going to use paper towels in the bottom of it. It is quite small, but we will be sure to fill it with some sort of vine for them to climb in.

At Christmas time, something that I've asked for is an explorarium. I know that explorariums are often hung outside when it is warm, and that's the main aim for them, but I'm thinking that the older hatchlings would find the explorarium a decent enclosure until we find them a home.

Here's an image I found online of a hatchling enclosure made from a cricket keeper. This is the kind of thing that I had in mind for the young hatchlings.

Selling my Crested Gecko Hatchlings

I already know of a few people who would like a hatchling or two, and I'm giving friends and family a 25% discount.

I know that crested geckos can be a lot more difficult to sell than perhaps puppies, kittens or bunnies, but I have several plans in place.

I'm going to be using the blog to advertise my hatchlings. I know that the blog is still young and I've yet to receive more views and everything, but it will be a good way to advertise them.

I'm going to let people pre-order them as soon as they want to. If you know what Savannah and Rocco look like and how tame they are etc., you will know that any hatchling of theirs will be gorgeous with a lovely temperament. I will want people to be able to come and pick them up, as it will be difficult and not very cost-effective for me to travel. The earlier people order the hatchlings, the more likely they will be able to have one, the sooner they will be able to have one and the less expensive they will  be.

I know that I'm going to be aiming for about £40 a hatchling, which was the price of Rocco and £10 under the price of Savannah. The prices could vary depending on what the hatchlings are like and my situation at the time. If anyone is already interested, you can email me on:

roccothegecko@gmail.com

elly_crook@icloud.com

pianoprincess33@gmail.com

Here are some pictures of Rocco and Savannah's markings to give you an idea on how the hatchlings may turn out.

Rocco (left) is my male. He is a 'flame'. This is him fired up when he is brown and orange, and fired down he is yellow and green. Savannah (right) is my female, and she is a harlequin. She is fired up here, and she is a brighter and lighter yellow and gold normally.

As well as advertising on the blog, I'm going to be using pets4homes, preloved and gumtree. I know a lot of people successfully sell their geckos on these websites, and I feel that my hatchlings are going to have a lot to offer compared to a lot of the other sellers'! ;-)

I'm willing to keep the hatchlings for as long as I need until they are homed :-) I will love and care for them if nobody else can.

Problems

I'm fully aware of some things that may go wrong when breeding crested geckos.

I've mentioned a couple of times before about small gravid females unable to lay their eggs, therefore the eggs fusing inside their womb. I've made sure very early I've provided lots of space and substrate in hope that Savannah can lay her eggs successfully, and I am feeding her up and providing lots of calcium and vitamins in order to make sure she grows successfully.

I'm looking out for loss of appetite and lethargic behaviour from the both of them, which could indicate stresses of breeding. This is most commonly caused by a larger and older male wanting to breed, whilst the smaller and younger female does not. Rocco and Savannah are the same age, but Rocco has been fed much better and therefore is much larger. This is something I have to keep an eye on from Savannah, but at the moment she is perfectly active and healthy, growing day by day and eating brilliantly.

The last thing I'm looking out for is Savannah becoming gravid. I don't want to miss any signs of this, because I want to start planning as soon as I'm aware of approaching hatchlings!

So that's about it for my breeding plans :-)

Other than all of that, I'm just trying to create a comfortable environment with zero competition so that my geckos get on as best as possible! They seem to be doing just fine.

I'll finish of with a couple of pictures of the pair of them this morning. They show Savannah following Rocco up the vine. So cute!

(For those interested in hatchlings, it will also show you Savannah 'fired-down'!)

Enjoy!

Elly. x