incubation - OnlineGeckos.com Gecko Breeder

July 4, 2017

Hello Bell Albinos! Leopard Gecko Radar Hatchlings of 2017

onlinegeckos.com leopard gecko radar hatchlings of 2017

Right on schedule, the Radar hatchlings are here! At OnlineGeckos.com, we were having a race to see whether our Tremper or Bell projects were going to hatch first. The eggs were laid roughly at the same time. The Tremper projects won as last week two beautiful super giant leopard gecko hatchlings were born. Once that happened, we knew the Bell albino projects were coming next.

First Radar Hatchlings of 2017

These are not clutchmates (one male one female), but they share similar traits as both are from the same parents. You’ll notice the very distinct reverse stripes down their backs. This is a trait passed down from our male breeder, Kronos. We absolutely love the reverse stripes, and we breed for it specifically.

Radar Hatchlings – Genetics

Radar is Bell Albino + Eclipse. This combination gives them ruby red eyes. We love working with Bell Albinos. When we first got into breeding in 2011, the very first leopard gecko we hatched was a bell albino het radar. So we’ve been working with Bell albinos since the very beginning. We still have our first boy, he’s quite photogenic, you may have seen him on our site before. Continue reading “Hello Bell Albinos! Leopard Gecko Radar Hatchlings of 2017”

June 29, 2017July 1, 2017

Hello World! First Leopard Gecko Hatchlings of 2017

onlinegeckos.com leopard gecko hatchlings 2017 super giant

Houston, the leopard gecko hatchlings have landed! Our first leopard gecko hatchlings of 2017 are finally here. We’ve been waiting patiently, with fingers crossed, for these beautiful leopard geckos to hatch. It takes roughly 65 days for females incubated at 80-82 degrees to hatch, so it has been awhile.

First Leopard Gecko Hatchlings of 2017

We weren’t quite sure whether our Tremper projects were going to hatch first, or our Bell projects. Their eggs were laid at around the same time. Looks like the Tremper projects beat the Bells this time. We also have Rainwaters, Snows, and Tangs but they were laid a bit later.

These are clutchmates, born less than 24 hours apart. Their parents are two huge super giants; father a super giant extreme emerine, mother a very large super giant tremper sunglow. We can’t wait to see how these hatchlings will mature. They look like little Giants, and they are already eating 2 days after hatching!

Of course now that these have hatched, we know the Bells are coming next. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you updated!

November 1, 2013May 6, 2017

Did You Know? Leopard Gecko’s Sex Is Determined By Incubation Temperature

incubation temperature sexing leopard gecko nature spirit's incubator

Leopard Gecko Sex and Incubation Temperature

Did you know that leopard gecko’s sex is determined by incubation temperature? When the eggs are incubated at higher temperatures around 88-90 degrees, you will hatch out mostly males. When the eggs are incubated at lower temperatures around 80-82 degrees, you will get mostly females. And lastly if the eggs are incubated at around 84-86 degrees, you will get a mix of both sexes. While temperature sexing is mostly accurate, Mother Nature likes to play tricks against the odds sometimes. You could hatch out a female at high temperature, just as you could hatch out a male at lower temperature. They are rare, but it happens from time to time.

How soon can you tell a leopard gecko’s sex?

It’s rather hard to tell for sure what a leopard gecko’s sex is until they reach adulthood (1 year old). But there are signs you can look for. Males develop two distinct bulges early on. Although females do develop bulges as well, sometimes they are not as distinct.

The for sure way to tell a leopard gecko’s sex is either 1) when the female starts to ovulate for the first time, which is usually during 8-12 months old, or 2) the male has matured enough to develop darkened “V” pores. The first is obvious, males don’t go through ovulation, so they won’t have these pink circle dots on their belly. If you see pink dots on a gecko’s belly, then that’s a female. The darkened preanal pores is the best for sure way to tell if a leopard gecko is a male. While females will have a V in the same area, only males will have darkened (chocolate brown/black) spots there.

How do you sell temperature sexed geckos using incubation temperature?

When a gecko is labeled to be temperature sexed, it usually means the gecko is too young to determine the sex just yet. So the breeder has labeled a gecko as temperature sexed female or male based on their incubation temperature. Continue reading “Did You Know? Leopard Gecko’s Sex Is Determined By Incubation Temperature”

June 30, 2013May 6, 2017

Leopard Gecko Egg Candling – How to check for a fertile egg

How can you tell if the eggs you are incubating are fertile or not?

There’s a method called “leopard gecko egg candling”. It’s simply to shine a light on the egg to see if the egg gives off a pink/red color or not. A fertile egg will usually give off a pink, reddish look on the inside. It’s an indication that there’s something growing inside. Here’s an example from one of our eggs, this egg has been incubating for 30 days now.

This particular egg is being incubated for females at 81(F) degrees, so it has another 30 days to go yet. But you can see very distinctively the pink/reddish coloration on the inside. Continue reading “Leopard Gecko Egg Candling – How to check for a fertile egg”

June 7, 2013June 4, 2017

Importance of incubators

For a leopard gecko breeder, there are a few things that affect your season’s success. One of which is finding good breeder geckos, something we covered in a previous Gecko Breeder Chronicle article. The other however, is having good incubators. As a breeder, your eggs are everything. Without the eggs hatching, you have no season, and you can’t advance your projects.

Importance of Incubators – Unexpected Failures

During our first year of breeding, we had an incubator that died overnight. There were 12 eggs in that incubator, and all 12 turned out bad. It was not surprising to us that the eggs went bad after the incident, we expected it. Although it was disheartening, because the eggs looked firm and fertile before. They were from several projects we were working on that year, many of which included our Super Giant and Radar projects. That incubator was incubating for males, so we had a season with no male holdbacks to further our projects. Continue reading “Importance of incubators”