Baby Leopard Gecko Question?

Question

On 7/20/08 my first leopard gecko hatched. Now ive been keeping him/her in a kritter keeper lined with paper towels since then, when can I move him into the 20 long that I keep his/her parents in? I know that they will eventually lose their baby colors when they get older, displaying their permanent colors, but when will this happen? Please help me.

Answer 1

Never.  The adults will not parent the baby.  They will try and eat it.  Babies need to be housed separately on a permanent basis.  This is something you should have found in your research on leopard gecko breeding.  

Also, a 20 long is not really even big enough for 2, let alone more than that.  The babies should have their own cages separately or be kept together in groups of geckos their own size.  You cannot house all different sizes together or the smaller ones will eventually be starved to death.

About coloration, they should start getting adult coloration by 6 months if fed and housed properly.

Answer 2

Not only are gecko territorial, but they are also cannibalistic.  When raising hatchling Leos, you should never house more than 2-3 babies together, and you must make sure they are of equal size, because larger voracious siblings will eat smaller ones.

Mom of 3 is right.  A 20 gal. long tank is pushing it for two, but there is another issue here... if the two reside together in the 20, how do you plan to keep the male from overbreeding the female?

Are you prepared to heat, house, and feed all those babies, as well.  A single laying female can produce up to 20 eggs per laying season.  Removing the male once she is bred will not stop this.  The female can store 'sperm' in her body, and self fertilize after the single mating.

You should always do your research before breeding.

The babies cannot go back in with the with parents.

The only way to introduce any other geckos with the parents would be to get a MUCH larger tank, and place the new female(s) in with the old pair all at once, to avoid fights over territory.

Again, we're back to how will you house, heat and feed all the babies, and will you have homes for them when needed?  A couple of prolific geckos can over run you with babies before you realize it.  We're talking a LOT insects here.

As for losing the vivid markings of the young, that happens around 5-6 mo. of age in most animals.

I hope this has been helpful, and good luck with your babies.