Sexing leopard geckos..

[Jace]

I recently purchased two leopard geckos, Mika and Afton. They are approximately 2" long and I'm thinking too small to properly sex. For now, they are in the same home, but when can they be sexed? I've read that males cannot be kept together, but females can. Thanks for any help.

[Jace]

Well, both are eating very well. Fast little ones!! And they kept licking their lips, which is what my dogs do when they eat. They checked out my fingers but moved away when touched, so I will have to gradually let them get used to me. My daughter is very excited-she picked out and named Mika; Afton is the bolder of the two and came right out to hunt when the crickets were tossed in.

[adawinters]

Found you a quick link with pics:

http://www.reptilecare.com/leopardgender.htm

After ~ 6 months, you should be able to sex them. Males have hemipenal bulges and femural pores. Females don't. Sometimes, they develop later than expected. The general rule of thumb is that, if you can ID a young, adult male, he's male. If you ID a young adult female, she's PROBABLY a female. (She might just be a late blooming male.)

You're right that males will be aggressive toward each other and should not be housed together. Females can be housed together. If you wind up with one male and one female (as unfortunately was the case with me), the general consensus is to separate them, to avoid aggression and over breeding. I've taken to feeding them separately, outside of the enclosure, because I saw some definite food-aggression, but I've been lucky enough that they don't (yet?) have any interest in mating, so until I see them trying to do that little dance, I'll keep them together. (They're about 2 1/2 right now). My male only has ANY interest in the female when she's competition for a cricket. Otherwise, they pretty much ignore each other completely.

There is also something called a "hot female," which is a female leopard gecko that results from being bred at too-high temps. These are quite aggressive, and should be housed alone. I have not yet been able to find a pic of their underside-bits, so I do not know if there is any visible way to sex for a hot female. (If anyone out there has any info on hot females -- besides the temps that create them -- I'm actually very interested in learning more, so please PM me.)

Hope that helps. I have leopard geckos, and I read way too much for my own good, so let me know if there's anything else I can help with. I think most of the basics are covered in the care sheets, though.

[Jace]

Wow, thanks. Very helpful. I was wrong about their lengths, though-they are more like 3" or slightly longer. Afton was stretched out and didn't hide when I measured him/her with my fingers. Still too small and too young to determine sex though. They both seem very alert and still looked hungry, though I must have dropped a good 20 crickets in. Nothing was left 10 minutes later. Can they be over-fed?

I was told Afton was a certain type of Leopard Gecko, though no-one could remember the actual name. S/he looked nothing like the others, which is why it was picked-I like unusual looking pets . That and it's easy to tell them apart.

Thank you very much for your help. I can't wait for them to get bigger and I really hope that I have two females, but I shall have to wait and see.

[adawinters]

Post some pics and I'll try to help with the type/morph.

I'm pretty sure they can be overfed. Any animal that stores fat can wind up overdoing it. Animals that can't store fat will generally only eat as much as they need. Once you've seen enough pictures of healthy leopard geckos, you get a sense of their normal proportions. As long as they don't start looking "fat" to you, it should be alright. (I did hear of one instance where, at a checkup at the vet's office, an owner was politely scolded for her gecko's obesity. ) I think that the real measure is their armpits. When armpits start to loose definition, it's time for a diet.

[Jace]

Thank you sooo much for all your help. I've been reading up on them like crazy, but it's nice to know that someone relatively "close" can help with them if needed.

I went back to the petstore and they told me Afton is a Blizzard Leopard Gecko. Here's a picture of her (I keep calling this one she so a she it is for now!) out and about hunting last night.

[adawinters]

That could be a blizzard. Blizzards are usually whiter looking, so I'm not sure. I did a quick online image search, and there were other hues, so maybe the term blizzard could include other, pale tones? (Or the term's become well known, so it's used for other pale tones, even if they're not quite actual "blizzards?" They might just sell better that way.)

She's really pretty.

[Jace]

Thanks. Someone else said she was something that started with an "L", but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. Apparently the "L" kind is more fleshy toned, which would fit Afton better than Blizzard. Either way, she's pretty darn cute.

Do geckos need to bask? I've heard two different answers. I keep their home at about 28 degrees Celcius during the day, and then try and drop it down to about 20-21 degrees at night. I'm having trouble with lowering it because we are going through a heat wave right now and our house stays in the upper 20s until past midnight. However, they are eating a ton of crickets and mealworms so maybe I am over worrying. Thanks again. Do you have any pics of yours and your set up for them?

[Kurt]

Geckos don't bask, they are nocturnal. Is leucistic the L your looking for.

[Jace]

Geckos don't bask, they are nocturnal. Is leucistic the L your looking for.

That's what I thought-about the basking I mean. How can something that is nocturnal bask? As long as I have an even high temperature and an even lower temperature, I should be okay..right? And yes, I think Leucistic is the word I am looking for. I have looked up Blizzard and one picture I found is Afton almost perfectly; however, all the rest show a distinctly white Gecko-definately not Afton. Not that it matters, but "flesh toned" just doesn't do her/him justice!

Thanks Kurt. Guess I better trust my instincts a bit more!

[Kurt]

You're welcome.

[adawinters]

"Blizzard" is just a pop term to sell leucistic leos. It's kind of funny when marketting meets with living things.


Kurt's right that they don't bask, but they do look for (well, feel for) temps they like, and I have caught mine pressing their tummies down on the warm spot and stretching out. If that happens to be under a lit-up heat lamp, they're ok with that. The info you might have seen about basking might have been referring to the hot end of their tank, which some people do create by using basking bulbs rather than heating pads. The effect is the same, either way: one end of the tank is at the higher end of their temp range, and if they want to be warmer, they'll go there. If you accomplish this already with a heat mat, that's fine. No bulbs needed.

I will admit that, when it gets really hot in my apartment, I turn off all the gear for a day or two, or however long the oppressive heat lasts, and they seem fine with it, so I don't think warm nights will do them much harm if it's only for a little while. I think the most important thing is to have enough heat for digestion, so that they don't get constipated.

I've attached a few pics. I think I have a couple more loaded to my profile. (John created a new, nifty "picture albums" link right under our names to the left there, so you can access that pretty quickly.)

I want to further develop their tank, but that's on hold until next summer. Alas.

[Jace]

Very neat pictures-I really like Seattles' terriarium. Mine right now is kind of boring. I bought them a cave like hideout where you can look in and observe them without disturbing their sleep (it attaches to the side of the tank), and a specific mealworm dish so the little buggers can't get out and I want to find a more naturalistic moist hide for them-a Cool Whip container just doesn't cut it for me, though I doubt if they really care. I would like to get them some logs to climb and maybe some plants.

Do you use an undertank heater? I've heard good and bad things about them, so right now I am just sticking with my heat bulb. They have stayed in their cave all day and only come out at night when I drop the temp to eat. And boy do they eat!!

Thanks for all the advice and sharing your pictures. I can't wait for mine to get as big and healthy like yours. Seattle has amazing eyes!

[SDahmer]

Jace, I'm sure your Afton is a blizzard. Its definitley not a leucistic or patternless. As for it not being completely white, blizzards aren't. The leos you see that are almost paper white are blazzing blizzards and diablo blancos. You can actually sex them even at birth. The method used to do this requires a strong single led flashlight. What you do is place the gecko in a clear container and aim the light down at the cloaca area from above. If it is a male, you will see two small veins on either side of the vent (the blood supply to the hemipenes). Females obviously lack these. As for heating pads, I think the general concensus is that they're better to use than heat bulbs, I use heating pads for my leo & my african fat-tail and they work great. And finally, yes, geckos can become obese, but I've never seen it happen when they're fed crickets though since it provides them with some excersice as they chase them down.

[Jace]

Jace, I'm sure your Afton is a blizzard. Its definitley not a leucistic or patternless. As for it not being completely white, blizzards aren't. The leos you see that are almost paper white are blazzing blizzards and diablo blancos. You can actually sex them even at birth. The method used to do this requires a strong single led flashlight. What you do is place the gecko in a clear container and aim the light down at the cloaca area from above. If it is a male, you will see two small veins on either side of the vent (the blood supply to the hemipenes). Females obviously lack these. As for heating pads, I think the general concensus is that they're better to use than heat bulbs, I use heating pads for my leo & my african fat-tail and they work great. And finally, yes, geckos can become obese, but I've never seen it happen when they're fed crickets though since it provides them with some excersice as they chase them down.

Thanks very much!! I've been having a heck of a time with the heat bulbs, though I finally seem to have found one that is keeping the temperature in the correct range. However, I will be using a heating pad I think, just because I know they need high temps to digest and I have already had a problem with one vomiting. I will try and sex them tonight using your suggestion. Thank you!!

[SDahmer]

You're most welcome. Leos seem to prefer belly heat, which pads provide, as appossed to bulbs. Pads use less wattage as well, so that's always a plus. Another thing about light bulbs is they burn out quite frequently, so in a sense the heat pad would kinda pay for itself. As for the regurgitation, it could be a couple different things like too large prey, low temp, and pigging out. As long as it doesn't happen frequently, I wouldn't worry too much.

[Kurt]

Regurgitation can also be caused by a high load of gastrointestinal parasites.

[Jace]

Regurgitation can also be caused by a high load of gastrointestinal parasites.

Gross, but I will keep that in mind. Ever since I managed to raise the temperature, there has been no more vomit. I was kind of wondering about the over-eating too, as these two will catch and swallow several crickets (2 week to 3 week size) in a matter of seconds and then continue to hunt. Fascinating to watch, but I wasn't expecting to go through so many crickets in just a few days!! I didn't have a chance to try and sex them last night but I will try tonight. Fingers crossed.

[Ebony]

Hi Jace, Good luck with the sexing, are you wanting to breed your Geckos?

[Jace]

Thanks Ebony-I might need all the luck I can get!! No, I don't plan on breeding them. I am hoping that I have two females as I've read there is a better chance of keeping them together. If I do have a male and a female, I am going to separate them. So I would rather find out now rather than later who is who. I might just take some photos and post them on here and hopefully someone can help me figure it out. I'm used to cats, dogs, rats...never thought I would ever be trying to sex a gecko. First time for everything.