Fat-Tail Geckos: To brumate or not to brumate, that is my question

[PaulSage]

My fat tail geckos are now over a year old, and most are of "breedable" size according to the care sheets I've read. I've never bred FT's before, so I just wanted to get some suggestions as to whether or not I should cool them first. I know a few breeders who don't cool them, but it seems most of the published care sheets say that they should be cooled. I was just hoping that a few experienced breeders could shed some light on why/why not and what they would do.

Thanks.

[AUBREY'S REPTILES]

Hey Paul,

This was my first year breeding FT's, so I am far from an expert but I can tell you what worked for us. Our 1.3 breeding group was a year old when we decided to pair them and we didn't cool them at all ( actually I don't think you need to cool first year breeders). So far they have laid 32 fertile eggs and 2 duds and they aren't done yet..I'm having a better hatch/fertility rate than I had expected from our first time breeders :)

[AUBREY'S REPTILES]

Forgot to mention, out of those 32 eggs 26 have hatched..

[Golden Gate Geckos]

That's great to hear, Shawn!

[PaulSage]

Hey Paul,

This was my first year breeding FT's, so I am far from an expert but I can tell you what worked for us. Our 1.3 breeding group was a year old when we decided to pair them and we didn't cool them at all ( actually I don't think you need to cool first year breeders). So far they have laid 32 fertile eggs and 2 duds and they aren't done yet..I'm having a better hatch/fertility rate than I had expected from our first time breeders :)

Wow, thanks a lot! That was one thing I was wondering... that maybe first year breeders (animals that have just reached maturity) wouldn't need the stimulation from cooling in order to start breeding. But, until now I never heard anyone suggest that, so thanks :) I just don't want to mess up the project, or more importantly stress out the animals. I have 7.20 (I think...I'd have to go count, lol) and all but 3-4 of them are "ready". I was a little surprised at how much slower they grow to 50 grams than leopard geckos. One thing I definitely want to do with their babies if/when they hatch is start them on mealworms right away so that they don't grow into the cricket-pigs that mine have become. :rofl:

[KelliH]

You don't have to cool fat tails for breeding, although it causes them no harm at all. Good luck with them Paul!

[AUBREY'S REPTILES]

One thing I definitely want to do with their babies if/when they hatch is start them on mealworms right away so that they don't grow into the cricket-pigs that mine have become.

Good Luck. I tried that with my hatchlings and I'm now feeding all but 6 of them crickets :uzi: I am getting some to take mealworms as long as I put crickets in with them during feeding time. This has been an ongoing process. I put in say 10 small mealies then 3 or 4 crickets. When they miss a cricket they hit a mealie, so I hope to eventually weed them off crickets altogether ( and I thought quitting smoking was hard). So far I have had mixed results, but I'm still persuing it. Another thing I have seen different is that their egg laying can be sporadic, not as timely as leos. I can count down to the day as to when my leos lay, but my fattails are all over the place and never consistant.

I was a little surprised at how much slower they grow to 50 grams than leopard geckos.

Just wait until you have your babies LOL. Our leos grow almost twice as fast, it seems like my FT hatchlings will never leave their hatchling tubs in exchange for their adult tubs..

[CrazyRhacos]

This is my first year breeding..i didnt cool my females..but ive missed most of her eggs(likes to lay on weekend which is when i am gone) and they dry up ...but my amels are paired up and hopefully shes produce...

[PaulSage]

I was a little surprised at how much slower they grow to 50 grams than leopard geckos.
Just wait until you have your babies LOL. Our leos grow almost twice as fast, it seems like my FT hatchlings will never leave their hatchling tubs in exchange for their adult tubs..

Most of my FT's were just a few weeks old when I got them (actually had FT's before I had any of my leos) and they grew so slowly that I was wondering if they would EVER make it to adult size! I guess that they just grew so steadily that I didn't really notice until all of the sudden I realized, "hey, they're finally big enough!" :hehe:

I'm HOPING that maybe using mini mealworms, which are more wiggly and active than regular mealworms, will help in getting hatchlings accustomed to eating something other than crickets. I personally don't mind if all they want is crickets, but I know some people seem to avoid cricket-only feeding geckos.

[PaulSage]

Also, with the exception of a few random geckos that I don't really know a whole lot about their lineage, I have two rather distant "lines" of the amels and hets (as distant as they can be, all things considered). I bought them that way intentionally, hoping to breed the two lines to each other to outcross/improve them a little. I'm wondering if through crossing the two lines, if the resulting babies will grow a little faster/larger than the ones I started with. I guess I won't know for a while yet, though. :shrug01:

[USAGECKOS]

I was a little surprised at how much slower they grow to 50 grams than leopard geckos. One thing I definitely want to do with their babies if/when they hatch is start them on mealworms right away so that they don't grow into the cricket-pigs that mine have become.

Yeah, they do grow a little slower than Leopards.

I'm wondering if through crossing the two lines, if the resulting babies will grow a little faster/larger than the ones I started with.

I don't think it has anything to do with them being imbred or anything, I think it is just the way they are


One thing I definitely want to do with their babies if/when they hatch is start them on mealworms right away so that they don't grow into the cricket-pigs that mine have become. One thing I definitely want to do with their babies if/when they hatch is start them on mealworms right away so that they don't grow into the cricket-pigs that mine have become.

I do the same thing, I don't have any crickets in my house, so all my geckos are raised on worms (Mealworms, phoenex worms, etc)

The best way to do it, is by putting the worm into the hide with the baby fat tail and leave it there for a while. Eventually they WILL eat the mealworm, it may take a few tries, don't get frustrated, it is painful process but well worth it, I thinks :hehe: