New Leo, lots of questions

I recently acquired a female leo that my friend won in a bet (he lost interest and didn't want her anymore and didn't know how to take care of her), and i have a few questions. She looks to be a normal leo, not a designer gecko or anything like that (she's one you might find in a petco), she's about 2 years old, and her name is Rosie. Here are my questions:

1. How many clutches does the average female lay every year?
2. How long is the average lifespan, or typical lifespan of a leo?
3. When can you tell with complete confidence what sex a leopard gecko is (if you don't know what it was incubated to be)?
4. How long does it take a leo to reach sexual maturity and when is a safe age to breed?
5. Is breeding as simple as putting a male and female together, or do you have to burmate, change light cycles, feed more often (or anything else)?
6. If you breed 2 morphs of different *morphage* (???) do the babies come out as a combination between the two or does 1 come out with the color pattern of 1 of its parents or does the dominant morph gene come through in the offspring (in other words, what can you tell me about gecko genetics)?
7. How many leopard gecko (adults) can a 90 gallon reptile tank safety hold without the risk of overcrowding?
8. How often do you feed adults/juvys per day or week?
9. I've heard that baby leopard geckos should not be mixed with adults for fear of the adults eating the babies, but I've seen pictures with adults and their young in the same tank or area, and @ petco they have leos that range from new hatchlings to a few weeks old. What's the rule on this?
10. I've read that they mainly eat live prey. Does anyone have any experience with feeding them frozen pinkies?
11. I got "in trouble" from the good folks over on the bearded dragon forum cuz I asked if anyone had heard anything about feeding beardies fish (like goldfish). Back when I had my Savannah Monitor he used to love it when I fed him fish, and my Dragons never really had a problem with them either (except getting a good hold on them cuz they were kinda slippery). Has anyone heard anything bad about (or can you think of any reason against) feeding fish to leopard geckos?

These questions either have varying answers when I've searched online, or I have not been able to find these answers. I'm trying to decide whether I should sell Rosie, or start a breeding colony. I have all the equipment needed for a leopard gecko tank (at least I think I do), and so this choice is a little hard for me to make. I'm hoping the answers to my questions will help me make my decision. Thank you for reading and thank you in advance for answering any questions you know of.

1. 10-20
2. they can live up to 30 years
3. after 10 months
4. 10 months there mature . rule of thumb is don't breed till there 45 grams
5. It is as simple as putting a male and female together .
6. depends
7. whew tough most people use a racking system but if you relly want to use that i would say 13 max 9 min as if you put less then 9 they will get lost and confused .
8. 3 mealies or roaches a day is what i do for my 4 month olds
9. doesn't matter the age just divide them by size petco isn't a good place to look as they mess up almost all the time . you put leo's to small and they WILL get stressed out stop eating and die
10. no experence but they will eat pinkies no prob
11.never tried but I see nothing aginst it besides the bones in the fish (which is why i only feed left over fish to the dos the bones can hurt them )

Originally Posted by kennysreptiles.com

1. 10-20
2. they can live up to 30 years
3. after 10 months
4. 10 months there mature . rule of thumb is don't breed till there 45 grams
5. It is as simple as putting a male and female together .
6. depends
7. whew tough most people use a racking system but if you relly want to use that i would say 13 max 9 min as if you put less then 9 they will get lost and confused .
8. 3 mealies or roaches a day is what i do for my 4 month olds
9. doesn't matter the age just divide them by size petco isn't a good place to look as they mess up almost all the time . you put leo's to small and they WILL get stressed out stop eating and die
10. no experence but they will eat pinkies no prob
11.never tried but I see nothing aginst it besides the bones in the fish (which is why i only feed left over fish to the dos the bones can hurt them )

What do the genetics depend on? Dominant genes? Strong strains? Common morphs?
Racks seem like a good idea, but I don't have the room for one right now, only the tank. 13 max and 9 min? Thats more than I expected. How do you mean they will get lost and confused?
And if the bones in the pinkies are ok for the leos to eat and digest, wouldn't a fish's bones be fine as well?

Thanks for all your answers, and if anyone else has any answers, please let me know.

Leopard Gecko Mutations right now are not cut and dry. Their are few proven recessive, and many that people just say they're recessive when in fact it hasn't been proven.
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Recessive:
Albino (Tremper, Las Vegas & Bell)
Patternless
Blizzard

Co Dominant:
Mack Snow
Giant
_______________

Pretty much anything else you see is either selectively bred or uknown at this point.



Pinks should not be fed as a staple. They are used mearly as a treat to give breeding females a boost. I have never even attempted feeding them to my colony, mine do perfectly well on a diet of Mealworms.



Their was a very good reason why you got "in trouble" for wanting to feed your BD fish. That is not a natural diet for them, especially considering BDs should be fed a largely green diet when they're adults. I'm sure you already heard the correct advice, so I won't continue on that. Though I will tell you, don't even consider feeding any Leo fish, for the same reasons behind not feeding them to BDs. It's unnatural, you can introduce parasites, you would be providing insufficient amounts of the proper nutrients, and who knows what it will do to their digestive systems (if you could even successfully get them to take a fish).

If you do not understand genetics in the least, I would also suggest you check out this site:

http://serpwidgets.com/Genetics/genetics.html

Originally Posted by TripleMoonsExotic

Leopard Gecko Mutations right now are not cut and dry. Their are few proven recessive, and many that people just say they're recessive when in fact it hasn't been proven.
_______________

Recessive:
Albino (Tremper, Las Vegas & Bell)
Patternless
Blizzard

Co Dominant:
Mack Snow
Giant
_______________

Pretty much anything else you see is either selectively bred or uknown at this point.



Pinks should not be fed as a staple. They are used mearly as a treat to give breeding females a boost. I have never even attempted feeding them to my colony, mine do perfectly well on a diet of Mealworms.



Their was a very good reason why you got "in trouble" for wanting to feed your BD fish. That is not a natural diet for them, especially considering BDs should be fed a largely green diet when they're adults. I'm sure you already heard the correct advice, so I won't continue on that. Though I will tell you, don't even consider feeding any Leo fish, for the same reasons behind not feeding them to BDs. It's unnatural, you can introduce parasites, you would be providing insufficient amounts of the proper nutrients, and who knows what it will do to their digestive systems (if you could even successfully get them to take a fish).

How do the pinkies give females a boost? Mealworms are notoriously known for not having all the proper nutrients needed to use as a staple diet, what with their smooth shells that makes dust hard to stick to, high chitin levels, and not the right calcium to phosphorus ratio. I couldn't find the exact location as to where mealworms live, but it did say that in the wild they feed off of dead plants. Not too many dead plants in semi-arid areas of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. They are not a natural diet, but it is still an insect. I don't mean to pick a fight with you, I'm just playing the devil's advocate.

Fish however, if kept right in good conditions, gutloaded with fish flake and dog food, and dusted with calcium or vitamin powder seems much more nutritional than a mealworm. Extra protein and meat composition (to fill the stomach) should be appealing as well. Unnatural it may be, but as humans, we were meant to be herbivores (curved teeth, not sharp like a carnivore) yet we eat meat. Also, our stomachs weren't designed to ingest milk after infancy, but because of it being a great source of calcium, most of us drink at least a glass a day. So why again is this a bad idea?

They give females a "boost" because they are high in fat, as well as protein and calcium. Fine when a bit of extra energy is needed (right after laying) or just as an occasional treat, but NOT good as a steady diet.

Instead of us reminding you why this is a bad idea, why don't you go back to your thread on the Bearded Dragon forum and re-read everything posted there? It was clearly explained to you there just why this is a bad idea. Once again you are asking for opinions, and then arguing when you get them......

Listen to the people about the fish. A leo in the wild is likely to never even see a fish, let alone get the chance to try to eat it.

Also, human teeth are classic omnivore teeth. The front teeth are sharp (with canines) for eating meat, and the back ones are flat for eating plant matter. Just thought you should know.

Originally Posted by Xelas

Mealworms are notoriously known for not having all the proper nutrients needed to use as a staple diet,

Correct, if you don't GUTLOAD them first (as should be done with crickets as well).

what with their smooth shells that makes dust hard to stick to, high chitin levels, and not the right calcium to phosphorus ratio.

I have no problems dusting my mealworms, and the calcium/phosphorus issue is corrected by dusting as is commonly done.

They are not a natural diet, but it is still an insect. I don't mean to pick a fight with you, I'm just playing the devil's advocate.

Mealworms are more natural then a fish ever would be.

Also, our stomachs weren't designed to ingest milk after infancy, but because of it being a great source of calcium, most of us drink at least a glass a day. So why again is this a bad idea?

I don't, I think milk is gross.
________________________

I think Cat gave you very solid advice. Return to the thread on the BDs and reread it.

Originally Posted by Cat_72

They give females a "boost" because they are high in fat, as well as protein and calcium. Fine when a bit of extra energy is needed (right after laying) or just as an occasional treat, but NOT good as a steady diet.

Instead of us reminding you why this is a bad idea, why don't you go back to your thread on the Bearded Dragon forum and re-read everything posted there? It was clearly explained to you there just why this is a bad idea. Once again you are asking for opinions, and then arguing when you get them......

Once again, by asking this question, I was never asking for any opinions (especially unqualified opinions). What I was asking for was documented facts or first hand experience. I guess no one has tried feeding fish because everyone has read that they are not "natural." As we all know, Savannah Monitors and many other monitors can eat fish, yet we all know that they are far too slow to naturally catch fish. They eat them. So I guess no one has tried this except for me. My Bearded Dragon has been eating fish for months, he is healthy, happy, and he likes to eat fish. If I wanted inexperienced people giving me unproven facts, I would go ask anyone off the streets, I wouldn't ask experienced people what they don't know or what they "think" in a forum dedicated specifically to a single species. My questions were asking people with documented facts or people with first hand experience. So if anyone knows what they are talking about, any responses would be greatly appreciated. All others are irrelevant.