Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

DarrenGecko · I've settled in... Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 45

Ok so Ive had my crestie since April now.

Im quite confident its a female because she is 9 months old now and has not developed a bump that I can see.

I always intended to get two of the little fellows though.

Problem is Im not sure if its fair to introduce a new one now?

Just wondered what other people would do?

Ive got a 45(w)x45(d)x60(h) terrarium with just one cresite in there at the moment who seems quite happy right now Very Happy

Also if I did get another one and it turned out to be a male, could this be bad if they try and mate before they are mature enough?

Thanks,

Darren

darkdan99 · Contributing Member Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: 53

If they tried to mate before the female was large enough the outlook for her is pretty bleak. Vets bills and death would both be very likely due to egg binding.

I would say get either: a female to keep with her.

OR

A male, but buy another setup and keep them separate until they are of age, then only introduce for breeding purposes so you can control the number of eggs the female lays in a season. If they are kept together full term the female can be overworked!

Dan

DarrenGecko · I've settled in... Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 45

Scott W · Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:53 pm Post subject:

I've NEVER lost a crested due to egg binding or breeding at a young age, all my cresteds are reared in mixed sex groups and are then set up in smaller groups once they are 100% sex-able.

Personally I would be fine adding another gecko of similar size, the only things I would insure would be that the cage is neutral (ie wash it and set the branches up different to previous) and make sure they are lots of visual barriers and hides.

Of course there ARE always risks of housing two of any animal together but careful observation and a good set up should eliminate almost all of them.
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darkdan99 · Contributing Member Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: 53

What Scott says!

He knows cresties a lot better than me, i was giving my opinion which basically covers all animals in my care. single housing with breeding introductions when i want them to.

Obviously cresties are suitable for group housing etc.

Sorry for "wrong" advice.

Dan

Scott W · Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:41 am Post subject:

zarozinia · Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:41 am Post subject:

Thats interesting Scott, I must confess to being rather anal with my cresties and waiting until they are 35 grams and over before placing them together for mating purposes. But obviously in the wild they mate when they want to.
Scott have you had many cresties only producing one egg on their first mating? Do you not selectively breed to try and produce particular "morphs/patterns/colours"?
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Scott W · Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:28 pm Post subject:

hi Angi,

Yep often I find just the one egg, normally in the young females.

To be honest I'm not a big fan of keeping any lizards seperate until they are mature as I believe they need to learn how to interact with each other BEFORE they mature. An animal that's had a year+ to mature on it's own and has never seen another of it's own must be quite confused and territorial when it does finally get the chance to interact. If you read back through a lot of threads on here where people have put adult geckos together they seem to observe a fair bit of aggression, yes it does fade and the groups settle down but I don't seem to get any at all by rearing in groups in the first place.

pm'd you too Wink

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