Breeding season, start/end info

[ArborealsAnonymous]

So I just want to collect some more data here. I noticed this year that most of my geckos laid a dud clutch before they started laying good ones. I also had 2 girls this week lay single egg clutches when they had previously laid 2 egg clutches. It makes me wonder if my breeding season is winding down for chahoua, but last year they laid eggs through august for chahoua and late september for leachies. On average if you can, lets answer some questions:

On average, what month do your chahoua breeding seasons start? For me, I got 2 clutches in december, 2 in january, 4 in feb, and exponential growth after that.

On average, what month do your chahoua breeding seasons end? Last year, the season for chahoua ended in august but leachies kept going through september and a couple clutches in october.

Do you find that first or last clutches are reliably duds or are they generally good? My first clutches are generally at least 1 dud.

Is it common to have single egg clutches? Mid season? 2 of my chahouas have this year, 1 leachie has

Do your new caledonian geckos all start the season at the same time or do you notice that different species start/end the breeding season at different times? I feel like my chahouas started laying significantly sooner than the leachies. well see how the numbers pan out at the end of the season and who stops laying sooner.

 

[Michael]

I manually control when things start but have less control over when they end. I'd say it goes something like this:

November 1: Lights off completely - heat and UVB.

Jan 1: Lights back on, temps start to warm up.

~Jan 15: Geckos start breeding, based on what I hear and observe

March: First clutches

May: Second clutches

July: Third clutches/breeding activity stops between geckos

September: MAYBE a 4th clutch

September/Early October: Females are eating a lot and bulking up

Mid/late october: Everybody slows down and stops eating

November 1: Lights off


Some of your other questions...

- I generally get 2-egg clutches, but have had a few 1-egg clutches over the years.
- My last 2-3 seasons have been really all over the board for some reason. This season, EVERY first clutch except from one pair was a dud. I've never had odds that bad.
- In my experience, duds are more likely to happen later in the season vs. earlier... but this year flips that on it's head for me.

 

[Michael]

I'd love for @TroysGeckos to add his insight here... his animals start much sooner than mine but seem to end around the same time. I wish we could determine what triggers those laying cycles!

 

[ArborealsAnonymous]

My geckos are in a room with a lot of natural light, so even though i keep their lights on a timer they still are cycled with the natural light cycle from where I live. I know chickens are triggered to lay eggs optimally under 14 hour photoperiods.

 

[ArborealsAnonymous]

So this breakdown is for both leachies and chahoua, i dont keep them separated in my spreadsheets because that would be too much work. But this is what my seasons over the last 3 seasons look like (including dud eggs/eggs that didnt hatch):

 

[Frogmom]

My chahoua lay : late February , mid April ,early June , and stop mid July.

Every 6-7 weeks like clock work. Always 2 fertile eggs per clutch. Always 4 clutches

I don’t do anything.... just keep them in their room with house temp at 74 all winter and I turn air conditioning on when over 84 . They have heat mats on top of their exo,s year round.

This is my first year with a leachianus pair . I think they’re the same schedule ! I wasn’t looking for eggs and found a dried up first clutch and good 2nd clutch on May 30. Should be hatching soon. First chahoua clutch hatched June 7th and June 8th this year

 

[Little Chahoua]

Do all pair lay at the same time? How many days or week is it between all your females when seasons start and not first time season.

 

[Michael]

Do all pair lay at the same time? How many days or week is it between all your females when seasons start and not first time season.

For me and with a larger collection, it's not uncommon to have a few females lay on the same day... but I would say the timing for clutches can vary as much as 60 days across all females. So, some may lay their first in January, some may lay their first in March.

And for me, it's usually another 60 days between clutches