Marbled Gecko info please

[sayrahsayrah]

Hey there! Newbie here.

I have been going through as many care sheets/forums and this forums info too on marbled geckos.

Mainly, mating, breeding season, how long this particular species is gravid for (that is the correct term, yeah?) and how long it takes the eggs to hatch, but I can't seem to find the specific info i'm looking for.

I've just purchased a male and female and put them in a tank. The male settled in alot quicker than the female and is roaming around whenever he feels like it - especially down to her end of the tank where she is usually hiding under a rock.

He's been sneaking in and out of the rock for the last couple of days and a day or two ago, after one of his visits he did this weird curly thing with his body and it looked like his was cleaning himself (head up ***, basically haha).

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I did find a thread in here with a pic of the same thing where someone actually asked what it was the gecko was doing. Supposedly it's a general hygiene thing or they do it after they try to mate? Am I heading in the right direction here?

So, can someone fill me in a bit on the info that I can't seem to find. There seems to be references to "breeding season" all over the place on the net for the marbled gecko, but nobody actually states when that is. Not good for a want-to-know-everything-sort, it's left me very frustrated. Hahaha.

And info would be great, I would love to know as much as possible about these little guys.

Thanks!

 

[GeckoJosh]

The male clean their "thing" after mating, so maybe thats what he did, but it is a bit late in the year so he could have been just cleaning.
Did you actually see his bits?

 

[sayrahsayrah]

Awww. I want babies! Now!

I didn't see his bits, but I wasn't the first on the scene - my partner was. So, i'll ask him when he gets home.

All I know is, he did it once in front of my bf, then took a few strange, awkward steps and then had a go again and did a couple more awkward steps. I guess the best way to describe it was that he was trying to keep his butt/tail off the ground? I dunno, all new and weird to me!

 

[GeckoJosh]

Yeah its a bit late in the season for the female to develope eggs, but stranger things have happened, its more likely that she will hold off until spring.

Not 100% with those geckos but im pretty sure it takes about 60 days for the eggs to hatch, you can incubate them at room temp on a 1:1 by weight mix of vermiculite and water.

Thanks Gex

 

[sayrahsayrah]

Thankyou! *hugs*

I appreciate the quick response.

 

[belmcc]

Sorry just want to clarify are you talking marbled gecko (Christinus marmoratus) or marbled velvet gecko (Oedura marmorata)?
If you are talking the first - which lays hard shelled eggs, you may not see the eggs as they tend to lay in the sand substrate, which means you need to clean very carefully! I found with mine that the best way to incubate if/when you find them is in a container with dry sand, rather than the traditional damp vermiculite which makes them go mouldy. If you don't find the eggs they will hatch in the adults enclosure -it may just take longer.

 

[sayrahsayrah]

Sorry just want to clarify are you talking marbled gecko (Christinus marmoratus) or marbled velvet gecko (Oedura marmorata)?
If you are talking the first - which lays hard shelled eggs, you may not see the eggs as they tend to lay in the sand substrate, which means you need to clean very carefully! I found with mine that the best way to incubate if/when you find them is in a container with dry sand, rather than the traditional damp vermiculite which makes them go mouldy. If you don't find the eggs they will hatch in the adults enclosure -it may just take longer.

Yeah, it's a Christinus Marmoratus. Oh, and i'm not using sand substrate, so I don't think the egg hunting issue will be a problem. Unless, of course, they are teenie-tiny?

 

[belmcc]

The eggs are small but big enough to see - good luck, the babies are gorgeous!

 

[GeckoJosh]

Yeah, it's a Christinus Marmoratus. Oh, and i'm not using sand substrate, so I don't think the egg hunting issue will be a problem. Unless, of course, they are teenie-tiny?

If you are not using a sand substrate then what are you using?
If you have no substrate then you will need to provide a laying box for them.

Thanks Gex

 

[sayrahsayrah]

I was given a pebble-like substrate with the tank. Not fine enough to be mistaken for food and not too big to cause discomfort. They seem quite happy on it, from what I can tell (even though the female is yet to move around lol).

If I was to make a laying box, what would be the best thing to use?

 

[GeckoJosh]

I was given a pebble-like substrate with the tank. Not fine enough to be mistaken for food and not too big to cause discomfort. They seem quite happy on it, from what I can tell (even though the female is yet to move around lol).

If I was to make a laying box, what would be the best thing to use?

Just make sure those pebbles are not small enough to fit in their mouths.
Just fill a butter tub with 3/4 damp sand and cut a hole in the lid

Thanks Gex

 

[sayrahsayrah]

Yep, it's all good. Wanted to make sure I didn't put anything in there that they would accidently swallow, so it's ok. But thankyou!

As for the tub - I will get straight on it. If anything does happen (which the male is desperately hoping for it seems), I want to make sure she's comfy. She's a little more skittish than he is, so I don't want her to be uncomfortable.

Thanks again, Gex.

Sarah

 

[GeckoJosh]

Yep, it's all good. Wanted to make sure I didn't put anything in there that they would accidently swallow, so it's ok. But thankyou!

As for the tub - I will get straight on it. If anything does happen (which the male is desperately hoping for it seems), I want to make sure she's comfy. She's a little more skittish than he is, so I don't want her to be uncomfortable.

Thanks again, Gex.

Sarah

If she does become gravid you should be able to cleary see eggs in her belly in the later stages.

Thanks Gex

 

[reptiles08010]

Hey, just a quick note, i had 2 Adult Marbled Geckos and as substrate i had half red desert sand and half aquarium gravel. It was small enough probably for them to swallow (never had any problems), but that is where the female layed her 2 eggs, about 1-2cm deep. I could'nt see the eggs until one time i went to clean out the enclosure & spotted them. I left them there and i can't remember how long they took to hatch, at least a few months though.
All i know is that Marbled Geckos are very hardy creatures.
The babies are so small.
I don't have the adult marbles any more, but kept the 2 little babies and have 2 mid aged ones which are still growing (in seperate enclosures).
With both pairs, one in each seems to be more skittish then the others and it was even like that when i had the adults. One would hide alot, while the other not so much. I'm guessing 'females' must be alot more skittish then the 'males'.

Regards, Julian.

 

[sayrahsayrah]

Hey, just a quick note, i had 2 Adult Marbled Geckos and as substrate i had half red desert sand and half aquarium gravel. It was small enough probably for them to swallow (never had any problems), but that is where the female layed her 2 eggs, about 1-2cm deep. I could'nt see the eggs until one time i went to clean out the enclosure & spotted them. I left them there and i can't remember how long they took to hatch, at least a few months though.
All i know is that Marbled Geckos are very hardy creatures.
The babies are so small.
I don't have the adult marbles any more, but kept the 2 little babies and have 2 mid aged ones which are still growing (in seperate enclosures).
With both pairs, one in each seems to be more skittish then the others and it was even like that when i had the adults. One would hide alot, while the other not so much. I'm guessing 'females' must be alot more skittish then the 'males'.

Regards, Julian.

Ahoy there Julian. Thanks for the info, i'm going to be very careful from now on - so worried I might squish any eggs that may turn up in there! :S

As for being skittish, i'm glad it's not just my female being silly! Haha

Why did you get rid of the adults?

Sarah

 

[reptiles08010]

I got rid of them because i needed to make room for my other reptiles, othawise i would have probs kept them.

Julian