Crested geckos are becoming more and more popular to breed, and many owners succeed in breeding their cresties. If you are planning to breed your crested geckos, you need to prepare and plan everything. In this post, we will cover everything about crested gecko breeding – including mating, egg laying, egg incubation, care for hatchlings.
You will be able to find answers to different questions about how many eggs to expects, how to make a nesting site, how to introduce a male to female(s), how fertile and infertile eggs look like and many more. We will also share tips so you can succeed at breeding your crested geckos at home.
When can I find out the gender of my crested gecko?
You won’t be able to start breeding your crested geckos until you are sure of their sex/gender. The best age to sex (tell the gender) of your crested geckos is when they reach around 12-14 months of age.
While you might start noticing sexual dimorphisms at the age of around 8-10 months, you should still wait until your geckos turn 12-14 months old, in case a gecko that you thought is a female turns out to be a male. It is too hard and sometimes impossible to tell your crested gecko’s gender before this age.
The main sign that your crested gecko is a male is the presence of a hemipenal bulge at the tail base. If you are not sure how to identify crested gecko’s gender, read this post first.
When can I start breeding my crested geckos?
You should not breed your crested geckos before they are at least 35-40 grams, or around 18-24 months old, depending on your crested gecko. If your crested gecko doesn’t have a tail, you can subtract around 2 grams of the weight for this gecko.
Waiting longer also means that both male and females will be approximately same size. Males can start breeding with lower weight at around 30 grams, but make sure the female is not too large for him.
Keep a scale at home (that shows reading to at least 0.1 grams increments, for example digital kitchen scales or jewelry scales) and weigh your crested gecko every 2 weeks, or at least once a month.
Generally, young crested geckos will be gaining around 2-3 grams each month until they reach around 12 months of age, when their growth will slow down to about +1 gram each month.
This, of course, will depend on many factors, such as health, feeding schedules and others. So, the best age to breed your crested geckos is 18-24 months.
Are my crested geckos too old for breeding?
Your crested geckos can continue breeding for many years of their lives, but it will all depend on their general health. You should be cautious with older crested geckos, as they might suffer from prolapsed hemipenes that geckos find harder to retract.
Females must also be in good health and must not be vitamin deficient, stressed, suffering from any parasitic infections or other diseases.
If your crested geckos are in very good health, they can reproduce until around 10 years of age, but it is usually 7-8 years. Carrying eggs and laying them has a huge burden on female’s body, and she produces less clutches with age.
When do crested geckos breed?
Crested geckos are breeding throughout the warm periods of the year, which is end of March to end of October in the Northern Hemisphere (including USA, Canada and most of the Europe).
During all the other cooler months, from end of October to mid March, they will not be interested in breeding. To promote your crested geckos interest to breed, lower tank temperatures slightly in the cooler period, and then increase them again in mid-end March.
This will let them know (both males and females) that spring time is here. Cooling the tank in winter will stop breeding interest or clutch production.
Changing temperatures in crested gecko’s tank to promote breeding
You don’t need to change temperatures if your room with the vivarium is slightly colder in winter. But if you heat the room, make sure to cool the vivarium itself.
The most optimal temperatures in the daytime in winter should range from 70-72 (21.1-22.2 degrees Celsius) in the shade, and 63-65 F (17.2-18.3 Celsius) at night. Crested geckos are likely to eat less in cooler months, but make sure to have 70-72 degrees in the tank during the day for proper digestion.
Monitor the temperatures with thermostats, laser infrared temperature gun, digital thermometers like this and so on. There are few ways to cool the vivarium – use ice packs, damp towels, turn off the lights that produce heat, spray the habitat with cool water, move the tank to a cooler spot and so on.
If you move the tank to a cooler spot, make sure to slightly heat it to achieve above temperatures. You can read more on setting up temperatures and bulbs in the crested gecko’s tank in this post.
It is very important for you to create a cool resting period for your female crested gecko by reducing number or daylight hours and reducing temperatures. She needs to stop egg production and restore her vitamin and mineral resources for the next season.
Photoperiod will affect breeding of crested geckos
Same as temperature, crested geckos can sense if it’s winter by day light cycle, or photoperiod.
Spring, summer and some of the fall have longer days, so crested geckos will be more active at breeding. If you reduce the temperature in the tank (or the room) and shorten the number or light:darkness, crested geckos will become less interested in egg production and breeding.
Normally, crested geckos need around 13-14 hours of light in summer. In winter, you can shorten the daylight period to only 11 hours a day. Using a heat & light power center like this can definitely help you automate these processes.
How many eggs/clutches does a female crested gecko lay in a year?
A female crested gecko that is in good health will normally produce 6-7 clutches in one year, each clutch consisting of 1, or usually 2 eggs. She will produce those 6-7 clutches in intervals, which will be lasting around 20-30 days each. So, she will lay a total of 6-7 clutches through the period of 5 to 7 months.
Female crested gecko can retain sperm in her body for few months after copulation, and she can use it to produce viable eggs after you separate a male from the female. Crested geckos can also lay infertile eggs, if she hasn’t mated with a male.
If you are a breeder, don’t force your female crested gecko to lay more than 7-8 clutches per year. Producing, carrying and laying eggs uses too much of her calcium storage, even if she is being fed a good supplemented diet. Laying too many clutches can kill a crested gecko.
Now, let’s talk about what you need to prepare for breeding. Make sure to plan everything, as some mistakes can have a detrimental effect on eggs in this process.
Crested gecko breeding requirements:
- You will need at least one male and a female that are sexually mature, healthy and ready to breed.
- Make sure to feed your crested geckos (mainly females) a good diet before, during and after the breeding season. Offer your geckos complete gecko diet (mixed with water), and supplemented + gut-loaded insects if possible at least once a week. But the best is to provide a good diet all year round. Choose complete diets over baby foods or purees, as these are often unbalanced. Also, make sure your female gecko is not obese, as it will affect her egg production. Read all about crested gecko’s diet and supplements here.
- You will need to create an egg laying site/nesting site for your gecko to lay eggs in. We will talk about it in a second.
- An egg incubator to incubate eggs.
- Hatchling aftercare.
Introducing crested gecko male to female(s) for breeding
Sometimes, male can get overly excited and keep following and bothering a female. You will notice this if your female is barking/squeaking or even trying to bite the male, but sometimes she might suffer in silence.
You can have up to 3-5 females per one male, but never keep few males in one tank. Sometimes, even if you keep males in separate tanks but close to each other, they might smell each other and become aggressive.
You can keep 1 male with one or few females for few months during the breeding season, or even throughout the year. But you can also keep them separate and introduce male to a female for a few days or week solely for mating.
Male usually becomes very interested in mating when you have just introduced him to a female. After that, you can remove the male so she can have some peace.
How do crested geckos mate?
Just before mating, male will approach female and see how she reacts. If she is standing still, this means that she is receptive.
When females don’t want to mate, they will bark, run and squeak and it’s a good idea to separate them if he’s too persistent. If she is receptive, male will approach female, lay on top of her, bite her neck and insert his hemipene in her cloaca. Male can also show some breeding behaviors, such as head bobbing and squeaking.
Crested geckos usually mate in evening/at night, during their active hours. Mating should last few minutes.
If you notice any bites on a female after mating, it is normal and will pass (unless it’s an open wound – and then you will need to apply some antibiotic ointment).
Male crested geckos have hemipenes (two of them, which are reproductive organs) – they come out when mating. Hemipenes are pink/purple in color. After copulation, his hemipenis should retract within few hours.
You will see him licking his hemipenis to help it go back. If it is not retracting after 5-6 hours, make him a sugar bath (water + some sugar) few times a day. You can also run some cold water on the hemipenis for few minutes. This should help.
Making a nest site/an egg-laying box for your crested gecko
After your crested geckos have mated, you need to start thinking about making a nesting site/egg-laying box. Please note that female crested geckos can also lay eggs without being with a male – but the eggs won’t be fertile.
This often happens to younger crested geckos, and less with older ones. Few females can share one egg-laying box, but make sure to check it very often to remove any eggs that have been laid already.
To make an egg-laying box, you will need to get a plastic box or container that is around 10 inches long (25 cm), 5 inches wide (13 cm) and 5 inches tall (13 cm).
You will need to make an entrance hole in the lid for your gecko to get inside. Place this egg-laying box in one side of the tank. Make sure to prepare it around 20 days after mating and keep it in the tank throughout the breeding season.
It will take around 30-40 days for a crested gecko to lay eggs after mating, so be prepared.
Substrate for an egg-laying box
Then, prepare a nesting medium that you will use to fill the egg-laying box. 
For nesting medium, you can use vermiculite like this and peat moss, separately or mixed together. These substrates hold moisture well and also prevent soil from compacting.
The best mix is 50/50 of vermiculite and peat moss, with some sphagnum moss on top if you have any, but you can use only vermiculite or peat moss. You will need to moisten the substrate, so that is becomes moist, but not wet or soggy.
Mix around 40-50% of substrate with 50-60% water. If you are not sure about the equation, prepare half and half proportion and keep adding water gradually, squeezing the substrate until it becomes moist. No water should be dripping from the medium.
After you have prepared the medium, fill about 3-4 inches of the container with this moist medium.
The medium must be always moist because laid eggs will absorb water, and if the medium is too dry – embryos will die. But if the medium is too wet, an egg will absorb too much water and the hatchling inside will also die.
How to tell if a crested gecko is gravid (pregnant)?
You will know that your crested gecko is gravid if she:
- Has gained weight
- Her belly is hanging – hold her in a straight line in your hands and you will see her stomach not being flat
- The lower belly will be wider than usual. Her eggs grow in the lower belly, so you will be able to notice that is growing outwards
The main symptom that your crested gecko is gravid is her gaining weight. Make sure to check your crested gecko’s weight once or twice a month throughout the year and keep records.
Crested gecko laying eggs
Female crested gecko will find and acknowledge an egg-laying site. After roughly 30-40 days, she will go in the box and lay her eggs. To do this, she will get in the box, and start digging.
She will burrow in the substrate and will lay her eggs within 45-60 minutes. Don’t bother her and keep your distance. Keep checking the box to see if she has laid her eggs.
Collecting laid eggs and transferring them to an incubation box
To prepare an incubator, take a small lidded plastic container (you can use a bigger one for few eggs or few small ones for each egg) and fill it with incubating medium. To make incubating medium, use perlite like this or vermiculite (can be a mix) that is moist but not soggy.
Don’t use fine grade perlite or vermiculite. Fill about 2 inches (5 cm) of the container with the incubation medium and cover with the lid. In the lid, make around 5 holes for an air exchange.
Soon after female laid her eggs, you need to take the eggs and transfer them to an incubator within a day or two. The main important rule is not to turn the eggs – take and transfer them in the same position.
To help with this, you can mark the top part with a marker. Turning eggs will kill embryos inside. Lift the eggs gently and transfer to the incubator. Don’t bury the eggs in the medium, but cover them slightly (halfway). Don’t move eggs at all.
Incubating crested gecko eggs – do I need an incubator? Optimal temperatures and humidity
You will need to keep constant temperatures and humidity inside and around the incubator. Specific temperatures will also determine the sex of your crested geckos, and that is called temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD).
Optimal temperatures for incubating eggs are 68-80 degrees (20-26.6 Celsius). Incubate at higher temperatures (80-84 F or 26.6-28.8 Celsius) for creating more males, or lower temperatures (68-73 F or 20-23 Celsius) for creating more females.
After two weeks or incubating at lower/higher temperatures, switch to normal optimal temperatures. If the substrate gets dry, spray it with some water.
Optimal humidity in the incubation box should be around 85-90%.
Incubating eggs in a room without an incubator
If the temperatures allow, you won’t need an incubator and can keep the container with eggs in the room. Temperatures, as well as humidity for incubating should be constant.
If you want to incubate eggs in the room, make sure to mist the substrate and eggs as necessary. This is because moisture from the substrate will evaporate through the holes (which you must make so eggs can ‘breathe’).
You will need to use a hygrometer and thermometer with a probe, to have constant temperature readings. You can also keep a lid on (without holes), but take it out once a day for an air exchange.
Buying a commercial incubator for incubating crested gecko’s eggs
Without an incubator, you will need to work harder to keep constant temperatures and humidity. A commercial incubator will automatically regulate specific temperatures, humidity and can even cool down containers with eggs if needed.
So, if you can’t rely on surrounding conditions (if temperatures fluctuate, if it gets too hot etc.), it is a good idea to buy an incubator. For example, you can use a reptile egg incubator called ReptiBator, by Zoo Med, or other cheaper incubator such as Hova-Bator like this.
DIY incubator for crested gecko eggs
If you need an incubator, but don’t want to buy one, you can make your own DIY reptile incubator. This will take more time and effort to maintain, but it can be done.
Type 1:
To make your own DIY incubator for crested gecko eggs, place all eggs in a small container filled with substrate and place the whole box in a bigger container that is filled with water. In the water, place a submersible water heater – it will heat water.
What is more, use a hygrometer and thermometer that has a probe and put it inside the incubation box. Then, just use a lid that has holes on top and keep checking it – open the lid if necessary for an air exchange.
Type 2:
You can also place use an under tank heater to heat the egg box if temperatures in the room are low (or use bulbs to heat the box from the top).
Connect an under tank heater to a thermostat such as this to regulate temperatures and prevent overheating that can kill embryos.
How long does it take for crested gecko’s eggs to hatch?
It takes around 60-70 days for crested gecko’s eggs to hatch if you incubate them at higher temperatures, and even more (up to 100 days) if incubated at lower temperatures.
How to tell if crested gecko’s eggs are fertile or infertile?
Sometimes her eggs might be infertile, and will not survive. You will usually identify infertile eggs by its color and texture – they become yellow, look ‘dried out’ and start molding when you incubate them.
Fertile/viable eggs should be white and solid. But even eggs that might look infertile can hatch, so be patient and don’t throw away any eggs.
These are non-viable eggs that female crested gecko produced without mating with a male.
Incubate all eggs and you will find out if any are infertile in around 3 weeks. But never rush with your decision to throw away eggs as you can save them if you notice any changes early.
If you keep checking on eggs every day and notice something strange, take action immediately. If an egg looks shriveled, spray some water on it, and if you notice mold – apply some anti-fungal medicine.
Most crested gecko hatchlings will stay with their heads out for many hours or even up to a day before coming out fully
Hatching time and welcoming hatchling crested geckos
After around 60-70 days, start checking on eggs more often. When hatchling is ready to hatch, it will slit the egg shell (called pipping) and might take few hours to come out. An egg might become dented.
Be patient, as it can take many hours and sometimes up to 12-24 hours for a hatchling to come out. Avoid helping emerging hatchlings and just wait.
Don’t remove a hatchling until it is fully out. They will take all this time to absorb yolk from the yolk sac that it’ll use to feed on for few days after hatching. As you can see on the picture – this hatchling is very red.
Well, this coloring is likely to go away slowly after few months. Most crested geckos show their true coloring 4-6 months after hatching.
Caring for crested gecko hatchlings – terrarium, food and water
After hatchlings are fully out, you can transfer them gently to the Kritter Keeper (small or medium size) or small terrarium/aquarium that is maximum 10 gallons. 
Kritter Keeper is a better choice and will be easier to move around and clean, and can serve for 5-6 months, but it will depend on how many hatchlings you have.
Don’t choose a big terrarium and don’t place many plants in there, as hatchling won’t be able to find food and can die.
Place paper towel for bedding and use caps or small shallow cups for food and water. Mist the terrarium/container twice a day (afternoon and evening) because hatchlings will drink water droplets. Add a small hideout and a vine for climbing. Regulate temperatures and humidity.
Hatchlings won’t eat for the first 3-4 days and will shed soon after hatching. Start preparing your crested gecko’s food after it has hatched.
You will need to start offering your hatchling crested gecko some live insects, but make sure they are not bigger than 1/4 inches in size. Read everything about crested gecko’s diet in this post.
Each hatchling will eat around 3-5 crickets per feeding. Feed live insects once a week and complete crested gecko diet mixed with water 2-3 times a week. Don’t start offering any fresh fruits or purees until your crested gecko turns few months old, or it will reject complete diet food later on.
Cricket and other insect sizes
All hatchlings will grow at different rates, and you must weigh them each week. Crested geckos that grow faster will start bullying smaller cresties and won’t allow them to eat and drink properly.
Bullied hatchlings can stress and lose a lot of weight. This is why you will need to separate hatchlings if one outgrows the other.
Hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful! Please share this post and make sure to read more!