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Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis macularius) Egg Incubation

The basics for hatching leopard geckos are pretty simple. Mix 1 part water to 1 part coarse vermiculite by weight and mix thoroughly. Then place about 1-2" of the vermiculite in a deli cup or other resealable container. In the lid of the container you will want to make some small holes. About 10 pin sized holes should do. Once you have your eggs you will make small impressions in the vermiculite and place an egg in each buried halfway and spaced about 1" apart. Put the lid on the container and place it in the incubator. Check on your eggs about once a week by opening the container lid and allowing for a full air exchange. If you use clear lids and can see the eggs you will still need to open the lid at least once a week. Depending on temperatures you will have your babies within 45-65 days. The temps on the incubator can be used to determine sex. Incubate at 82 degrees F to get all Females. 90 degrees F will produce all males. And 86 degrees F will produce a mix of both males and females. Temperature can also have an effect on the color of your babies. If you have ever seen dull or brownish colored leopards that is from the incubation temps being too low. But in order to produce females the temps have to be low. To get your females to be bright and nice looking you will require 2 incubators. You will incubate the geckos you wish to be females at 82 degrees F for 22 days and then move them over to 90 degrees F for the rest of the incubation period. This works because the sex is determined within the first 3 weeks after being laid. For this incubator you will need to supply the vermiculite, water, and deli cups. There is also a product called hatch rite that comes premixed and is awesome. We sell that in our supplies section of the site. You can use any kind of plastic resealable containers. We use rubbermaid storage containers that fit perfect and also 8 oz. Deli Cups. The deli cups are perfect for keeping all your eggs sorted out. Be sure to mark on the top of each container the date, morph, and parents id #'s if applicable. Bookmark This Page!