This is a super exciting milestone! We did a lot of inquiring of the top reptile breeders and importers in Canada when trying to find some B. Boivini to purchase. Over a number of months they all agreed that there were none to be had in Canada. We also repeatedly heard that while some breeders kept them 5-7 years ago, no one knew of any successfully breeding them.
We were determined to try, imported 1.4 from the US in spring 2016 and here we are... 2 eggs! They have been laid in a hide with a narrow opening and are hard to get at, so we will leave them alone and attempt to hatch them in the terrarium with their parents. While these geckos don't parent their young (hatchlings are completely self sufficient), they do not eat them either, so babies will be completely safe with the parents. These aren't a commonly bred gecko in North America, so information can be hard to find, but we are likely looking at a 4-6 month incubation period for the eggs ... it's going to be a long wait :-).
We currently keep our breeding trio of 1.2 together in a large 23"x23"x48" high screen terrarium, and our 2 sub adult females in an 18"x30"x30" high screen terrarium. These guys come from a semi arid, forested part of Madagascar and reside away from the tropical areas, so we have elected to keep them in a drier and more airy enclosure than our crested geckos. They seem to be thriving. Our 2 sub adults are sporting some really big calcium sacs and will be ready to breed whenever we decide to put the male in with them.
So, they have bred, now to successfully incubate and hatch these geckos and join a very exclusive club of B. Boivini breeders in Canada! Woohoo!
I have 14 eggs...have successfully hatched two (one is already full grown), but lost a couple too. it's been trial and error and I've been trying for years, but I think I finally have it down! My breeders are 3.5. a totally underestimated species and I'm so glad someone else is breeding them! keeping the babies I hatched so far, but will sell the others just don't know how much to sell them for. I hope yours hatch successfully! I use DRY eco-earth (the eggs mold easily), but keep the incubator humid like 80%. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! They haven't hatched yet, but we are hoping soon!
ReplyDeleteAre you still keeping this species? I just got a pair of them but one of them spends some time hanging out on the ground not sure if this is normal or should they be climbing up almost all the time?
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry j didn't see this comment. Yes, we are still keeping these guys. We do have one female in the trio who likes the ground too. We do see her up high, but she's just as commonly found on the ground.
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