Furture Plans

Hello again. If you don't already know I am a newbie to leopard geckos and reptiles in general. I have big plans for the future. One is I would love to breed them. Now don't freak out! This is a thing that will take a few years before going in to full effect. I do understand I am new and I that I shouldn't even be thinking about this. But I really love this hobby and I will do much more research. I plan on giving the babies to great new homes, maybe even donate them to zoos and other of the like. So if anyone can give me first hand warnings of the dangers I would really appreciate it. But right now caring and giving my one gecko attention will do just fine for now. Thanks:main_laugh:

I can never discourage anyone from this, because I love the hobby.
Best thing to do, is do your research. Read this forum, and get some books. Two books I would recommend is "The Herpetoculuture of Leopard Geckos", and "Leopard Geckos..The Next Generation".
Start small; acquire healthy, quality morphs; Don't try and breed a under age, and under weight female.
The market is flooded, so do not produce any more ,than you can find good homes for. I don't think zoos take them.
Remember one female alone, can give you 16 baby geckos.
Be prepared for some expenses. I don't mean this to sound rude, but I cringe when I read people say..."I can't afford an incubator", after they breed them. Plan ahead, and do your homework, and you will be just fine.

Thanks for the advice! I plan on getting an incubator, and a good one at that, so no need to worry. Money has been tight recently so I won't get one till we are all caught up. But rest assured if I can't get a proper one I won't breed until I get a good one. Thanks again

I'm also in no way planing on breeding in the short term. But would it be stupid(or immoral) to pay a local reptile store to have one of there males breed woth my female?

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jxl22 said:

I'm also in no way planing on breeding in the short term. But would it be stupid(or immoral) to pay a local reptile store to have one of there males breed woth my female?

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As a new guy myself, I asked alot of questions. The general consensus among those that I would call "professionals" is not to breed "pet" geckos. Breeding is not necessarily something only professionals can do, but the professional breeders recognize the importance of quality.

Store bought geckos have an ambiguous background and genetic information. You have have to testbreed it over the course of years in order to guess what genetics it holds hidden (or sometimes visible).

Because of the unknown/untested genetics of the parents, you will end up with babies that have unknown genetics. There is no real market for "pet-quality" babies. The chain-stores own that corner of the hobby-market with their $15 sales. You would probably end up with 16 to 20 mouths to feed longterm.

I would suggest buying quality Leo's with proven/tested genetics. Then you will be able to plan your breeding project and produce Leo's with generally "proven" genetics. Alot of shoppers, myself included, want Leo's with genetics that are proven because we have our own projects that we are breeding.

Someone once told me (roughly): "We don't need any more mutts." lol

the local reptile store has a good selection of leos, and breeds them there. still the same thing?

i have a jungle het raptor, and i'd like to pair it with a raptor.

If the local reptile store is a privately owned one, by all means. The only important thing is to make sure you and the owner are clear (in writing) about who will own the offspring and how sales will be handled.

Aliza

jxl22 said:

the local reptile store has a good selection of leos, and breeds them there. still the same thing?

i have a jungle het raptor, and i'd like to pair it with a raptor.

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Definitely different and much better! A chain petstore has a stigma for selling "mutts" and generally allowing them to share overcrowded parasites.....which leads to another issue.

quarantine is an important word in Leo's. I'm hopeful that all good breeders practice quarantine, but if he does practice quarantine, he might not be willing to let his come in contact with yours...?? You won't know until you ask, but ask if he has a healthy background before they are put together.

Also, Acpart's statement is very important...ESPECIALLY if the petstore owns the FEMALE (and all the eggs she lays??)...

--Wishing you luck--

I have the female. They store all of there leos in the tub/rack system with 1 per tub. They seem very up and up.

Good point about the quarantine. Didn't even think of that.

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I guess I won't breed my current leo (Finn). I would rather get a leo from a breeder who knows all the proper info on the ones they are selling.

TheWhiteTree said:

I guess I won't breed my current leo (Finn). I would rather get a leo from a breeder who knows all the proper info on the ones they are selling.

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I was in this same situation about 1 month ago. I knew I wanted to follow this hobby and try it out for a year or two. I have my awesome male blizzard, Smoke, and did I mention he is awesome??, but I have chosen a breeding plan, ordered breeder-geckos with known genetics, and have started down the "right" road to high quality hatchlings.