UnicornSpirit
Graphic Designer
- Messages
- 399
- Location
- Woodbine, MD
I wont mention any names but I saw a reptile breeder selling some stunning juvenile leopard geckos online. When I asked him how much the leo weighed he said 6 grams. It looked very healthy but it was that little merely because it was so young. I asked if that was the weight he shipped them at and he responded that he has shipped out 4-6 gram hatchling/juvenile geckos all the time with "little to no loss". He also went to tell me that Ron Tremper used to sell geckos of that size and ship them out as well. He said he spent $10,000 dollars on 3 leos from RT 13 yrs ago and they were all shipped around 5 grams! Wow!
I've never shipped a reptile... but most breeders that I see tend to have some sort of personal policy where they wait until the gecko is 15g or maybe 25g, etc before they ship them out. Some say because they want to see how the baby changes, others say so it has enough weight on it so it will be alright once in a stressful new home and possibly not eating well.
I do feel like a hatchling/young gecko should not be shipped. I have never ordered a gecko that small but I would not ever want to risk it either. I would be worried as they are so fragile and also still growing I would hate to put it through stress and not wanting to eat when it is most vital to development.
I didn't want to argue or anything with the breeder when he asked me why I was asking about his methods but I can't help but ask fellow hobbyists here. I'm curious.
What do you think? :main_robin:
I've never shipped a reptile... but most breeders that I see tend to have some sort of personal policy where they wait until the gecko is 15g or maybe 25g, etc before they ship them out. Some say because they want to see how the baby changes, others say so it has enough weight on it so it will be alright once in a stressful new home and possibly not eating well.
I do feel like a hatchling/young gecko should not be shipped. I have never ordered a gecko that small but I would not ever want to risk it either. I would be worried as they are so fragile and also still growing I would hate to put it through stress and not wanting to eat when it is most vital to development.
I didn't want to argue or anything with the breeder when he asked me why I was asking about his methods but I can't help but ask fellow hobbyists here. I'm curious.
What do you think? :main_robin: