Big geckos

[Ross85]

Hi,

I have my first leopard gecko right now and have had him for about 9 months. Since I have had him he has not stopped growing. He is now slightly over 11" and 125 grams, doesn't look fat at all. I don't know the genetics and stuff for geckos, but I know he is not considered a true "giant." So, what I want to know is are geckos just being bred to be bigger now? Were his parents just big? or is it just some random thing that he is bigger than the average? I unfortunately the only thing I know about his history is that he was from a pet store and he is almost definitely a murphy's patternless.
Thanks

 

[Frognut]

Are you sure he isn't a giant? That is a BIG Leo!! I don't know much about genetics either, but don't worry - your answer will be along soon~~~

 

[Ross85]

well if he is a giant I only paid 17 dollars for him haha.

 

[gecko geek]

show some pics

 

[lpcad]

That's a very big leo. Sounds like a giant.

 

[Ross85]

here is the most recent pic I have(poor quality)

about a month ago

a couple months ago

sorry I don't have anything to judge his size in the pics. I just took those measurements today though.

 

[DarthGekko]

Sounds like Super Giant!

 

[Baoh]

Sounds like Super Giant!

Indeed.

I envy his good fortune.

 

[Blizzard Lizard]

This also raises the question again if "giant" is a morph.

 

[Baoh]

This also raises the question again if "giant" is a morph.

How does it raise that question? Lots of folks breed Giants into other lines and groups and do not keep track, often selling them well before they are sure and often not mentioning it when things are possible Giants. Lots of folks never even knew they had them in the first place, too. This is especially the case with project cast-offs/byproducts. Happens all the time. Length seems to be the best indicator for adults. For my male Giants, head size is also useful. I haven't had the pleasure of trending the size at hatching hypothesis yet, but I hope I find that reliable. It would take one to two years off of each time line.

I noticed some breeders don't understand the genetics of their animals, selling any offspring from Giant x Giant pairing as either Giants or Super Giants, unfortunately, not accounting for normals. I've seen at least three instances of this and I write those folks off as people I should avoid buying from. I've also seen people think that having a Giant parent automatically makes the offspring Giants, leaving a twist on a similar type of ignorance as the first example.

 

[Ross85]

I got him from one of the large chain pet stores and noticed that he was about twice the size of all of the other geckos in the cage. I took this as either he is just older than the others, or he is much healthier than the others. That was why I chose him. I don't know how those kind of stores get their animals, but I would assume that when they get them they are all about the same age.

Have there even been any "giants" made that are muphy's patternless? What would the chances been that whoever is selling their animals to the big chain stores would let a possible giant go for so cheap?

I'm assume the only way to prove anything about my gecko would be to breed it and see what comes out. correct? If my leo was bred with another really big female, would the offspring most likely be also really big? Sorry for all the questions, I just don't know a lot about the breading part.

 

[cassadaga]

The originator of the "giant" line supplies many of the big chains, it's very possible you could have a genetic giant. I also believe the suppliers of the big chains just send out thosands of random geckos, and probably don't track parentage or genetics very well for these geckos.

 

[Ross85]

well this is the best I could do at the time with one hand and a camera phone

Looks like his foot may have been off the front, but the scale only reads in increments of 5grams anyway, so he is somewhere between 120-125 grams right now.

You get the idea, when everything lines up and he is straight he is 11"

 

[Baoh]

The originator of the "giant" line supplies many of the big chains, it's very possible you could have a genetic giant. I also believe the suppliers of the big chains just send out thosands of random geckos, and probably don't track parentage or genetics very well for these geckos.

Exactly. Lots of fun genes slip through.

 

[Ross85]

are there any known giants that are murphys patternless? Or is my gecko not a murphy's?

 

[Baoh]

are there any known giants that are murphys patternless? Or is my gecko not a murphy's?

I have read they exist, although I haven't personally noticed any for sale. They don't seem widely produced. Your gecko is a Murphy's Patternless. He's rather interesting. I wish I had a Giant or (preferably) Super Giant Murphy Patternless in my collection.

 

[Ross85]

Anyone else have any input or know if there are any giant murphys out there?

 

[g3ckosr4me]

He is very big, I think he might have some giant somewhere in his background because I have a male housed alone and he is full grown. Yes he grew a lot as a juvinile,but he still is only 90 grams and about 7 inches long