Enigma Syndrome and Breeding

[katie_]

I picked up a tangerine enigma from TUG last month.
She seems totally normal, but last night I was cleaning her tank and startled her.
She started spinning. She spun about 4 times and then was normal again.
Would you say this is enough of the syndrome to avoid breeding her?
What are your protocols when breeding enigmas? How "bad" is too bad to possibly breed down the road?

I know breeding her can possibly make this worse.

 

[stager]

Don't own an enigma but I've read many similar posts like this here. You will probably get many different opinions. I feel to each his own, but I would at least let her settle in for a few weeks before introducing any male to her. But I've herd breeding can be very stressful to some enigmas.

 

[katie_]

Shes only 4-5 months old, breeding would be next year at the earliest.
I just dont know if people breed enigmas that show little signs of the syndrome, or if they just breed ones that show NONE.
Basically I'm asking if it would be an ethical choice.

 

[Exot1c_Reap3r]

enigma is best! color enhancer.

 

[Wild West Reptile]

Basically I'm asking if it would be an ethical choice.

That's what you have to answer for yourself. Everyone has an opinion and it basically goes like this:

Opinion 1. I love enigmas, don't care about the issues, will cull the ones with issues and I'm breeding all of them.

Opinion 2. I like enigmas and own them, but I'll only breed the ones with little to no enigma issues. (which really doesn't make a difference with which ones show the symptoms from breeders I've talked to, it pops up randomly).

Opinion 3. I like/hate enigmas, I'd never breed them.

It's all about what camp your in. Keep in mind, these are only OPINIONS. There's no right or wrong, just a personal choice.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

I personally got out of ALL enigmas because I didn't like the variable of their health regardless of my husbandry and supplementation. How your enigma acts has very little to do with how their offspring will act. A normal looking female may still become more symptomatic just from the stress of breeding...then what? I love what enigmas do but do not like breeding with that gene. That being said I don't have problems with people that do because after all EVERY morph is a gecko with genetic flaws/abnormalities. Just to me Enigmas are one of the only ones which impacts health and quality of life.

 

[ndncowgirl22]

In my opinion, geckos with vestibular issues should never be bred. It should be our goal to improve the species with each pairing. Animals that are less than perfect shouldn't be bred, especially when the flaw is known to be genetic. I don't care how pretty it is, an unhealthy gecko is unhealthy. Disease should not be propagated on purpose.

Off my soap box now.

 

[Dimidiata]

enigma is best! color enhancer.

If your going to contribute try to actually contribute. -_-.

Katie i really dont think theres an answer here to be honest. The issue is this, from what we know so far about the enigma if you breed to parents that show no issues of enigma you can still easily get offspring that will have the problem to any degree, where as you can breed to showing enigma syndrom theres no garuntee the offspring will show it.

So, if you want to breed enigma, breed them. If you dont want to deal with ES, dont breed them because theres no way of purposley avoiding it aside not breeding enigma. I fall neutral now a day, since ive been studying them in the quiet of my own time. The breeding stress may send her over the edge, it may not, we cannot decided that.