Enigmas

[anfsurfer]

Hi,
I've been researching different morphs before purchasing my first leopard geckos. Thank you to those who have been posting on my threads and supplying information.
I recently saw an Enigma I was interested in. I never thought it was a morph that I would be want, but lo and behold....
After reading some horror stories on the web I never thought I would purchase one, but I'm still interested in the one I saw.
My question is do ALL Enigmas develop the syndrome within time? A small percentage? A large percentage? Have people here had them for a good period of time with no issue? Any personal experiences or any knowledge you would like to share would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HornerHerps]

I've had mine for almost two years. He's never had a single problem. He's a nice healthy 91 grams.

 

[ImNotYogi]

I don't own an Enigma and have no first hand experience with one in any capacity. I've read, though, from owners and breeders that all CAN develop issues at any point and the severity seems to be a crap shoot. Those who have bred Enigmas with little to no symptoms have said some of the babies have developed ES at varying degrees.

 

[rebecky45]

If I get it correctly, they can show varying degrees, and stress can trigger an individual to show symptoms when it normally doesn't (breeding, new enclosure, bright lights...). I have a few enigmas, and all are great. I wouldn't breed one that showed consistent signs of the syndrome, though. I know there's a debate as to whether it can be breed out, and I just don't know what I think about that, yet. I love them though. They have the best personalities!

 

[anfsurfer]

Thanks everyone.

 

[katie_]

My enigma has also never showed any signs, and I have had her for 2 years.

 

[Rooster]

I picked up a 15 lot of baby leos less than a week ago. One of them happens to be an enigma. Every once and a while it will be spinning in circles. It has a harder time catching crickets than the others, so last night I started cutting the back legs off of the crickets before I throw them in and that helps greatly! I feel sorry for the lil creature, but so far I dont really see any bad effects...its still a happy lizard with a great personality.

 

[suburbangeckos]

In our experience, it's a bit of a crap shoot. I have a 2 year old male Enigma that is honestly one of my favorite Leopards, due to his extremely laid back, mellow personality. On the flip side of that, I have a 2 year old female Nova that showed no signs of Enigma syndrome for the first year, and then developed it very badly almost overnight. She still eats well and looks very healthy...she just spins like no other when she is stressed out and has relatively minimal control over her body. So, it's a gamble...we're currently working with our healthy Enigmas to see if it's possible to breed the ES out of Enigma-based animals. A lot of breeders have stopped working with them due to ES, but we're not ready to give up on them yet. They're just too cool! Personally, some of our Enigma-based animals with mild ES are some of my favorite animals. The spinning/stargazing is actually kind of neat, as long as its not too severe.

 

[SC Geckos]

I would suggest not purchasing an enigma for your first gecko. You may get one that shows little or no signs of any issues. Then again, you may get one that turns out to need "special care". Get a different morph, gain some experience over time with care/husbandry, and then perhaps persue getting an enigma if you are still interested in one.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[pmkent1]

Ive stopped working with them after this year. The male breeder I had showed little to no sign of ES but the babies that I produced varied from no sign of it at all to an absolutely debilitating, almost paralyzing, condition. The ones that showed no sign at all were nice, but the risk of producing more like the others was something I didnt want on my conscience. Is it possible to breed it out? Maybe. I dont know enough to say for sure. From what I know from anything I can read on it I personally dont believe it is. Not to mention with the existance of the W&Y I dont really have a reason to continue it.