giving up those youve raised?????

[gothra]

Every one of my geckos are like my sons and daughters (I don't have, and don't plan to have any kids, and I don't have other pets); I love them so much that I know I won't be able to sell their offsprings. So I decided I won't breed them at all. I would rather miss the fun and joy of breeding leos than regret if I had accidently sell a baby to the wrong hands...

 

[rubym]

I am just starting to breed but my husband forsees this as our BIGGEST problem. I fall in love with my geckos. We have our first 2, and no plans to ever breed them but I can't seem to bring myself to get adopt them out. Our first female is tiny. The vet has said that she is healthy but will never be a big girl. I am afraid that some new owner would breed her and it would kill her. The male is just spoiled rotten. He will only eat if you dangle the meal worms over him. What other idiot is going to spend 30 minutes a day dangling mealies for a normal old gecko, LOL. I see to find reasons why I just can't get rid of them. I figure that my first hatchlings will be the hardest and they will be the true test of if I can do this or not. If I find it impossible to part with my babies then we won't even proceed with breeding. We will just keep and love the bunch we have.

 

[Franks_Geckos]

This is making me realize that i'm gonna end up keeping every baby i hatch.

You better buy a real big rack then Amigo........actually maybe a few racks.....lol

 

[yellermelon]

There are deffinatley a few that will never leave my house. My wife would like me to keep every single gecko. So mabey I let her feed them for awhile

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

The very first show I ever vended at was many years ago, and I shared a table with another breeder. I was so stressed out!

The morning of the show, I put out all my geckos on the booth table and my friend said to me, "Marcia, you are going to have a hard time selling those geckos".

I was shocked! I thought maybe they weren't good enough to sell, or my prices were too far off. When I asked him "Why?", his response was, "You are just too emotionally attached to them".

He was right. I interrogated prospective buyers, and turned down most of the sales because I didn't think the buyer would take good care of them! When I got home after the show, I cried over every empty tub.

The only way I was able to move past this was to tell myself that every little one that hatched was someone else's gecko, and I am only here to care for them until they are ready to go to their new homes.

 

[nevinm]

"The only way I was able to move past this was to tell myself that every little one that hatched was someone else's gecko, and I am only here to care for them until they are ready to go to their new homes."


thats one of the best ideas ive heard

 

[acpart]

Personally, I have a different perspective. I get as excited by the process and the pattern of the breeding/selling season as I do by the geckos. In the early part of the season it's really exciting to me to see the incubator fill and the hatchling cages fill. I love selling at shows and getting nice compliments about my geckos. I also get into the hatchling cage emptying process and it makes me anticipate the next season. I'll admit, I do have to practice a bit of distancing or the worry could kill me. It's kind of like when one of my kids is taking a plane trip somewhere and if I let myself I could obsess endlessly about what *could* happen on that plane ride, but I try not to do that (and so far everything has been fine). This is just what works for me.

Aliza

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I'll admit, I do have to practice a bit of distancing or the worry could kill me.

You have to. It's the only way to be able to raise these little ones up without making yourself sick with the anxiety of 'what if?'

 

[supperl]

The first one I hatch is will be the Birthday present for a good friend so I can ever visit her hehe.

 

[rubym]

Great advice Marcia and Aliza. I luckily have several months before I have to start facing the whole seperation aspect of breeding, LOL. My husband keeps telling me that he can only build so many racks before he will go on strike and I will have to sell, lOL. I figure that the first few will be the hardest then it will get easier. After we adopted my huge " very mean" iguana into a more suitable home, I stressed for months. I finally got it through this thick scull that she was ok and I had made the right choice. I just won't be able to think to much about all the things that could happen wrong and concentrate on the things that could happen positive. I have enough tanks set up that if I find it too emotionally draining to breed then I can keep my male and females seperate and just not breed.

 

[goReptiles]

He was right. I interrogated prospective buyers, and turned down most of the sales because I didn't think the buyer would take good care of them! When I got home after the show, I cried over every empty tub.

Marcia, I had the problem of interrogating prospective buyers of reptiles when I worked at PetCo.. It was bad... But, of course, in the end it was my job to sell them. It sucked! Especially, those people who saw the cute baby leopard geckos and wanted pairs. Because they were too young to sex, I always felt guilty about selling them together.

As, for my own... I try to spend as little play time with babies. They're not neglected by any means! I just don't sit and play with them. They get handled to "tame" them, so to speak, but I know that with my personality, excess handling and playtimes will cause them to stay.

Adults and juvies that I sell, I just don't look them in the eyes when I'm boxing them up. I just pray they are going to good homes, and that's just the end of that one. :-/ I almost refused my first sale of an juvie AFT because I got too involved (if that makes sense) with the sale.

I definately have my favorites. And, when the time comes, it will be hard to make the decision of who stays and who goes. Currently, I'm at a 17 leopard gecko breeders (small #s when compared to most of you guys), and I have a select few that I have a know will be hard to sell...