Hybrids?

[Lena]

I've noticed a lot of geckos that seem almost identical to leopard geckos such as african fat tailed geckos.. Is hybridization possible? Has anyone attempted it or is it a taboo?

 

[Ccrashca069]

Some people have tried it with negitive results. I personally think there are some cool hybrids out there.

 

[Lena]

Banded Geckos also seem like the could be compadable, from what I can see. They all share the same 'subfamily'.

 

[thegeckoguy]

ive seen a crested x chahoua hybrid so i wouldnt be suprised if a "Fat tailed leo" or something came out lol

 

[Nigel4less]

Its been attempted, With negative results. Also seeing a banded gecko in person you would know that it would be impossible. Bandeds are way too small to be bred with Leopards.

 

[Lena]

Were the negative results in the product or in general compatibility? Do we know?

I'd be interested to try it out. I may try to acquire a AFT or two to see what I can come up with.

 

[Nigel4less]

Well one...Leos and AFTs come from different parts of the world. I`m not a purist at all just giving a fair argument. The results if I remember were all infertile eggs.

 

[Lena]

Hm. That's a shame. Such a cool idea. D:

Well, donkeys and horses some how produce offspring (mules), though they aren't capable of breeding themselves.. Talk about different.

 

[Nigel4less]

Well Leos come from the middle east, so picture a dry montane desert. Then compare it to the Fat-Tails tropical forest.

 

[Lena]

Yeah, I wonder, if such a hybrid occurred, what kind of care they'd require?

Though, I glanced at a care sheet, they seem similar in terms of husbandry.

 

[Crazygecko]

I think if even they were compatible to breed there would be alot of people who would have an ethical problem with cross breeding two species. I know in pythons alot of people have issues with people crossing ball pythons with angolan pythons. Especialy since angolans sell for alot and balls do not.
And when you cross the two it can be very hard to tell the difference between a ball-angolan and a true angolan.

The way I see it. If mother nature wanted the two species to breed together she would of made it possible without human intervention to force the two to mate.

 

[godzillizard]

Yeah, I wonder, if such a hybrid occurred, what kind of care they'd require?

Intensive--would you really want a gecko that needed a respirator to live?

 

[Lena]

Intensive--would you really want a gecko that needed a respirator to live?

Well I don't think anyone would want to bring that upon an animal.

...A respirator. Isn't that a bit extreme?

Besides, I'm only musing at the thought, here.

The way I see it. If mother nature wanted the two species to breed together she would of made it possible without human intervention to force the two to mate.

But doesn't that totally go against the entire idea behind breeding in general? If 'mother nature' is the selective breeder I think she is, none of the traits we've bred for and encouraged would exist. In a natural environment, I know Valencia would be at a disadvantage being bright 'Look at me!' orange.

And hybrids do occur in the wild, such as those between whales and dolfins ('Wolfins' LOL).

But back to my point, saying something isn't what mother nature intended is entirely contradictory in principal if you yourself are a breeder or if you own the product of breeding, which is of course human intervention.

 

[downthebeatenpath]

But doesn't that totally go against the entire idea behind breeding in general? If 'mother nature' is the selective breeder I think she is, none of the traits we've bred for and encouraged would exist. In a natural environment, I know Valencia would be at a disadvantage being bright 'Look at me!' orange.

I have to totally agree with this post, you really can't use the argument that if mother nature wanted it, it would happen in nature seeing how I doubt there would be tangerine or raptors in the wild.

 

[Crazygecko]

actualy to some degree i think all the traits do excist in nature or we wouldnt be able to bring them out. I do understand what you are getting at and I know it would be said as soon as I typed what I wrote.
But I think putting two geckos together who both might have lets say for example an albino trait that they both had is alot different then playing mad scientist and mixing two different species together that in nature would never see each other.
Atleast in nature it is possible for two hets for albino to come into contact with each other and reproduce and create an albino.

 

[downthebeatenpath]

actualy to some degree i think all the traits do excist in nature or we wouldnt be able to bring them out. I do understand what you are getting at and I know it would be said as soon as I typed what I wrote.
But I think putting two geckos together who both might have lets say for example an albino trait that they both had is alot different then playing mad scientist and mixing two different species together that in nature would never see each other.
Atleast in nature it is possible for two hets for albino to come into contact with each other and reproduce and create an albino.

I understand what you are saying but I have to disagree, albino's are found in all animal species, it wasn't albino morphs I was talking about I was talking about morphs like tangerines and other morphs like that. Do I believe and albino could occur naturally? Sure because it does in almost every animal, but the way we got all these crazy morphs is through selective breeding and inbreeding to bring out desired traits, which wouldn't happen in nature.

 

[Lena]

Regardless, being albino leaves an animal at a great disadvantage which is why it is so rare in the wild.

I think to say that it would be playing 'mad scientist' by combining two like species is the same as saying that you don't condone regular selective breeding either. Hybrids are bred all the time, it's not some crazy, unheard of, horrible thing. Just think of mules!

I have to disagree and say it's not that different at all. It's human selective breeding and it's done all the time.

But anyway, I'm really not here to argue. As I said before, I'm here to muse at the thought and see if it's been done. Nothing more.

 

[Gregg M]

Lena I agree with you 100%.
When we breed reptiles in captivity, we throw natural selection right out the window especially when breeding morphs. Albinos and other genetically weak morphs do pop up in wild population but they are usually picked off by predators long before they reach sexual maturity so the genetic are not given the chance to thrive in a wild setting.

There are also many well documented wild hybrids in reptiles. Some are very common and very fertile. One example, Gaboon/rhino viper crosses are very common where their ranges overlap. Hybridization does happen in the wild and the result can thrive to the point where generations down the road can be given full species status. Its like hitting the fast foward button on evolution.

On the other hand, hybrids in captivity can cause an issue when it comes to unethical breeders not disclosing the true genetics behind the offspring. There can also be some health risks involved with certain hybids especially if the parent species are distantly related.

Its a subject filled with more opinion than fact.

To answer the original question, I believe it was done with the hatching of one or two viable neonates.

 

[Lena]

To answer the original question, I believe it was done with the hatching of one or two viable neonates.

I'd really like to see that. How interesting. o:

 

[Mel&Keith]

You can try using the search function for more answers. I know this has been discussed in at least a few different threads.