Need some pointers

[shogun607]

Ok so i am thinking on starting to get into breeding my gecko's small time nothing big right off the bat. I have 4 leo's right now 2 of which i have raised from hatch lings so i know how to take care of them. I have never breed geckos before but dont worry i an not like some of the people you see on youtube just jumping into this with out doing his research thus why i am posting this.

I was wondering if anyone can hook me up with some links to video's, articles, websites etc... that has good info for a first time breeder. An yes i have already read the breeding on a small scale article. If anyone can help me out and guide me to the right first steps it be sweet.

Also i have seen some videos where people are talking about how they proof breed their gecko to find the het or morph something like that can anyone tell me what that means. thanks again

 

[katie_]

If you want some great tips, just search and read threads on here

The best tip I could give you is if you don't know what morphs and hets you have right now, don't breed them. Save some money and buy a nice pair of high quality geckos from a reputable breeder. No one wants random geckos with hidden hets, but there is a market for certain popular morphs.

(and test breeding your geckos for hets could take you years)

 

[acpart]

"Proving" a gecko for genetics means breeding it in such a way that you discover whether or not it has certain genes that don't show up. For example, if you have a gecko that you think may have a Tremper albino gene (meaning it's "het" for albino) but you're not sure, you could breed it to a Tremper albino gecko. If none of the babies are albinos (and you have to have a good pool of, say, at least 10-15 babies), it's likely that the gecko is not het for albino. If even 1 baby is albino, the gecko is het for albino and will produce some albino offspring if paired with another gecko that has at least one gene for Tremper albino.

I know many people feel strongly that only geckos of known genetics should ever be bred. I have a different opinion. I feel that geckos in good health who are well cared for can be bred even if their genetics are not known. The important thing is to be sure to tell prospective buyers what the situation is, to be prepared that people interested in acquiring breeding stock may not be interested in your geckos, and to try, in your pairings, to determine more about the gecko's genetics by pairing it with a gecko of known genetic heritage. I sell geckos to plenty of people who want a nice looking healthy gecko and don't really care about its genetics.

Aliza

 

[shogun607]

well put acpart, and thanks for the info very helpful, is there a good site out there other than the morph calculators that have good info on genetics? thanks again

 

[acpart]

You can check out my article from last summer in www.geckotime.com called something like "fun with hets" which explains the basics of genetics (in a really superficial way) and then illustrates it with the offspring of an actual pair of geckos I bred last season.

Aliza