Newer breeder looking for advice/opinions

[Treefolk]

Hello, I got my first leopard gecko 7 years ago. She is still with me to this day. I originally bought her to start a small breeding project but life got in the way of it. She is a SHTCT.

I have since been reinvigorated and have been doing a lot of reading. The amount of morphs compared to 7 years ago is staggering. I am interested in getting maybe 2-4 breeding pairs. The problem I have been having is, which morphs I want to work with.

I have always like Mack snows (super included) and sunglows. With some of the newer (at least to me) morphs the diablo blanco, RAPTOR, Blizzard and Tangerine Tornados all look appealing. With that said I like others as well.

So, ultimately I am looking for suggestions on morph pairs and any different morphs that could have synergy with each other. Money is not an issue when purchasing good breeders, so don't let that stop you from a suggestion.

Thank you for any help you might be

 

[scm133]

I am also a new breeder. At the moment I have a pair of Super Snows, Sunglows, Bandits, and Blizzards. As been advised many times on this forum, being ready and prepared for eggs and many, many hatchlings is so important. With that being said, I have started with only one pair. My suggestion would be to find a high quality breeding group, line bred, and start slow. Urban Geckos has an unique site of breeding groups for sale. You might want to check them out. I would also dig in and read the information on recessive, and dominant traits. Hope this helps.

 

[SC Geckos]

When it comes to what you should breed, I would base it on what you like and not on the opinions of others. After all, you may be holding on to many of them for quite a while before they sell. Trust me, I know from experience. lol!

 

[acpart]

Start small, maybe with 1.2. Read my article in Gecko Time (breeding on a Small Scale) which gives some examples of interlocking morphs.

Aliza

 

[Treefolk]

scm113, thank you for the advice. As far as space, and funding, I have a 20'x16' room dedicated to my future project and a $10k budget for the proper enclosures, heating/temp control and feeder colonies.

Brad1980, I agree that I should raise animals that I am interested in. But, like my original post says, I'm having trouble narrowing my choices. So what kinds do you like? And maybe why?

Acpart, that sounds right up my ally. I'll search for it. Maybe you can link it please?

 

[SC Geckos]

scm113, thank you for the advice. As far as space, and funding, I have a 20'x16' room dedicated to my future project and a $10k budget for the proper enclosures, heating/temp control and feeder colonies.

Brad1980, I agree that I should raise animals that I am interested in. But, like my original post says, I'm having trouble narrowing my choices. So what kinds do you like? And maybe why?

Acpart, that sounds right up my ally. I'll search for it. Maybe you can link it please?

Personally, I like the simpler animals like the Mack Snow, Tangs, Eclipse, Bandits, and anything Bold. These are also the animals I work with.
As Aliza said start small and see how things go. I most certainly would not spend 10 grand to start out. More like a few hundred for a few geckos, caging etc, and get a feel for things.
Oh and by the way, Aliza's article on Gecko Time is really good stuff.

 

[Treefolk]

I like your choices. I've always loved intensely orange Leo's. as far as spending all the money, that's not my goal, but if I wanted the best of the best.... say Sunglow and it was $1k, I'd do it. My hobbies keep me sane and it doesn't put me back to do it, so why not?

Both of Aliza's articles were good, but not a lot I haven't learned from raising market farm animals or running businesses already. They were enjoyable, well written and informative.

 

[SC Geckos]

as far as spending all the money, that's not my goal, but if I wanted the best of the best.... say Sunglow and it was $1k, I'd do it. My hobbies keep me sane and it doesn't put me back to do it, so why not?

Both of Aliza's articles were good, but not a lot I haven't learned from raising market farm animals or running businesses already. They were enjoyable, well written and informative.

That's great that money is not an issue for you because I would not anticipate getting that money back or turning a profit for a long time if ever. Now if it is just a hobby as you said then making your money back doesn't matter much, Then by all means buy some real nice animals. There are some amazing morphs out there but as stated before start small because you can quickly be overwhelmed with animals with nobody to purchase them regardless of the morph.

Good luck to ya.

 

[Treefolk]

That's great that money is not an issue for you because I would not anticipate getting that money back or turning a profit for a long time if ever. Now if it is just a hobby as you said then making your money back doesn't matter much, Then by all means buy some real nice animals. There are some amazing morphs out there but as stated before start small because you can quickly be overwhelmed with animals with nobody to purchase them regardless of the morph.

Good luck to ya.

This is a hobby, I have a successful business already, no need to be profitable. Not to say I would mind selling some that I produce.

Do you believe 2 breeding pairs is to much to start with? If so, why?

 

[SC Geckos]

This is a hobby, I have a successful business already, no need to be profitable. Not to say I would mind selling some that I produce.

Do you believe 2 breeding pairs is to much to start with? If so, why?

As long as the animals are taken care of properly, I don't see a problem. Just keep in mind that a single female can produce anywhere from 8 - 16 eggs per season. (sometimes more) Many people recommend starting small because if you decide after a season that it's not for you, you will not have the burden of trying to find homes for dozens of geckos.

 

[stager]

I would start with one pair and see how it goes. Four is alot of babies, and work. So start small.

 

[acpart]

If you have surplus from the 10K I can take it off your hands!

Aliza