Short tails

[sarahaney6]

I bought this snow as a hatchling and its now almost up to breeding weight but I have noticed that her tail is noticeably shorter than any of my other Leos. I did some reading and found that in some cases this could be cause by inbreeding or possibly temp spikes during incubation. I just wanted some opinions on whether or not it is short enough to not consider breeding her.

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[Neon Aurora]

I personally wouldn't, but yours doesn't look too terribly short, so it probably comes down to personal opinion at this point. I produced a hatchling this season with a tail a lot like that and I'm going to try and find a pet home for her. I can't quite tell from the pictures, so I want to ask if the tail is always sort of positioned that way? Like can she move it like other geckos? my short-tailed hatchlings seems to have less mobility in her tail than my other geckos. I don't think she can do the tail waving behavior that they often do when threatened. If she has mobility problems with it as well as it being short, than I really wouldn't.

IMO, geckos with any problems like that (kinked tails, short tails, missing toes, club feet, etc) shouldn't be bred. There isn't a way to prove if problems like these come from incubation issues or genetic issues, so I prefer to just err on the side of caution and only breed the geckos I think are excellent examples of the species.

 

[sarahaney6]

I honestly had never noticed it was short until my boyfriend pointed it out to me a few days ago. She waves her tail and moves around just like all the rest of them. She's one of my favorites so you can imagine how disappointed I was when I compared her to others and realized it really is about a quarter to half an inch shorter than my other girls. She also seems to store a lot more fat in her tail than "normal". Everyone eats the same and she just has a much fatter tail.

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[acpart]

If you're talking about 1/4" difference, it really doesn't seem to be significant to me.

Aliza