First thing I keep seeing is people asking what the morph is. If you know the genetics, then we can most likely help you out. But if you don't know the genetics, it is very difficult to say what a morph is. Some are obvious when babies (mack snow, murphy's patternless), but when they are older, they look too similar to other morphs. When you buy a pet gecko without genetics, it's just a nice pet gecko. We can usually say if it's albino, but we can't tell you the strain. It's extremely difficult with certain morphs and it's best to not have people guess since a lot of the answers would be wrong anyways.
Another thing is animals sold without hets. I see a lot of people here and on facebook posting about breeding the animals they buy. The problem is that there are quite a few people that sell animals without listing the hets. That does not mean the animal has no hets. Sometimes they don't track or even know. So if you buy something like a mack snow, tangerine, normal, etc, please know that probably 90% or more actually are het for an albino strain. If you're looking for something non het, you must buy from someone who has test bred the animals first. Otherwise, assume there is a het and test it first. If you don't, you may be mixing albino strains.
Another thing I see is people buying pet only geckos and thinking they can breed them. This should never be done. Even if you don't see a deformity, there is a reason that animal is being adopted as a pet. It could be that babies have had problems, it could be from a testing breeding making it het for multiple albino strains, or it could mean that genetics just aren't known. Please know that these animals are not meant for breeding which is why they are priced low and sold without genetic information.
Breeding geckos is awesome and I do encourage others to breed. But please make sure you learn about the morphs, genetics, and ethics before you ever pair up your animals. There is a lot to breeding, so don't rush into it. And if you want to breed, please make sure you're buying animals with known genetics and you're not breeding animals from pet stores. There are breeders out there willing to help out with questions once you try to learn some of the basics yourself. If you need more information, please look at the stickies above.
Another thing is animals sold without hets. I see a lot of people here and on facebook posting about breeding the animals they buy. The problem is that there are quite a few people that sell animals without listing the hets. That does not mean the animal has no hets. Sometimes they don't track or even know. So if you buy something like a mack snow, tangerine, normal, etc, please know that probably 90% or more actually are het for an albino strain. If you're looking for something non het, you must buy from someone who has test bred the animals first. Otherwise, assume there is a het and test it first. If you don't, you may be mixing albino strains.
Another thing I see is people buying pet only geckos and thinking they can breed them. This should never be done. Even if you don't see a deformity, there is a reason that animal is being adopted as a pet. It could be that babies have had problems, it could be from a testing breeding making it het for multiple albino strains, or it could mean that genetics just aren't known. Please know that these animals are not meant for breeding which is why they are priced low and sold without genetic information.
Breeding geckos is awesome and I do encourage others to breed. But please make sure you learn about the morphs, genetics, and ethics before you ever pair up your animals. There is a lot to breeding, so don't rush into it. And if you want to breed, please make sure you're buying animals with known genetics and you're not breeding animals from pet stores. There are breeders out there willing to help out with questions once you try to learn some of the basics yourself. If you need more information, please look at the stickies above.
