Tangs

[Okee Reps]

I'm planning to try my hand at tangs. My question is how long before you know what you have? Are they born without bands, lighter bands? Do they have the tangerine color at birth or after a month? Does it take several months for them to reach their full potential? I know very little on the subject but have been seeing some amazing ones on here.

 

[malt_geckos]

I don't know too much about them either. I think they are bornd with bands that fade. I know it takes them awhile to reach their full potential.

 

[PacHerp]

I own one Tang and she was banded/jungly at birth, and at about 4 weeks she started loosing her bands, they became lighter and lighter. By 4-5 months, there were only a few 'grey' areas where the bands were. Now, at over a year, she is completely orange on her body, and has quite the carrot tail. :-D

I guess they just take longer to develop. Good luck with your projects! :

 

[PrototypeGeckos]

I have always heard and seen from other people that they do develop their color, the older they get. As for how long it takes? That I am not sure of, as this is going to be my first year doing some Tang projects as well. I have also heard from several people that you can have two outstanding Tangs, a male and female from different lines, and produce so-so animals, so to me, this makes them fun, trying to find the right combination to produce some awesome Tangs.

 

[ByRandom]

Most tangs hatch out looking like any normal leopard gecko, and then develope from there.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Agreed. They develop over time, but one of the keys I look for with the hatchlings is the lack of any dark pigment and some orange coloration on their back legs. Another is reduced black banding on their tails, but even that is not a complete indication of how they ultimately turn out.

 

[Okee Reps]

I have also heard from several people that you can have two outstanding Tangs, a male and female from different lines, and produce so-so animals, so to me, this makes them fun, trying to find the right combination to produce some awesome Tangs.

Me too. I've heard the same thing from a few people and I agree that is what makes them so intriguing.

One of the keys I look for with the hatchlings is the lack of any dark pigment and some orange coloration on their back legs...

I read a book that discussed dark pigment on back legs as being a sign of a normal or low quality tang. Is that what you are referring too?

Another is reduced black banding on their tails...

By this do you mean grey color or are you referring to a absence of the color in certain areas?

 

[Baysidegeckos]

Most tangs look normale as hatclings (they veiry), but they develope color over the months,and usually develope all their color around 8 months of age, but around 20 grams is when you see if they are gonna be something spectacular!

 

[GekkoGalaksen]

Here is an illustration I did last year...

and a couple of weeks later...

Today he is one of the breeders in Lottiz stock

 

[Ccrashca069]

Thanks Henrik for the cool illustration. Thats a very pretty gecko.

 

[GekkoGalaksen]

Yes, he turned out very nice even though he had the dark color on his back legs as a hatchling...
This is the last pic I took of him before he moved to Lottiz

 

[DanTheFireman]

I used to put a red asterisk on the ones that looked like they'd be killers after the first few sheds but at a few months old the more plain ones would often be better. Some with big black spots as juvies are superhypo by 30 grams. They do keep you guessing.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I read a book that discussed dark pigment on back legs as being a sign of a normal or low quality tang. Is that what you are referring too?

By this do you mean grey color or are you referring to a absence of the color in certain areas?

Yes... and yes. BUT! This is not always the case as Lotta shows us in her photos.

They do keep you guessing.

This is completely true, Dan!

 

[Okee Reps]

So on average how long do you recommend holding on to your tangs to see how they progress?

**That's a really nice tang BTW**

 

[DanTheFireman]

I'd go at least 25 grams, they can improve drastically up to 40 grams or so as a ballpark figure.

 

[Mel&Keith]

We keep our Tangs until they are at least 20g. We've had a few that were really ugly and then 2 weeks later looked like a completely different gecko. That's part of the fun of Tangerines, they seem to get better and better.

 

[Okee Reps]

Is age a factor? I normally get hatchlings to 25 grams or so in about 60 days. Is that too young to be able to tell or does it go solely by weight?

 

[Mel&Keith]

That's a good question. Personally, I like our babies to grow at a little bit slower rate than that and they don't have those dramatic color changes until they're between 15-25g usually, whatever the age. So I would say that weight would be a better indicator than age. I could be totally wrong though. lol

 

[johnnyboy4783]

Thats alot of good info for me, because i thought my male was a normal and after his last couple of sheds he is losing so much of the black pigment on his body, legs are turning orange as well as his tail i will try and post a couple of pics. he is a bout 5 months old n around 25 grams, but i know everyone will disagree with me probably haha.