the Enigma

[Ravana's_Reptiles]

Hey guys i wanted to get mass opinion on this argument between my friend and I.
what happened is my friend and I both love leopard geckos but we have different views on the Enigma gene. He says that because of the head wobble and walking in circles it isnt a good gene and no one should mess with it. I have an enigma and she walks in circles but shes healthy and happy, personally I believe that any mutation can be used as long as it doesnt impair an animals ability to be healthy and eat/sleep/hydrate/ect. Take the spider ball python they have head wobbles and flip upside down but the are super popular to me the Enigma is no different.
What do you gys think.

 

[stager]

This discussion is like abortion or politics it always gets ugly. I personally against it but to each his own.

 

[cowana]

I don't mess with Enigma myself. I think the gene has potential, they are beautiful geckos and there are breeders working hard to eliminate ES through outcrossing and breeding symptom-free animals. It is breeders that breed and sell Enigmas with Enigma Syndrome recklessly that scare me. They are holding the hobby back in making any progress in lessening the severity of Enigma Syndrome and eventually getting rid of it. As with all breeding you need to be scrupulous about the health of the animals you are breeding.

The reason I don't work with it is I don't believe in culling or euthanizing animals that can live a pain free life and thrive. So, I won't sell an animal that is showing symptoms to eliminate any chance of it being bred, and I don't have the time to give whatever Enigmas develop ES the special care they may need.

I hope this thread can remain civil as this can certainly be a hot button topic. I would also like to hear what Ben of Art Geckos has to say if he has time to reply. I know he works with Enigmas quite a bit and wrote a great article on ES that was published in Gecko Time. [emoji4]

 

[Neon Aurora]

I didn't vote because I don't think good or bad gene is the way I would think about it. I don't work with them because how ES is inherited is not that well known, and I don't feel comfortable potentially producing animals that will suffer just because I think they look nice. I don't think the genetics of an enigma are "bad", and I think there could be potential in breeding ES out, but I'm not going to mess with it until it's understood how ES is inherited and how to avoid having it in your stalk. I've heard of breeders breeding two healthy animals together and still producing ones with ES.

 

[Kristi23]

I can't really vote yes or no on this. It's not that simple.

I work with a limited amount of enigmas. So far, mine show 0 enigma syndrome. If they start showing any, they get pulled from breeding. I still feel like there may be a way to help ES and the only way to know is to experiment with different outcrossings. There were other morphs that had issues in the beginning. Not as bad as ES, but still not great. Breeders didn't give up and they got better.

Maybe ES will never go away, but other morphs can and have shown the same symptoms. It's not just enigmas, but those are the main one.

I've spent a lot of money buying enigmas over the years that I've ended up having to sell cheap (adopt out) as pet only. It was frustrating. But I have one from Nightglow that is a fascio cross. This is her second breeding season and she was never shown even a hint of ES yet. I held back two of her enigma babies and they've shown no signs. I have plans to add more fascio into them next season to see if they continue to be good or not. So far, things with them have been great.

Enigmas are not for everyone though and I suggest only experienced breeders work with them.