What about the future? Leopardgecko breeding)

[Pedersen, Soe]

Hi
I am new here, but you might have seen a few of my offsprings published on this forum.
I have been following the leopardgecko breeding from a distance for many years. I remember the problems people had back in the early seventies to get any fertile eggs. Back then the animals needed a hibernation period to breed, but now it is more like a machine. Get a pair and they will breed within a year.
For me it is more like the challenge was gone. We call it to find the red string or band.
Looking at all the albinos and colormorphs with unknown origin, I was actually very happy to find some F1 animals from wild caught animals. They were named afghanicus and maculatus montanus......... I really dont know if these names are correct, but they absolutely differ from the ones established in the hobby.

E. afghanicus a very small leopardgecko. Breeding size less than 30g

E. m. montanus a very light colored animal that gets long and slender

I tried to breed these animals like normal leopard geckoes, and found that the result wasn`t so good. After giving them a hibernation period and lower the temperature in the incubator, I maneged to get the result requested.
I actually only got these animals, because there are no "real" leopardgeckoes here in Denmark. All are of unknown origin, and when I got the chance to get some babies from wildcaught animals, I just had to get them and find someone, that would have an interesse for them. Ohhhhh no.....My wife fell in love and gave them a terraria each in our house ( I had them in boxes in the barn), when I was away for some time helping a frind with cancer in the USA, and after that, they have recieved a place not only in our house, but also in our heart.
I hope that you will enjoy the pictures.

Best wishes
Søe Pedersen

 

[GeckoConnection]

nice

Those are both very nice! I was just about to post a topic about locating some wild caught specimens here in the US.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

They were named afghanicus and maculatus montanus......... I really dont know if these names are correct, but they absolutely differ from the ones established in the hobby.

You are absolutely correct... but they are called eublepharis macularius monatanus. There are a few sub-species and localities of leopard geckos, or Eublepharis macularius. The morphs we work with today are really 'mutts', or a combination of these sub-species and localities. Here in the USA, we are not able to import wild-caughts due to the sanctions we have on the Middle-Eastern countries that these geckos originate. We are also unable to do field studies, much less collect these 'purebred' geckos.

I have a small colony of F1 Eublepharis macularius fasciolatus, a sub-specie of leopard geckos, that I imported from Europe. They are distinctly different than any leopard gecko we know here in the USA. They are very long and slender, and appear much more pastel in appearance... very light hues of pale yellow and grayish-lavender. They are also VERY skittish. WILD!!!

Some of us breeders that have these rare geckos are looking to find a 'key' that can tell us the physiological differences between these sub-species and localities. What limited data we have shows a distinct difference between sub-labial scale formation (lower lip/jaw area) as well as digit structure differences (toe bone structure).

I am very excited to be working with these fantastic creatures. I will NOT be crossing them with any of the geckos we have today. Some might say that these pure genes should be used to outcross our geckos that have a shallow gene-pool in order to strengthen the species. I feel differently. I will be keeping mine as 'pure-breds'.

Hopefully, someday we will be able to venture into the field of the Middle-East to observe these variations of Leopard Geckos. I hope it happens in my lifetime... I would LOVE to go and see for myself if we are truly providing the captive care that is best for these lizards we all adore.

 

[DAWNoftheLEO]

Awesome pics my friend! I enjoy these pics thouroughly!

I'd love to keep the specimen i have of e. m fascolatus pure, but what is one to do, when they can aquire a male or just a female and not 1.1?
And yes maam they sure are feisty beasts! A leo expedition is soooo dreamy...

 

[Pedersen, Soe]

Macularius........Sorry it was past midnight here, when I wrote it

I believe that there are fasciolatus, afghanicus, montanus and angramainyu in the hobby. At least I haven`t heard of any more.
Problem is that there I havent any real key to seperate them.

At least there are no doubt that they are different, but would like to have the origional descriptions.

I really like them, and some of the babies are so so tiny, that it is almost impossible to imagine.

Best wishes
Søe Pedersen

 

[TWC]

those are beautiful, i really want a wild pair, they are truly awesome

 

[evilxyardxgnome]

Those are some crazy looking juvie leos