What if...

[fallen_angel]

I was asking a question about Giants when other questions came up, and I have since decided that my real question belongs here..

I basically have a male who exhibits Giant characteristics. His highest weight recorded thus far is 116.7 grams and he is 1 year and 2 months old. The problem is that the breeder I got him from has never worked with Giants, but has noticed that some of his offspring grow to larger than normal sizes.. We have two hatchlings from this male, and both are "giant-sized" for their age. One is only three weeks old tomorrow, and he weighed 9.9 grams earlier this afternoon. The other looks about the same size visually, but is 3 days younger (and so I'm waiting until he is also three weeks old to weigh him).

We are still waiting to see the results of three more hatchlings due this month, but if the Giant genes prove true, can we not claim our male to be Giant as well, even though the breeder he came from has never worked with Giants??? Or should I just ask the breeder and leave it to his discretion?

 

[Jeremy Letkey]

I don't think that you should even consider selling them or even labeling them as "giants". I look at the "giant" trait as a specific line. This line has been bred for size. I have a hard time with these animals being called a co-dom gene though also. I think that it should be look at as a line bred trait and unless you have direct decendants of the line... you should not call them "giants".

I'll be more than happy to discuss the "giant" trait but I want to make sure that everyone who participates keeps it civil.

 

[fallen_angel]

Okay, so just because we have larger than normal offspring, that doesn't mean we are working with the Giant line... thanks.

 

[MSMD]

The 'giants' are also usually lankier looking, especially when young.

I have a male Mack Snow that is unusually large (he hovers between 112-114 grams), but I am certain he is not a giant. He's about 10" long, but doesn't have the head and overall 'giant' look to him. (I also know where he came from and know he's not a giant).

I think some 'normal' geckos are just bigger than others. The size of the parents, grandparents, etc. I'm sure plays a large roll. You could, surely, line-breed a 'giant' line just by breeding the largest 'normal' geckos generation after generation, but they would still not be a genetic 'giant' (RT line), no matter how large they were.

 

[MSMD]

^^^^is my understanding of the 'giants', anyway.

Jeremy, if you have anything to add, I'm certainly all ears. I'm always open to learning something new! :main_yes:

 

[fallen_angel]

Thanks to the both of you, that helps a lot. Our male is probably just a larger than normal male, I don't think he's very lanky looking

 

[fallen_angel]

I'm not going to claim to be working with Giants since we're not.. But these little guys are growing fast! The MS is 3 weeks old today, weighs 10g exactly, and the normal is 18 days old and weighs 9.7g. Do you think they look lanky?

 

[Mel&Keith]

We've bred quite a few Giants (from RT lines) and I can honestly say that we've observed that it seems to act co-dominant. We've gotten quite a mix of Giant and normal sized geckos from those breedings.

 

[MSMD]

Those are some nice, big, healthy babies, though, Jess! :main_thumbsup: