Would you breed it? v.2

[Sandra]

I remembered that thread about the blizzard with the eyelid notch and thought I would ask for input here too

As many of you know, I have a red eyed enigma that walks in circles when gets nervious. For those who don't know, this problem is quite common between enigmas. From what I've seen, normal parents have given offspring with issues and vice versa.

At first I thought it was just a weird kink of her so it didn't bother me at all... When I realized it was common between enigmas I thought it could be genetic and that I'd better refrain from adding more weird animals to the existing population. But now, the more I think about it, the more I lean toward the idea of it being something inherent only to the enigma morph and not a different genetic trait that could be easily separated.

I have three males. One is an enigma too, so this one is discarded. At first she was going to be bred to an unrelated bell albino, but since Red eyed enigmas seem to be more affected by this disorder than normal enigmas, I'd opt for the third male, a SHTCT from TUG.

I have still plenty of time to think until she hits the breeding age and weight so... What would you do if you had an animal of this nature?

 

[paintedlizards]

I'd see what I could do to breed it out ...

 

[malt_geckos]

I want to say no to breeding it but I can't because we are having the same issue with one of ours and we are also trying to breed it out with crossing to a non-enigma.

 

[Jeremy Letkey]

I have no problem saying that I would absolutely breed a circling enigma. I would make sure that I bred it to a very healthy animal that was not an enigma. I would keep a close eye on all offspring. If I sold any of the offspring, I would disclose the parental flaw wether the offspring showed signs or not.

Just my opinion.

 

[paulnj]

I second Jeremy.

 

[PacHerp]

I third Jeremy.

 

[Sandra]

I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I'm a bit like Matt and Mallorie, if it wasn't my girl I would say "NO!! Of course not!" right away, but when you own one the point of view changes a lot.

But even so, I've decided not to breed her. Not just because she shows circle walking (I haven't formed an opinion about that yet...) but because she is one of the most extreme cases of enigmas with issues. It's not only that she walks in circles: she also loses balance, has poor eyesight, bad aim, and I have difficulties feeding her. I spend a good amount of time everyday trying to feed her with tweezers, and even so, she is the smallest gecko I have (not to the point of looking sick, but she is thinner than the average gecko).

I thought she would get better as she grew, but she is becoming one year old this month and I've seen little improvement. I knew she would take long to breed, and I was willing to wait until she was 2 or 3 years old if necessary. But I don't think is fair to breed a gecko in this condition even if she ever hits the 60g mark. The process would stress her considerably and her offspring would be weak. So here ends the dilemma.

Partly I'm glad because now I won't have to be all stressed out about her not gaining enough weight to breed or if it's ethic or not to breed an enigma with issues. But I'm bummed too. I hope I can get at least some nice enigmas from the other one.

 

[SanDiegoLeos]

i do think that is a good decision sandra

 

[Alusdra]

If it was just the circling I would have said to try her with maybe a normal or something and see if it is genetic. But with the other problems you are saying- I think you're making the right decision to not breed her. Possible blindness and failure to thrive combined with ataxia and/or balance issues- that's some serious neural problems.

It's really hard to do a good neural exam on a gecko- but maybe you can find a really spectacular exotics vet at a referral hospital or something who could see if it might be something you can do something about? I have no idea if you can medicate geckos and if you can if anyone has figured out dosing- but can't hurt to check, no?

 

[Sandra]

Thanks Jacob and Alusdra.

I'm interested in seeing more scintific research on enigmas with issues too, but unfortunately veterinarian medicine is really underdeveloped in Spain. I expect someone in the States or the upper Europe to go for it soon.

I wonder if there are any non intrusive tests that can be done to check neurological problems on a gecko. If they discover any treatment that could improve the condition of these geckos I would like to give it a try too, although she is thriving fairly well the way she is.