How to Choose A Leopard Gecko

Once you've made the decision to bring a leopard gecko into your home, you may be aware of the proper husbandry and care that it takes to house a leopard gecko, but are you 100% aware of how to choose a leopard gecko?

You need to be aware of all the signs and symptoms of a sick leopard gecko versus a healthy one. Now, it may seem like common sense, but some may not be as obvious. And, remember, when you see a sickly leopard gecko, it may feel great to rehabilitate it back to health, but please take into consideration the financial means that it truely takes.



Make the decision of where you want to purchase the gecko, as at times, pet stores may not have the best idea of proper care of reptiles. In many cases, pet store reptiles are not at their optimum health. They may have parasites and genetic illnesses.

Breeders can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the morph. You will have to pay a shipping fee, unless you live close or if you go to a reptile expo in your area.

Leopard geckos make great pets, just make sure to pick out a healthy one. Make the right decisions for your new pet.

Winter Shipping

With winter at our heels, it can be a big concern when shipping and receiving reptiles. The cold weather can be a detriment to their health if not packed properly, which is why we, at goReptiles, ship in insulated boxes packed with newspaper for added insulation and heat packs. We do not ship in temperatures lower than 50 degrees. And, please remember that there is an added $2.00 charge for heat packs, which I will make you aware of before payment.

When recieving reptiles via UPS or FedEx, if you follow the below method, you should have no problems with your new reptile(s).

Anything lower than 98.6 degrees will feel cold to the touch.

If you receive a gecko that appears dead, don't panic, yet.
* First, check if there was a heat-pack in the shipping container, and feel it to see if it is still warm. If it is, then the chances are your gecko is in a cold coma.
* It is critical that you do not introduce a gecko in this condition to direct heat, as exposure to heat at this point can cause serious neurological and tissue damage.

Allow the gecko to remain at normal room temperature until it is responsive and moving around normally before introducing it to direct heat. It is a natural instinct for us to want to warm-up a cold gecko that just arrived, but remember that it just came in from the cold, and room temperature is significantly warmer than the back of a delivery truck.

Notify the person you received the gecko from IMMEDIATELY. Follow their instructions, which may be to take a photograph of the gecko, the box, and it's contents.

If the gecko has not revived within a few hours, take a penlight and shine it against the gecko's side/back through the ribcage and see if the heart is beating. If it is, even very slowly, continue keeping the gecko at room temperature until it wakes up.

After the gecko is active, you can introduce it to heat.

Watch the gecko for several days for any evidence of respiratory infection, like wheezing or clicking sounds during breathing, or blowing bubbles through the mouth or nostrils, or gaping mouth breathing. If the gecko shows any of these symptoms, notify the person you got the gecko from and get the gecko to a vet.

Please thank Marcia with Golden Gate Geckos for this very informative instructional guide to recieving reptiles in cooler temperatures.

Crested Gecko Breeders

Crested geckos are one of the best beginner reptiles because of their docile temperaments and ease of housing in captivity.

They are a part of the Rhacodactylus group, which means like other species in this group, in the wild they primarily eat fruits. But, in captivity, they eat a special meal replacement diet. You can purchase larger quantities at Pangea Reptile. But, if you have a fewer number of geckos, one small bottle will suffice for a month, give or take. You can purchase smaller quantities of the meal replacement various pet stores or online. You can find a link to the Crested Gecko Diet, to the right of this page.



So, maybe you're interested in owning a crested gecko... Where can you find one?

Pet Stores

Breeders

Remember that with purchasing any animal from a pet store, whether it be a large commercial pet store, such as PetCo, Petsmart, or Pet Land, or a small "mom and pop" pet store, there are different things that you must consider. You really don't know where they got the animals, the breeding behind the animals, or the true care. You don't even know if the employees truly know how to take care for hte animals. And, these concerns apply for any animal ranging from hamsters, guinea pigs, fish, dogs, cats, and reptiles.

You may want to check out Buying Retail Reptiles before you purchase from a pet store.



The other alternative is a breeder. Breeders know how to care for the animal in question, they know the proper diets and husbandry requirements. Breeders know their animals.

When purchasing from a breeder, you must consider the price will be cheaper than at a petstore, for the same quality or better animal, but at the same time, you may have to pay more for shipping costs.

If you don't want to pay from shipping, you can ask around reptile forums for breeders in your area or attend reptile shows in you area.

When purchasing from breeders, you tend to have a larger selection of morphs (colors and patterns) to choose from, versus maybe one or two that the pet store has.

And, crested geckos come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. Because the species is relatively new to the pet market, they have a wide range of morphs still coming out daily.

Currently, you can find:

Patternless

Buckskin

Pinstripe

Flame

Harlequin

Dalmatian

Super Dalmatian

Red

Cream/Blonde

And a variety of mixes of the above morphs.

Changes to Terms and Refunds

DEPOSIT:
If you want to place an animal on "Hold" for more than 5 days, you will need to send a minimum non-refundable deposit of 25% of the total cost. This deposit will hold the animal(s) for up to one month. If the full payment is not received within that month, you forfeit the deposit and the animal goes back up for sale.

REFUNDS:
All payments and deposits are non-refundable. This is not to make things complicated on you, the customer, but having animals on a prolonged hold and then you backing out, means that someone else may have to choose their second choice. This may not be so bad, but if the sencond choice animal is paid for and shipped out, and then you back out on the sale of what was their first choice, this can create a number of problems for me and the customers who have paid and received their second choice.

Gargoyle Geckos

I have purchased to unsexed gargoyle geckos. I hope to introduce a few more into my groups, so that I can begin breeding the magnificent species.

Leopard Gecko Hatchling

The little Tremper albino hatchling from the other day.



The new temp sexed hatchling of today. The leopard gecko hatchling hatched at 1.8 grams. This is the sibling of the above hatchling.

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Both gecko hatchlings will be available once they have reached 15 grams.

Leopard Gecko Hatchling

We had another leopard gecko hatchling hatch today. Cute little Tremper albino. It's temperature sexed female. And hatched at 1.7 grams. I'll try to get a picture up of it. soon. The gecko will be available for sale once it has reached 15 grams. An updated picture of the previous hatchling will be posted with today's current one.

I'm waiting on the sibling to hatch as we speak. I expected it before this hatchling.

Update Leopard Gecko Hatchling

The temp-sexed Tremper albino possible het blazing blizzard is now 7.2 grams.
She's going to shed soon. I have trouble gettin a good picture of her. My screen has to be at an angle to see her true colors.

Crested Gecko Male

There's the new guy... :-) He's an 2006 hatchling. Currently, weighs about 20 grams.

Male Crested Gecko

I have recently purchased a gorgeous harlequin male. He's somewhat hard to explain- dark body, very gold back and gold harlequined sides. His entire back rigde is gold, somewhat pinstriped, but not. Well, we'll see. I'll post a picture once he gets here on Thursday. I'm still in need of two more females, preferrably a pinstripe and another harlequin.

Here is my current female enclosure. It's a 66 quart sterlite tub. The lid is cut in the middle and replaced with screen. Simplisitic enclosure.



I still have one female crested gecko available.

Updated Payment Terms

I have updated the payment terms for PayPal payments. The updated terms are as follows:

PayPal payments that are funded by credit card, I ask for an additional 3% to offset the paypal fees that are charged with the transfer. Otherwise, if you send payments that are funded by a PayPal Balance, PayPal Instant Transfer, or PayPal eCheck, the additional 3% will not be added to you purchase.


Note: I do want to add that I still accept money orders. There is no additional fees required. I just ask that you patiently wait until the money order has been cleared in my account before I ship.

I am Paypal Verified.

Update Hatchling Picture

Here's an update picture of the hatchling from 9.25.07. It's a little washed out in the picture. It's coloring has brightened up a lot. The brown has lightened, and the yellow has gotten brighter.

Fake Rock

Making Fake Rock is rather easy as long as you have the time and patients. It's a messy crafy, but seeing it in you reptile's enclosure makes it worth.

You can make the designs as elaborate or simple as you choose. You can make perches, ledges, hides, humid hides, rocks, backgrounds, and more!

I've made full backgrounds, regulare hides, humid hides, rocks, perches, and bridges for my leopard geckos, African fat tail geckos, and bearded dragons. I've made full backgrounds and partial backgrounds, as well.

It's all up to your creativity and imagination. But, don't worry if you think you're not the most creative or imaginative. It's a simple project. And you know the husbandry for you reptile, so have fun with it.

Yesterday's Leopard Gecko Hatchling

I may have been wrong. Our new leopard gecko maybe be a brown Tremper Albino after all. I'm still not 100% since our tubs did get a little mixed up this season. I'm still very frustrated at myself, for doing that, but we'll see. I was really hoping to get some APTORs this season, as the female is het APTOR and one of the males she was paired with is het APTOR. We'll see what happens will this little hatchling. I'll post updated pictures as it grows, up until it's available for sale.

Hatchling

So here are the first pictures of the first hatchling for the season.







The hatchling is temp sexed for female at 82F for 60 days. The mother is a Tremper Jungle Albino het APTOR, and the father is a Tremper Blazing Blizzard, making the hatchling het albino and blizzard. It will become available once it reaches 15 grams.

Watch for hatchling leopard geckos!

Well, it appears as though, I will be investing in a new incubator next year. No, my current one did not die on me, but it's full... I still expect a few more eggs, but I only have room for say one more. I'm hoping to have a few hatch before my females lay again, as that would create room in the incubator.

Also, it appears as though I will not be getting the Mack snow females, as the breeder has yet to reply to my email about a total price for the two Mack snow females and the male crested gecko... They still appear to be available, but I do not want to hound the man. Three emails, should be enough... Or so I thought... Ha... I'll find better... I hope... :-/

Leopard Gecko Eggs

I have a few leopard gecko eggs in the incubator. I'm waiting on a few more from my het APTOR female, and plenty more from my blazing blizzard. So look out for late season hatchlings.

Snow Leopard Gecko Project

I have found two rather nice mack snow leopard geckos from AC Reptiles. I have decided that although I did not have a project in my plans for this particular morph, I still had to have them. Anthony, at AC Reptiles has gorgeous leopard geckos, crested geckos, and carpet pythons, and these individuals are spectacular in my eyes. With just two females, there's not much one can do with a project, but there will be a reptile expo in Atlanta, Georgia, sponsored by the Georgia Herpetological Society. By the time the show is here, November 17-18, I will have made plans with these girls.

I'm deciding upon rainwater snows, bell snows, supers of them, or who knows. I'm somewhat leaning towards a rainwater male or a snow het rainwater male. If this is the case, I will also purchase a rainwater female to add to the group. If I end up with a snow het rainwater, the posibilities are great. Super snow, Rainwater snows, possibly rainwater super snows. We'll see what happens...

With Anthony I have finally found a gorgeous male crested gecko. I haven't made a 100% decision about the matter, but I am leaning towards topping my current reptile spendings with these three individuals from AC Reptiles.

Eggs

Well, as of today I have added 2 more eggs in the incubator. I'm hoping for some APTORs, but we'll see as the het APTOR female was accidently paired with both the blazing blizzard and the het APTOR male. Somehow I mixed up my cagings and, also, paired a blazing female with the het APTOR male for a few days, so we're really in for a surprise this season.

Rain

Well, rainwaters that is... Las Vegas Rainwaters... I'm looking at investing some money in a small breeding group of Rainwaters. Preferrable tangerine jungles. But, well see what I bring in. It's just nice to add something different besides the average, or above average, Tremper strain albino leopard gecko.

I'm, also, debating on purchasing a Mack Snow het Bell male, and a few nice bell albino females. But, that project may have to go on the back burner for now. I'm thinking of moving in the rainwaters first.

I've never really been a fan of the rainwater strain, but lately I've seen a few nice individuals that have changed my mind completely. I think I may definately have to get my hands on a few...

:-)

goReptiles Site Updates

I added two sections to the website today- Articles of Interest and Names.

If you have any articles that would be relevant to the site, please email me the link, and I will consider them for the website. My email is in the 'Contact' information on the website.

If you have any name suggestions, again email me, and I'll see what I can do.

Problems with Your Reptiles

With pet snakes, a big problem can be mites. My Snake Has Mites! goes over a few solutions for getting rid of mites in your snake's enclosure.

Leopard geckos are usually pretty hardy little critters. That's why they're top on the beginner reptile list. But, sometimes they will stop eating. The following article goes over a few things to consider and some possible solutions to getting your gecko to eat again. My Leopard Gecko Quit Eating

Reptile Projects

I'm finding it hard to decide which current breeders to keep, and which projects to continue. I have decided that I will be working with Diablo Blancos. No, I do not plan on purchasing one from Ron Tremper, but I do plan on creating my own. With the current RAPTOR that I have purchased, I will breeder her to my blazing blizzard male, incubate for males. I will keep three males, and breed them to my blazing blizzard females from VMS. This will keep all bloodlines separate. Hopefully, by keeping three possible het Diablo Blancos, I will luck up and get one that is het, in order to produce the Diablo Blanco, itself.

I would like to work with my Tremper Sunglow, and purchase two very orage female Trempers, to enhance the coloring in sunglows. My goal with taht project is to produce VERY orage Trempers with carrot tails. I have two females in mind, but I'm not sure if I will be purchasing them any time soon, since I have added so many new breeders to my collection recently.

My AFT group will be loosing its male soon. I haven't had any luck with the particular male, so I'm planning on placing him up for sale and purchasing another male. I'm not sure when I will be doing so, but that's in the works as well. If that falls through. Then you will be seeing all of my AFT breeders available.

Bearded Dragon Diet

I have two bearded dragons. After researching and begging for one for probably two years, I finally got a baby bearded dragon for my birthday one year. She was so small. I knew right away she need crickets and veggies. Many people don't know that...

Bearded Dragons join leopard geckos on the top kept reptile. Although the two vary in size and diet, they are both docile reptiles, which make great pets, especially beginner pets. But, sometimes their diet, isn't followed through correctly. I've heard people say that they've NEVER fed their bearded dragon veggies. WHAT? Not good. Well, reading Bearded Dragon Diet you can see the different produce items that you can feed bearded dragons as well as how much to feed them.

Ball Pythons

Ball pythons are by far my favorite snake. They're very docile and reach a decent length- not too big or too small. But the one thing I absolutely HATE about ball pythons is their known reputation for being finicky eaters. Feeding Habits of Ball Pythons will give you some guidelines when it comes to feeding ball pythons. Some tidbits and experiences of my own and stories of experiences of others. Hopefully, by reading the article you will figure out why your snake isn't eating and what you can do for him.

Feeding Frozen is another good article about the frozen feeder rodents versus live feeder rodents. Now, I will go ahead and say that I feed live. Not by choice, but because my ball python won't eat frozen. Now, his last feeding, he grabbed and fully took a thawed mouse before I gave him a live small rat. That, to me, means he's ready to comply. I'm choosing to wait 3-4 weeks before feeding him again, so that he's good and hungry. Then I'll be attempting a thawed small rat.

Leopard Gecko Caresheet

I thought because I introduced a new leopared gecko into my collection today, I would post a leoard gecko caresheet. (This is almost identical to the caresheet on my website.)

Leopard geckos are one of my favorite gecko species. They come in SO many morphs (colors), ranging from tangerine, yellow, albino, jungle, red eyes, black eyes, etc. There are so many possibilities out there for the Eublepharis macularius species. On top of that, leopard geckos are one of the most owned reptile species due to their ease in captivity as well as their very docile temperaments. But, just because many people own leopard geckos, it doesn't necessarily mean they know how to properly take care of them.

Here is a basic caresheet for Caring For Leopard Geckos.

Female RAPTOR Leopard Gecko

UPS so lovingly delivered me a gorgeous little female RAPTOR this morning. She flew from Maryland all the way to Georgia in less than 24 hours. Don't you wish you could do that? Well, anyway, Matt from Lizards of Oz sent me this gorgeous little thing with one solid red eye and one 50% snake eye. I debated between this one or another with two solid red eyes, but somethign about this little girl screamed, "Buy Me!" So, I did.

She should brighten up as she grows. I have some nice plans for her. I may get a few more RAPTORs in the future as I have so many ideas that just one lil female can't do it all. Which, makes me sad that I didn't get the other female that I was debating about, but I'll get over it.

Choosing A Pet Reptile

When deciding upon getting your first reptile, it can be a hard decision. Trying to maintain a docile pet that you can hold, yet appealing. It's always best to do your research before purchasing any animal. Here's an informative article about the best beginner reptiles to have. The information in the article is taken from person experience and word of mouth from other reptile hobbiest.

Best Beginner Reptile

Once you have decided upon a reptile of choice, you then need to decide where to get it. Before You Buy Retail Reptiles... is a great article about retail reptiles. It goes over the pros and cons about buying reptiles from corporate retail petstores. Personal experiences were used as examples in the article.

New Leopard Gecko Breeders

Although, I had believed I was finished for the year purchasing new leopard gecko breeders for next year, I found a great deal. I have recently purchased a gorgeous little RAPTOR female from Lizards of Oz. She'll be in on Wednesday. I'll post pictures of her promptly.

Other recently purchased breeders include:

• 2 female SHTCTB from Geckophiles
• 1 female SHTCTB from VMS Herp
• 1 male SHTCTB from Aubrey's Reptiles
• 1 male Tremper Sunglow from Gecko Genetics

You can see our plans for next season are growing rapidly. Tangerines, Raptors, Sunglows, Trempers Jungles, Blazing Blizzards. As well as our AFT morphs and crested geckos.

The above geckos are two of my most recent purchases. The SHTCTB at the top is the male from Sean Aubrey at Aubrey's Reptiles, and the gecko on the bottom is the female from Sean Niland from VMS Herp. Both look much more tangerine in person and will produce lovely tangerine hatchlings.

goReptiles Welcome Intro

I have recently gotten into the world of online blogging, and felt the need to have an updated blog about my hobby business- goReptiles. At goReptiles, we breed and trade high quality morphs of leopard geckos, African fat tail geckos, and crested geckos. In the future, we have plans to add ball pythons, kingsnakes, and gargoyle geckos to our list of breeders in our collection.

Currently, our collection extends from RAPTORS, Tremper Blazing Blizzards, Tangerines, and Tremper Sunglows. We, also, have a small breeding group of Amel and stripe AFTs, as well as harlequin and pinstripe crested geckos.

Our projects include:
Tremper Blazing Blizzard
Tangerine Tremper Jungle
APTOR
Blizzard
Tangerine
Amel AFT
Stripe AFT
Banded AFT
Harlequin Cresteds
Pinstripe Cresteds

Our future projects include:
Bell Jungle
Tangerine Bell
Bell Hybino
Stripe Amel AFT
Red Cresteds
Red Pinstripe Cresteds

Because this is my intro to me and goReptiles, I thought it'd be nice to throw in the intro to reptiles. Reptiles have had an interesting start in life. I mean who would have thought that reptiles evolved from fish? I wouldn't have... Well, it's all in theory. This article give a short description about the evolution of reptiles. A Brief Evolution of Reptiles