2016 Season

[sunfish]

Thought I'd make a thread to share my hatchlings from this season! I had a rough start (in December) with a female I was really looking forward to breeding laying 14 infertile eggs. She's still looking pretty rough right now and I'm unsure if I'll try her with a different male next year or just retire her as a breeder. My other females didn't start ovulating into pretty late into the year (April-May) so I'm just now hatching out the first few babies of the year! It's exciting, but disappointing in a way since I could have had 14 little ones right now had my first female's eggs been fertile. I'll update the thread as more babies hatch out.

First up (hatched yesterday the 18th) is the smallest gecko I've ever hatched weighing in at 2.4g

MF1-16
Pairing was my (proven) RADAR x (unproven) WY Mack Snow Bell ph Blizzard, and as is pretty clear, that baby is not an albino. I think my female is likely not a visual bell and is (hopefully) a het. I'm in contact with her breeder and we're trying to figure it out. The WY gene can make things difficult, especially since the gecko in question doesn't have any spots that would make identifying albinism clearer. I think this baby is likely a normal het eclipse & bell but if you guys have any opinions on it that would be great. I haven't ever hatched a non-albino leopard gecko so I don't have much experience differentiating the subtler morphs as non-albino hatchlings. After a few sheds it should be clearer what this little one will end up looking like. I'll update the thread in a few weeks when the next clutches hatch out! Crossing my fingers to prove my female as het. bell!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Your baby definitely does not look albino so if both parents were supposedly albino I would definitely talk with the breeder(s) you got them from. I've had a tough time IDing W/Y in my own babies - sometimes its obvious and sometimes its not - but usually they look a bit paler than their non w/y siblings. Yours looks like a normal. I don't see any markers for W/Y, eclipse, snow or albino. Best of luck with the rest of your season!

 

[sunfish]

I definitely didn't see anything in that baby that would indicate anything other than normal so it's definitely good to get confirmation of that! I am in contact with the females breeder (my male is a proven RADAR) and unfortunately she's in Australia until tuesday. Hopefully we'll get it worked out then. I'm (hoping) she is het. bell, but time and the breeder's records will tell. I'll include an old full body picture of the mom (it was the last full body on my phone, I think it's from march?) and a quick eye shot. She definitely had the "look" of an albino at 20g when I got her, but as her eyes have gotten bigger it's easier to see the silver and dark pupil in them. I should have paid more attention and caught it before breeding, but hopefully no harm done.

and a baby pic:

And one of the babies dad for good measure. (He's my favorite gecko haha)

Thank you very much for your help so far! Hopefully this female proves out in two weeks when her next clutch hatches!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

The baby pic of mom def looks albino and the adult looks albino too. They eyes don't seem overly red like many Bell's are so I would lean toward her being tremper or RW. Tough to tell, could just be the lighting in the pics that's misleading. I hope your breeder is able to conform the het and that I'm wrong! Keep us posted!

 

[sunfish]

Yeah my worst fear is that she's a tremper or RW. Ive got four more eggs from her cooking and two more due to be laid any day now. I would hate to have produced so many muddy babies... I'm planning on keeping the baby normal (actually going to be giving it to my mom for her classroom, she's a speech pathologist and works with a bunch of special needs & disabled kids and they love when I visit with the critters) but I'm hoping it's the only normal from the pairing. I plan my pairs very carefully to avoid producing normals with a bunch of hets. I'm sure my face was hilarious when a little black nose poked out of the egg instead of a pink one! I would hate to have to adopt out these babies as pet only when I was very much looking forward to this pairing and hoping to holdback a few from it too! I've done a lot of googling over the last few days and I did find a lot of WY Snow (non albinos) that have eyes very similar to hers. The picture of her adult eye I posted is pretty terrible so I may pull out my nice camera and try to get a few decent shots. Her eyes are very silvery with a black pupil, but the pigment on her inner eyelid is ruby colored so maybe that's reflecting into the eye making it look pinker than it is? Regardless, she's definitely got something going on that isn't adding up. I'll let you guys know what happens when I hear back from the breeder in a day or two!
I'll also probably update on the normal (MF1-16) after she sheds and starts eating.

 

[sunfish]

Just heard back from the breeder! Munna (the adult and mom of my little normal) was produced by a WY het. Bell & Eclipse X Mack Snow Bell
SO I believe my theory was confirmed that she is a WY mack snow het. bell (and now ph eclipse as well)
I am super relieved! I hope I can prove out the eclipse as well, having a shot a making WY RADARs and WY Snow RADARs this season is quite exciting. Munna's breeder also offered me a refund if I had to change my plans due to the mis-identification of the morph and has been very nice and understanding during this process (and honestly, I don't know if anyone would have picked up that she wasn't albino) so I declined the refund and will be happy to recommend them in the future.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Sounds like you purchased from an outstanding breeder. I hope all is right and you get a neat combo you didn't think was possible before!

 

[sunfish]

Had my next clutch hatch out over yesterday and today

MF3-16 (RADAR x WY Mack Snow het. bell / eclipse)
Normal het. eclipse / bell
I thought she was going to be an eclipse when she first poked that white nose out of the egg, but after taking a look at her eyes tonight I think she's just a normal with high whites. It'll be interesting to see how she turns out.

MF4-16 (RADAR x WY Mack Snow het. bell / eclipse)
WY Eclipse het. bell
Very excited about this kid! Eyes are black with a ruby pupil, which I know will probably fade but it's cool to see on a hatchling. Proved out my female as het. eclipse. Probably going to keep this one as a hold back.

Will update in a week or so when my next clutch hatches!
These are the pairs I have going this year, thought I might mention that as well
RADAR x Lavender Snow Bell het. Eclipse (all duds, not going to repair the female)
RADAR x WY Mack Snow het. Eclipse / Bell (6 fertile / viable eggs so far, 1 dud, 1 died during incubation, I think she's about done laying)
RADAR x Bell Snowglow (1 fertile / viable egg so far, 1 dud, 1 died during incubation, she usually lays late in the season)
RADAR x Bell Sunglow het. Eclipse (2 fertile / viable eggs so far)

I've got to get me a nice Sunglow RADAR or het. eclipse male for next year to round out my sunglow/snowglow group. :b

 

[indyana]

Cool!


Just read through the thread again, and what happened to the "ph Blizzard" on the female...?

 

[sunfish]

Cool!


Just read through the thread again, and what happened to the "ph Blizzard" on the female...?

As far as I know it was a mislabel, I'll double check with the breeder to confirm.