Hatchling mutations

[LeoLover1]

Breeding animals is an enjoyable past time, but we all dread one thing. The newborn animal with birth defects.

Today I noticed my hatchling has an extra toe on his right 'hand.' Fortunately this is not a life-threatening problem. But it does raise questions about breeding the parents again, and selling the hatchling. Here's a photo.


So I open this thread to the question of what should I do with with this baby? I am not considering PTS. But how do I assure any home he goes to would not breed her? With a lifespan of 15-20 years, is that feasible?

 

[Eve Saint]

I actually like the extra toe. There are cats out there with the extra toe or finger, they are described as hemingway cats. I would love a female to go with diamond with an extra toe. That makes him even more cute!

 

[Jetfire]

I wouldn't be too worried about rebreeding the parents, unless this (or similar) trait is popping up regularly.chances are, this is just a one-shot mutation, you know? If you're worried about the baby being bred, just keep it yourself, or give it to someone you trust to keep it celibate.I kinda have to agree with eve, the extra toe is kinda cute.

 

[Amanda1]

I wouldn't worry about it if she only has an extra toe. But if you're über-paranoid like me, you're probably wondering if there's something else going on internally that could cause problems...Other than keeping her yourself, I don't know how you would ensure that she is never bred. You'll have to carefully screen anyone who wants to adopt her.

 

[Gopherhockey03]

I think it's unique .... Like Amanda said you can always keep her yourself! It would be a cool little Gecko to show off!!!

 

[Josh2]

A polydactyl gecko - never knew there could be such a thing! Hopefully it's not indicative of other issues...

 

[Caleb C]

My current leo has a deformed front arm, it has three toes in the front, one near the back, and a tiny one on the bottom of the palm, it doesn't seem much affected by it, it just has a little trouble climbing things, which most leos are clumsy at anyway. There should be experienced people that are willing to adopt a gecko, or to just buy it as a pet. By the way, my gecko was from west coast leopard gecko, a very reputable vendor, it was my first leo, so I didn't check for any deformities.

 

[LeoLover1]

I wouldn't be too worried about rebreeding the parents, unless this (or similar) trait is popping up regularly.chances are, this is just a one-shot mutation, you know? If you're worried about the baby being bred, just keep it yourself, or give it to someone you trust to keep it celibate.I kinda have to agree with eve, the extra toe is kinda cute.

I agree that this is probably a random mutation. I think its kinda cool too! I doubt it would be passed on to offspring, even though some forms of polydacyly do run in human families.

But I tripped over discussion on another forum about six-toed cresties, and whether it was a sign of inbreeding depression, and it got me to thinking. Breeding for recessives naturally brings along undesirable traits as well. Many albinos suffer from light sensitivity. And you can see other problems occur that can occur in purebreds of other species, such as hip displasia in Golden Retrievers and other large breed dogs.

And since there is a great deal of inbreeding in captive reptile populations, I wonder how many generations it would take for random mutations like this to become more commonplace. Maybe not with Leos. But many cb reptile populations descend from very few wc ancestors.

 

[Eve Saint]

Lucky for me Diamond has become accustumed to the light.

 

[Geckomaster743]

I think the Extra toe wont bother it much, Like every one is saying this seems totally random. I think you should keep an eye on the Leopard Geckos health just in case there are Deformaties internally. Other wise i think its cool to have a Gecko with 1 Toe.

 

[Rylee]

Personnally, I like it!

 

[Christine]

I had a Steno come out a polydactyl too! I figured it was just a fluke and was correct. The successive generations have all been normal!

 

[LeoLover1]

I had a Steno come out a polydactyl too! I figured it was just a fluke and was correct. The successive generations have all been normal!

Thanks! Glad to hear that. Not that I plan to breed this little one... but I still use the parents.