Ordering from Rept by M_ck?? All input/reviews/suggestions welcome. :)

[tb144050]

I find the prices of the breeder very attractive, but I am not very confident about ordering from them.

I want to expand my collection with a:

Male Diablo blanco (juvenile)
Female Diablo blanco (prefer adult)
Female Raptor (prefer adult)

I want them all to be "Tremper Albino" but the website says "Because we do not track animals individually, we cannot say 100% which albino gene was used to produce those geckos."

I am a beginner, but I understand that "A.P.T.O.R., R.A.P.T.O.R. & "Eclipse" are essentially three variations of the same Tremper Albino morph. " And....."The Diablo Blanco is a combination morph created by Ron Tremper in 2006. The Diablo Blanco morph is a combination of the Blizzard trait and the RAPTORs."

So I know the Raptor and Diablo Blancos will absolutely be Tremper, right?

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Any input will be helpful. I may be ordering tonight/tomorrow. If you would suggest another breeder with comparable pricing, I would like to research them too.

 

[tb144050]

My goal after 1 breeding season is obviously:

DB x DB = All DB's

and

DB x RAPTOR = All RAPTOR's (het Blizzard)......unless the RAPTOR parent is randomly "het blizzard"; then it'll be mixed DB's & RAPTOR's.

 

[stager]

Post these in the forums titled inquires you will get more responces. I belevieve they where the ones that discovered the mack snows and made the first super snow not 100% on that. But I have never delt with them

 

[VampyreByte]

I've dealt with them once before. A female I got from them at 30 grams was shipped with eggs. And they can't verify strains of albinos. What hatched from that female was unknown genetics because they can't verify what other leos she was being housed with. So I ended up with some pet only gecko babies from her. That and she was way to small to be breeding in the first place. Luckily she is fine. But currently i'm test breeding her genetics to find out for sure.
So all in all. Their prices are great but they can't necessarily be genetically proven with out test breeding so don't buy with the purpose of breeding. Pet only from these guys is my recommendation.

 

[tb144050]

I've dealt with them once before. A female I got from them at 30 grams was shipped with eggs. And they can't verify strains of albinos. What hatched from that female was unknown genetics because they can't verify what other leos she was being housed with. So I ended up with some pet only gecko babies from her. That and she was way to small to be breeding in the first place. Luckily she is fine. But currently i'm test breeding her genetics to find out for sure.
So all in all. Their prices are great but they can't necessarily be genetically proven with out test breeding so don't buy with the purpose of breeding. Pet only from these guys is my recommendation.

Can they really go wrong with the RAPTOR and Diablo Blanco? They will absolutely be Tremper, right? For a beginner hobby-ist, around $200-300 shipped is what I am hoping to spend on 2 DB's and 1 Raptor. Any other suggested sources?

Post these in the forums titled inquires you will get more responces. I belevieve they where the ones that discovered the mack snows and made the first super snow not 100% on that. But I have never delt with them

I looked for the "inquiries" section, but I didn't find it. I am usually quite intuitive and can find things on the www that others can't (I google daily), but I just didn't see "inquiries" anywhere on this forum.

 

[staceyleigh]

I would do some research on facebook and here for good quality breeders. There are plenty that have reasonable prices, that can tell you exactly what they are breeding and therefore what you are getting. I am also a first year breeder. I do think 200-300 shipped is a little unrealistic for 3 breeder quality geckos. I spent on average $150 to $200 shipped for each. Some breeders on facebook also have auctions from time to time and that is a good way to get good breeding stock at a little better price.

 

[VampyreByte]

You can still go wrong with Raptor and Diablo Blanco. Just becase they are supposed to be tremper doesn't mean they don't have other strains in them. After my experience with them and them admitting they can't be positive that only one albino strain is present in their lines, i'd be very wary of them. They couldn't tell me what the female I got from them could have bred with. That right there tells me they don't keep the best track of their animals.
I'm just telling you my personal experience from them. If you are looking for pets then they are a good source, but if you are looking for breeding high quality then the investment is worth it.

 

[VampyreByte]

200-300 for 3 geckos shipped is a very low price and you Will Not find that with a quality breeder. Another thing about Mack is that you don't see what your actually buying. They don't have photos of every leopard gecko they have for you to choose from. They have stock photos of their morphs and they choose which ones to ship.

 

[tb144050]

hmmm..

I'm still searching for affordable alternatives. As a beginner/hobbyist, I already purchased/acquired tanks, UTH's, etc... I just can't convince myself to venture $500+ on 3 geckos during my first "trial season".

Any affordable suggestions for a newb? I am definitely wanting the Diablo's and a Raptor because I am sure I can sell them locally as pets. There are 70,000 people in Texarkana but only 1 petstore, P_tsma_t.

 

[tb144050]

To reduce the financial "impact", I guess I will spread out my purchases. First up will be the male DB and a female Raptor (het blizzard, if I can find one)....I'll get the female DB later. Thanks for the advice about quality.

I still need to find them tho... :0

 

[tb144050]

Well, all this thought was for nothing. The website was having problems, so I called to place my order. They were sold out of the females I wanted, and said: "We don't breed for those specific morphs.....sometimes we get them, and it's just random." (sounds like they have no idea what "Hets" their leo's have).

So yeah, I don't think I will order from them. I'm not saying anything bad about them. But I don't really want unknown random hets mixed in my Leo's genes. It almost seems like they just let them run loose in a giant habitat and then sort out the hatchlings by appearance?