Reptile & Amphibian Forums

New person here sayin hello...Hello! I have done some research on Leopard Geckos prior to getting a couple. It seems the price can vary wildly. I found some Albinos at the local reptile-only pet store for $70. The only other choice in Tucson was Petsmart, Petco, etc. and I was hoping for a less expensive pair as a first try. So Petsmart, and petco and some other local places had some high yellow and some regular and the one petco even had an aberrant. So yesterday, I searched the web for a local breeder, the closest I found was in Phoenix (two hours away) and although his prices aren't outrageous, the are a bit more expensive than the local pet stores. Clearly if I wanted something different than a high yellow banded I would have to pay a lot and couldn't just go pick it up at the local petsmart.

Then last night for the sake of beating a dead horse, I checked a local place called Pet Ranch, they had 2 ugly lethargic males and an unhealthy looking skinny tailed female. Depressing...so, without knowing whether I wanted to drop the cash for the albinos or just get some nice high yellow ones for cheap, I was off to Petco to buy the equipment necessary to convert my aquarium to a terrarium, maybe this other Petco would have some nice tank decorations that the previous Petco I checked would have. Turns out their leopard gecko selection was what made it unique. In with a tank full of normal adults there was an albino for $90...this piqued my interest. So I ask the girl to remove the hide in the juvenile enclosure so I can see what was in there...two little albinos in with 15 regular ones 2"-3" for $24! Then there were some slightly older ones that were also on sale for $24 and one of them is jungle looks to have a little tangerine and clearly has 10-15% carrot on the tail. So I decide to get the stuff, set up the tank last night and come back tomorrow for one of the little tiny albinos and the almost carrot tail one. Hooray for Petco.

Now my only problem...my wife asks, "you are getting one male and one female right?" Oy! I know the little tiny albinos cant be sexed, but maybe the one that is about 4" or so long. Sounds like a deal too good to pass up, but if I end up with two males, it will get ugly...two females and it would be fine, but I couldn't breed them and that would be shame with all those good possibilities. Any advice, opinions, angry flames, greetings, etc would be appreciated.

Brak

From what I know, most of the animals pet stores get in are temperature sexed for female. Doesn't pay to sell all males because people can only house 1 male in a given enclosure. However, its still something of a gamble at times.

That's a mighty good deal. i picked up my albino from one of the reptile shops here for 50 bucks. with regards to sexing and such, i think Lucien is right about most pet stores being female for the purpose of mass housing and selling of course. Every so often you come across the male, but they're usually harder to find. fortunately, my albino of the group was a male. altho it's harder to find the males when they're real young.. anyways.. good luck!
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GeckoFire-Dale
Proud owner of 2.3.1, AND 2 eggs in the oven
Questions?Drop me a line

I know you know this already but if by luck you end up with 2 males, you will have to separate them once "puberty" hits if not they will fight. I personally don't think it's a good idea to even house 1 male with 1 female because the male will constantly want to mate and stress out the lone female. It's better if you can do 1.2 if you want to keep them in all one enclosure. My males are housed separately from the females except during mating season. Did you check out the classified ads on kingsnake? Lots of times you can get real good deals on albinos.

Hiya, thanks for the replies.

Let me ask this...is it possible to sex one at 4" long? Is there any possible indicator other than the v shape in front of the vent and the two bumps at the tail base...any other indicators?

Brak

Hello brak, and welcome to the forum! I live in Arizona also, Mesa to be exact. The best thing to look for when sexing younger leos, is the 2 bulges at the base of the tail (meaning it is a male). Take a look at Starling’s post above for a good picture of a male’s package. If you are planning to get 2 geckos, and house them together, they need to be the same size. The 10-gallon tanks are very cheap, and if at all possible, I’d get each leo its own enclosure. My leos seem to grow faster and stress less on their own. Best of luck, and let us know if you have any more questions.