Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone, I just recently got my first gecko. I like her so much that I am going to buy at least one more. I think buying a male and breeding them would be really cool, but I won't have room to keep all of the babies they would produce, and I don't want to jump into this thing headfirst without having a game plan. What do you guys all do with the babies you don't keep? Sell them to petstores, people, etc? Is there much demand for leos in your area?

Thanks for your help.

I don't breed, so I don't have any suggestions for you, but I did just want to say that it's nice to see this question now, rather than "I wanted to breed because it sounded fun but now I have too many babies and I don't know what to do with them". I think when you said "I don't want to jump in without having a game plan", it shows responsibility. So sorry no answer, but thanks for being smart about it.

***getting off my soapbox now***

If you are breeding normals, the market is pretty glutted. Big petstores get theirs wholesale for dirt cheap...I think they probably only pay $6-$7 for babies. If you're only breeding one pair of normals, you probably won't have enough at any given time even to make the least expensive shows worthwhile, especially if you want to sell them as babies and not keep them for long. There are the kingsnake classifieds but I personally don't think it is safe to ship babies and many people feel the same way, also if you are selling normals, with the shipping cost, you might have a hard time selling them due to the low relative cost and easy availablity through other means. Try visiting the smaller mom-and-pop petstores, see if they have leos, what they're asking for them, and if the animals seem to be kept in good conditions. If they sell reptiles and don't have leos, it could be a good match. Even if they do have leos, you might be able to unload them there if you sell them cheaply enough and undercut their current supplier- at least it will hopefully get them into homes.

Breeding IS fun and exciting. I can hardly describe the excitement I felt the first time I found an egg, or the first gecko that hatched, this little miracle of life unfolding.

But there is a dark side to breeding, especially normals. Because they are inexpensive, many petstores and the people who buy them don't see it as "worthwhile" to spend the time and money to take care of them properly, and there is a lot of abuse and mortality because of this. Many hobby breeders who love leos have decided they won't breed normals anymore because of this. Not that there is anything wrong with normals, but they don't want to be a part of them being abused. It's my opinion that in general, higher end, more expensive geckos recieve better treatment overall than their less expensive counterparts. Of course there are responsible pet owners who do provide normals with excellent care and take to the vet when needed etc...but unless you know your buyers personally, you won't have any real idea of how they are treated, unless you see them squished under a rock at the petstore (at Petco I saw a baby leo whose head had been smashed in and was dried stuck to the bottom af the cave hide).
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

It couldn't have been said any better than that when it comes to selling normals. My first geckos were normals and I have found it easiest to sell normals to friends and/or people that you know and trust to care for leos. I have been selling normal juvies to my friends for only $15. It is a good bargain to them and gives you a since of comfort that they will be taken care of. Honestly, it is also getting to where that is about all you can get for normals that aren't adults. The people that are buying are normals are usually beginning leopard gecko owners. Just try to find an outlet before the geckos hatch, so that way you don't have too much pressure on you to find a temporary home until you find someone to buy them. Good luck with you geckos!
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0.1 Pixie Frog (Killer)
1.1 SHTCT Baldies (Zeus & Pumpkin)
1.1 Blizzard Leopard Geckos (Roscoe & Snowflake)
0.2 Normal Leopard Geckos (Lucky & Princess)

Hey

With my normals that I have bought and not yet bred I got them 20grams from extreme reptiles for 5.33$ because I bought 12 so yea but just sell them to people you know friend family etc.
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-Aaron-
1.2 rainwater albinos
0.1 hypo tang
2.4 hi yellow
1.3 tremper albinos
0.1 blizzard
0.1 leusistic
1.1 Patternless het albinos
0.1 Reverse Stripe Tangerine Albino
soon to be owner of
2 of mooses kids
1 Beautiful albino stripe adopted from Rob
E-mail me at GreatGobsOfGeckos@yahoo.com

np
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chickabowwow

3.2.3 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)