Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just wanted to post my thoughts on Color morphs not only on Leopards but, all herps. I see all these different color morphs and posts from people. Lets talk Leos. Blizzrds, tangarines, ghosts, jungles, banded and the list goes on and on and one. I think that we are breading out what makes a leopard gecko just that a leopard. They exist in nature the way they are and I don't think that all the color morphs do anything for the species except ruin there natural beauty. It isn't so much that I am against the color morphs, but, nobody seems to want to breed normal leos anymore. Its all about the next morph. This trend is carrying over to ball pythons aswell. with albinos and bananas etc. I think that as responsible herptologist we should be thinking about the species when we try to create new color morphs as essentially we are creating a new form of gecko. I would like to think what others have to say about this topic

Heh pandoras box again.

We had a rather large discussion last week or the week before on morphs. I don't think we can to any conclusion except that we agreed to disagree and leanr from each other.

There are still people who breed normal leos, most of them are suppliers for large pet chains such as petco, petsmart etc. I know a few breeders who keep a normal stock to refresh the gene pool, they just don't sell them.

The thing with morphs is that there a commodity almost. People like unusual or unique things they want to be the only one that has it. Look at the antiquities trade (Ancient relics for all you simpletons JKIN) it has been booming for centurys because most artifacts are unique or unusual. This trend copies over into all aspects of human existance just look at fashion, jewlery, etc etc. If something is unusual people will buy it. That's why morph's are purposely bred, unusal means money. As long as people are willing to pay more for different colored geckos people will continue to produce new morphs. As everyone knows the all mighty dollar rules.

I personally enjoy leo morphs and normal leos the animal its self is the same, they all generally have the same temperment and enjoy human interaction. I get no less or more satisfaction raising my normals or my patternless (patternless just looks cool).

I don't think theres anything irresponsible about breeding morphs. If people hadn't started selectively breeding wolves we would never had dogs, and if people didn't start selectively breeding dogs we wouldn't have great danes or labs or shepards. Just look at horses, cows, chickens, even pidgeons. As long as a healthy wild population is kept intact I don't see any problems with breeding morphs of any species.

As for the creation of a new species issue, theres a HUGE thread from a week or two ago that discusses nothing but sub-species.
-----
The universe is vast and we are so small.
There is only one thing we can truly control.
Whether we are good or evil.
__________________________________________
0.2.0 Normal Leopard Gecko's
1.0.0 Patternless Leopard Gecko
0.1.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon

If you don't like morphs, buy normals. There are still plenty of them around.
-----
My blood is workin', but my, my heart is...DEAD!

I disagree with your statement that "when we try to create new color morphs as essentially we are creating a new form of gecko"
Humans do not "create" albinism or leucistic phases... These colors are apparent in the CBB leopard gecko because of genetic and heredity related causes. Humans found the traits in leopard geckos and then bred selectively to continually produce them, but we did not invent albinism in a gecko through some devilish means!

So, if we did not literally "create" the color aspect than how can you say we "create" a new form of gecko? The variation in color occurs because of genes and the presence of certain pigments. There is (as far as I know!) no new species or form... Only a leopard gecko with a color variation. Like humans with different colored hair really... Just because you have a family of humans with one color hair does not mean they do have the genetic ability to produce other hair colors.

tc_legacy

n/p

I will agree that we havn't played with the geneticv code we are just playing with it and speeding up processes that more than likley will never happen in the wild. As is true with humans, we generally don't see blonde hair on black people of south africa, this is because the color of the hair protects there scalp from sun burn we therefore see more black haired people. Could this not be the case for leopard geckos that the spots and coloration have a specific job in the wild. We are shown in many species that the brightly colored red and blues tell predators that an animal such as the poison arrow frogs are poisonous. When we take the leopard geckos out of there natural environment we don't have to worry about predators and can change environmental settings. I suppose that stating that we are creating new types of geckos is far fetched. I just want to stress that we should try to remember what the idea of herping should be, that being the preservation, fun and education of the herps and not the profit that can be made from them.