Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i'm planning on going to the reptile expo in september at white plains and want to get a pair of cresteds... the problem is i want a female that will acually breed, because usually most breeders bring the females to sell that aren't good breeders. so i was wondering where would be my best bet in getting a female? and how available are black cresteds?.. i've seen a few in pics but never one in person. --Thanks in advance

theres been a surge in female crested geckos for sale in the classifieds here. you might wanna check that out if you arent apprehensive to get your reptiles shipped. my experience at reptile shows is that they only offer adult males and babies for the most part, hard to come across adult females (attractive ones, at that).

i was just looking in the classifieds and females are a little out of my price range...i guess my best bet would be getting a baby and just hope for a female, because was reading that the babies have a tendency to be more female than male on one site..is this true?

first of all, if youre planning on getting an adult female, expect to pay about $175 at the very least, unless you are getting a special deal from someone you know. the most cost-worthy way of obtaining a female is yes, buying them as babies or juvies. theres the chance youll end up with another male, but thats just the way it goes. the bright side is you could buy about 4 babies at the same price youd pay for an adult female. there is no one for sure that can produce all-female babies, and as far as i know, there isnt anyone who has babies that come out predominantly female. your best chances of getting a youngster thatll turn out female are if you look for generally smaller cloacal spurs (those lil white spikes near the base of the tail), since the hemipenal bulge doesnt come until theyre a few months old or so, and the preanal pores develop around the same time as the bulge (not to mention youd still need a magnifying glass to see them). good luck in your search!

As for the black cresteds, the only person I know with them is Mike Conley of http://www.greyparrotexotics.com/ I wouldn't bother trying to email him about them, as I have tried several times, and he apparently always has better things to do, rather than answer emails. Of course, you could try getting ahold of him on the forum at http://www.rhacodactylus.net but apparently he only has time to reply to a select few messages there, none of which were from me. If by some miracle, you do get ahold of him and get some of the black cresties, contact me when they breed and I'll be very interested in some.

~Aaron