Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What would be some good guidlines when purchasing a crested gecko. What to look for? etc. I am thinking of purchasing one at the November Expo in Philly.

Stank ya
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Pink is a manly color

www.lizardaction.com

lol

Outside of the general morphological appearance (Tiger, Flame, Dalmatian, Pinstripe, etc.) of the gecko you’re interested in, the best quality indicator of adult coloration will be the parents. So either you can look at specific set of parent animals or judge the entire quality of a breeders lines (as in Anthony Caponetto, Allen Repashy, P. de Vosjoli, ect.).

If you’re skilled, you can evaluate subtle characteristics present in a young gecko. But those are more of a “trade secret” you have to learn from someone who knows or thru breeding trials and raising hatchlings to adulthood.

I’m certain others will have suggestions and methods for getting the most gecko for your money.

-Randy
www.neoscales.com

Outside of color you should be looking at alertness, health-plumpness. Just check out well known breeders webpages and look at their crested and remember what they look like.

If they are lathargic or have sunken eyes or just don't look like the web page pics avoid them becaus they may be unhealthy.

beyond what others have mentioned, there are other characteristics besides morph and general health that can make one gecko more worthy of purchase, at least in a breeeder's eyes, than another. such details include the relative width of the head, intensity of the crests, etc. Generally, from both an aesthetic (for the owner) and mate choice (for the breeding geckos) viewpoint, more exaggerrated/flamboyant characteristics are chosen for. Be careful, however, because certain exaggerrated characteristics (such as buggy eyes) can be quite the opposite. as anyone else would recommend, get your hands on the rhacodacylus book, it has a good section for selection of crested geckos, as well as descriptions of morphs and such.