Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Some of you may be familiar with my brother's leo, a yellow blizz with a touch of carrot tail. I want to increse that carrot tail in his babies, but dont know how to do it. Would breeding him to a nice carrot tail add more colour? If not, what could I expect from the babies?

For the babies to have mroe CT then the leo you have now, you must breed it to another leo with more CT. This is called selective breeding, when you breed leo's for a specific trait.

Not all the babies will have more CT but you can pick out the ones that do and breed them. This is how we got EVERY morph from the normals that we started with.
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Austin-WiteLeo
Leopard Geckos
3.5.1
2-Blizzard
2- SHTCT's
2-Stripe/Choc. Albino's
1-Het Albino
2-High Yellows
LOTS of BABIES!
Brothers
2

Genes are genes, and pretty much dictate the looks.

But very few people talk about Nekton-Rep Color. Perhaps because it is expensive? You hear a lot about the cheap Zoo-Med and other stuff instead. Oh well...Listen up: One of my het fatties has turned brighter orange on Nekton. My corn snake too, but being a ghost I really don't want the orange on him, so I stopped adding the supplement to his water.

Nekton-Rep Color is manufactured in Germany. It is nothing new, it is a pretty ancient product that has earned strong reputation among knowledgeable breeders and pet owners. When I raised birds, EVERY reputable breeder I met used Nekton. Even that guy on TV with all the cute little animals all over him (Mark Morrone?) recommends Nekton! But seriously now, it is the only supplement sold in avian and reptilian specialist offices in my state.

ReptileSupply.com has the best prices.

It won't give more spots to your lizard, but it may very well make his orange spots brighter yet.
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Yes, you can revive lizards with CPR, and crickets DO NOT transmit pinworms to lizards
2.1.1. Amelanistic fatties
2.0.2. Het for amel fatties
1.0.1. Snow leo
1.0.1. Hypo, carrot tail leo
1.0.1. High yellow, carrot tail leo
1.1.0. Blue dart frog
1.?.?. Little red betta
1.1.0. Eastern/Ornate boxie hybrid
1.?.?. Red footer tortie
1.0.1. Grey tiger mutt cat
1.1.0. Ghost corn
2.2.0. My own hatchlings, 13 and 15
1.0.1. Not PMS, just an audacious, fearless heluva woman's personality!

It misrepresents the true color of the animal.... As soon as the animal is off the nekton rep, the colors will fade.... It is fine if you are keeping the animals for your self, but if you sell the animals, they will not be getting that beta carotene that is in nekton rep when it gets to the new owner.....

Just think about how mad you would be if you paid alot of cash for a real bright orange leo and after two sheds it looses most of that color..... Or what if you breed that animal and get a bunch of dull looking babies....

The only way you should be adding color to your stock is to use animals that have the genetics to make that color, NOT by using suppliments that will help misrepresent the true color of your animals.....

I totally agree with Gregg. Fake color just plain annoys me, whether it be the "Tremper incubation method" or using the "color enhancement" stuff it's wrong to misrepresent an animal. As long as you plan on keeping the animal for yourself and not selling it you can do stuff like this but PLEASE don't use it on the babies you would sell.

As for your question, selective breeding is the key! Get another Blizzard with more orange on the tail and most of the babies will have orange tails. The more orange on the parents the more orange on the babies.
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Katie F.
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email

"A herper's life is never dull" - ME

Among avian breeders, it was never an issue. Maybe because they don't sell "by the spots" on the birds. Macaws, lories, amazons, conures, etc., look pretty much the same among themselves, color enhancement is welcomed and encouraged.

If you have used Nekton, you realize that you don't turn them into corn chips an Chee-tos, merely enhance the colors they already have. The enhancement is not so dramatic that you completely change the animal, unless you OD the poor thing.

You could use the same argument against feeding IAMS to cats to make their fur shiny and softer, enhancing their appearance. Likewise, I see absolutely nothing wrong with supplementing with Nekton Rep Color, to dress already butt kicking lizards for the prom. Just my $0.02

My animals are just pets. But if I was selling I'd share I use Nekton, and feel I am not cheating anyone. Nekton also sells supplements for breeding and general maintenance, without enhancing colors, btw.
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Yes, you can revive lizards with CPR, and crickets DO NOT transmit pinworms to lizards
2.1.1. Amelanistic fatties
2.0.2. Het for amel fatties
1.0.1. Snow leo
1.0.1. Hypo, carrot tail leo
1.0.1. High yellow, carrot tail leo
1.1.0. Blue dart frog
1.?.?. Little red betta
1.1.0. Eastern/Ornate boxie hybrid
1.?.?. Red footer tortie
1.0.1. Grey tiger mutt cat
1.1.0. Ghost corn
2.2.0. My own hatchlings, 13 and 15
1.0.1. Not PMS, just an audacious, fearless heluva woman's personality!

Cat food that gives your cat a healthy coat is much different than using beta carotene or other color enhancing suppliments are two totally different things so you can not use that same argument..... Apples and hotdogs.....

Using suppliments for color is just not honest and it does not show the true colors of that particular animal..... It is actually kind of shaddy and unfortunately, some breeders do this to help up sales and the overall price of the reptile....

Neverdid I hear such an opinion about enhancing an animal's appearance. I find it peculiar and wonder where it erupted...

To say it is wrong is to impose your feelings about it. Nekton makes excellent supplements, I have used them for a long time and will continue to use them.

Agree to disagree, don't use them if you don't like, but don't call me dishonest for using them. Selling an animal that looks better in a picture than in person, that's dishonest. Let's not be hypocritical either, if shiny coats and enhanced fur on cats is acceptable, don't have a prejudice against lizards in Nekton. BTW, I just looked in my jar and read beta carotene nowhere.

If you never used it before, you don't realize you aren't changing the animal for what it is at all. Merely enhancing the features, and the enhancement does not make them undistinguishable, just like cats on IAMS!

I think it is unfair to bash the product without ever trying it to see for yourself. You aren't familiar with what it does, and think it makes a dramatic change! I'll post a pic sometime, there does not seem to be any for reference anywhere.

But hey, I agree to disagree on *my* side, but do not agree to have anyone define the standard of honesty for animals looks...
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Yes, you can revive lizards with CPR, and crickets DO NOT transmit pinworms to lizards
2.1.1. Amelanistic fatties
2.0.2. Het for amel fatties
1.0.1. Snow leo
1.0.1. Hypo, carrot tail leo
1.0.1. High yellow, carrot tail leo
1.1.0. Blue dart frog
1.?.?. Little red betta
1.1.0. Eastern/Ornate boxie hybrid
1.?.?. Red footer tortie
1.0.1. Grey tiger mutt cat
1.1.0. Ghost corn
2.2.0. My own hatchlings, 13 and 15
1.0.1. Not PMS, just an audacious, fearless heluva woman's personality!

How can you compare cat food to making the colors different in a reptile. Cats with nice coats are healthy. I'm not so sure if giving a leo whatever that stuff is is making it any healthier.
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~*Chibi*~
Sir Iggy ( 1.0.0 El Salvador Blue Iguana), Ryo-ohki, Orion, Bud, & Finnegan (3.1.0 crazy kitties), Rosebud (0.1.0 cockerspaniel), Trixie and Kayko (0.1.1 leopard gecko)

I plan on selling my leos. I ask this now because the Mississuaga Reptile Show is on next Sunday, and I'm trying to convince my parents into letting me buy another leo to breed, it dosnt look like my corrent feamle is going to make a very good breeder- all of her eggs have come out bad, and she still has one stuck.

I had heard that there was "no such thing" as a blizz with CT, only lusistics. This boy is a blizz, he grew into his yellow and CT, when we bought him, he was white as snow, with a pink tinge. Was the person I was speaking to correct on "No blizzards with CT"? If so, should a breed a normal with CT or a lusistic with CT, et cetera, et cetera, or what?

I have suspected for some time that a couple of breeders are using advanced methods of artificial color enhancement on their geckos. I know the methods of how this can be done, but I will not even hint at them because then the leopard gecko business will be like the art business and coin business: You cannot tell the real from the forgery/fake.

Bruce,
You are all too correct..... Unfortunately, SOME people think it is just fine to use color enhancement suppliments to be dishonest and misrepresent the true color of the animal.....

By the way Wanda, I do know exactly what nekton rep color does and I also know what is in it to make oranges and reds pop out more in reptiles..... It work just like koy food..... I have been keeping reptiles for OVER 20 years and have done my homework on many suppliments over those years.... There are reasons why I do not use anything but pure calcium and some regular herp vitimins..... I have used nekton rep without the color formula in the past and it is nothing special..... I refuse to use any type of color enhancing suppliment because I sell and trade animals and I am honest and represent them in their true form.....

Again, you try to compare a food to maintain a healthy mamalian coat to using coloration suppliments enhance the color in reptiles..... They are not even in the same ballpark..... You must come up with a better comparison than that..... Cats are not priced on how their fur shines..... Reptiles are however, priced on their level of coloration..... Do you see the difference????

Er... Yeah. Please, by all means, carry on with you little... disagreement, its all good info to know. However, could someone help me with my last question in the meantime?

I have never heard of a blizzard with a carrot tail, but it would not suprise me. Your question was more or less answered earlier. Your best chances of increasing the carrot tail in your babies is to find another blizzard with more carrot tail then the one you have. You need to be sure that the one you have is, in fact, a blizzard before you go that route. Another way to accomplish more carrot tail is to get a tang with a good amount of carrot tail and breed to make hets. Then you take the hets and breed back to the blizzard, and you will hopefully produce blizzards with a carrot tail. It will take some time with this method to even find out if you were succesful.
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Official Leopard Gecko Freak

1:1 Leopard Geckos - Gilean and Aurora
2:0 Cats - Troi and Mitsu (shhhhh...don't tell them they're neutered!)
1:0 Husband - He's a lot of work, but it's worth it.

Hi Gregg, If you are one of the greggs from another place, it is very good to talk to you here.

Hey Bruce,
Yeah, I am Gregg M on the other forums..... I come in here every now and then to see whats up....

Kingsnake is nice for a change of pace. At least the psychos don't run wild here. Thank you to the moderators for that!