Hey guys. I was wondering, is it possible, and normally practiced, to breed grown offspring of a gecko back to the parent? I know it seems rather gross, inbreeding and all, but I wasn't sure if this is how morphs are achieved. I know my normal female and blizzard male should produce normals het. for blizzard unless she's got some genetics I don't know about. If I breed their offspring back to the male blizzard, I could get blizzards, but is this how it's done? I can't find much on this.
Thanks,
Rob
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breeding offspring back to the parent?
astronut1885
Jun 06, 2005 05:05 PM
Replies (5)
GreggMM
Jun 06, 2005 05:22 PM
Yeah, you can do that or, you can go out and spend the 30 bucks and buy a blizzard to pair with the blizzard you already have....
astronut1885
Jun 06, 2005 06:14 PM
Yeah, I know I could do that. It's not that I am entirely trying to breed blizzards, but I was just wondering if that's how it's done. Seeing as if I breed out a pair of females, odds are I'll keep them, I was just wondering what would happen if they bred with my male if I kept them all in the same cage. I probably couldn't bring myself to sell or trade the first hatchlings I get.
GreggMM
Jun 06, 2005 07:23 PM
Yeah, I still have my first few hatchlings...... You have to keep atleast one or two of your first....LOL
marla
Jun 06, 2005 09:20 PM
there is a lengthy debate already posted on this subject, in the 'health, diet, and breeding' forum. my opinion is that it's incredibly unethical. however, it is possible and widely practiced and accepted.
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marla
currently: 0.0.9 catfish, 0.1 ferrets, 0.0.3 hermit crabs (of unknown species), 2.8.3 leopard geckoes, 0.0.6 korean fire-bellied toads, 1.0.2 strawberry hermit crabs, and 0.2.0 sugar gliders
misswindom
Jun 07, 2005 12:11 PM
It's called Line Breeding. Incest is what happens between related humans. And it's not just practiced in the Leopard Gecko business, either. It's practiced with all sorts of species.
Whenever an unusual morph is born, if it's the 1st, it's hard to know if another animal will for sure have the same trait. So you breed it back to the parent so that you can get this trait again.
It's a bit unethical and unhealthful in the long run, though. Not only do you increase the chance of breeding the new morph, but you also increase the chances of breeding genetic diseases into the descendents. Pekingnese dogs, for example - because of the excessive line breeding, they have all sorts of sinus problems, which wouldn't be so evident if the line breeding hadn't happened. But, then again, neither would the Pekingnese breed.
~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...! 
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~~The Gecko Barn~~
