Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm receiving two female next week; a red and a pink and green to kickstart my breeding program. The only 'problem' is that my males are less than pretty. The one that I intend to use as he's larger is uniformly yellow with pale cream almost nonexistant brindling while my smaller male is pale cream with vibrant yellow patterns. Neither are exactly ideal breeders since they're typical petstore Cresteds but my large male is easily the BIGGEST Crested I've ever seen. He's almost as long as an adult Tokay and has a temper to match some of the time.

I was wondering if I should hold out and purchase a nice breeder quality male or just hope for the best with what I've got. I'm new to the breeding thing and I don't know the breeder ethics yet.

Is there anything I should know before I start this up? And is there a way to reverse the effects of floppy tail?

I'd say just stick with the males you have. I have a male that is nothing special looking, but I know for a fact that he comes from awesome genes. The male with the brindling could potentially pass that trait on to his children and it could possibly show up even stronger in them. I know lots of people with rather dull looking breeders that have created some amazing flame and partial pinstripe babies. You just never know what the parents will surprise you with!

About the floppy tail, there's not a whole lot you can do about it once it gets to a certain point. I'd say you should add more branches though. Maybe it can strengthen it's tail back up. (Though remember, almost all wild Cresteds are tailess, so if it did loose it's tail there's nothing to worry about. It's pretty common.)

Hope this helps! Be sure to post pictures of your future babies.