Reptile & Amphibian Forums

NOTE: THESE ARE ILLEGAL TO COLLECT WITHOUT A PERMIT. The person who collected these has a scientific collection permit for Coleonyx reticulatus issued by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Reticulated, or "Big Bend," Geckos are native to (surprise) the Big Bend region of Texas and probably adjoining Mexico. Individuals were observed and captured 13-14 June 2008.

Left to right: subadult female reticulatus, male reticulatus, female brevis:

Male reticulatus and female brevis--note size difference between these two adult representatives of their species:

Closeup of the female retic. Note translucent quality to the skin.

brevis and female reticulatus. Although these two animals are roughly the same size, note the larger head (relative to body) of the retic:

Male retic, closeup:

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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

Very nice looking animals. I cant say I've seen these before. It would be nice to see more of them in the hobby. I'm wanting to go down to OK and TX field herping but works not allowed it yet this year.

It would be nice to see more of them in the hobby.

I would like to see all Coleonyx represented in captive breeding programs, especially reticulatus and switaki. Currently both are protected by TX and CA respectively; mostly because of "perceived" rarity and limited distribution. From what I've heard, reticulatus is locally common. I can't imagine a high demand for them (any more than other US banded geckos--switaki notwithstanding), but it would be nice to get some hobbyists working with them to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of their life history.
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet