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inbreeding *POLL*

do you feel that inbreeding leopard geckos is wrong?

  • NO! im all for it! some of the top leopard gecko breeders have been doing it for decades.

    Votes: 9 21.4%

  • maybe eventually but i doubt the gene pool is shallow enough to worry about it yet.

    Votes: 6 14.3%

  • only when phisical defects occur do i feel the need to outcross.

    Votes: 3 7.1%

  • i dont and wont practice inbreeding myself but i feel it is not hurting anything..

    Votes: 3 7.1%

  • i outcross siblings to nonrelated mates in order to preserve genetic diversity.

    Votes: 18 42.9%

  • crossing even distantly related geckos is unethical.

    Votes: 2 4.8%

  • i wont buy albinos fancy morphs because i feel to much inbreeding has already occured within them.

    Votes: 1 2.4%
  • Total voters
    42
  • Poll closed .
StinaUIUC said:
Well...most of the traits we see in dog breeds are because of "defects." At any rate...It's all a matter of responsible breeding...leopard geckos may not have had many imports...however many breeders (at least those around here) are responsible enough to start their own lines with at least fairly unrelated animals which means that getting animals from breeders with established lines makes it possible to keep heterozygosity fairly high and prevent undesireable traits from popping up too much. Obviously they pop up occasionally...but it could be much worse if people were generally less responsible and didn't care about kinked tails or eyelid deformities and whatnot. I dunno...maybe I'm being too optimistic...lol I do agree however that some wild caught animals should be brought into the captive bloodlines sometime soon.
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That is very true. The big breeders defently try their best to outcross. That is great. Its an unavoidable fact that leopard geckos are grossy inbred.
My point was that not all "defects" are undesirable. Like albino leos, or a tea cup poodle
 
Yes. I'm not saying we're not seeing some problems caused by excessive inbreeding in the past with leos. I'm saying that you cant pull a statistic like "Leos are the weakest pet reptile" out of your hat (or some other dark place) and state it as a fact.
 
you sure it came from a hat? lol!

the amount of imported leopard geckos that have been imported into the U.S. is probably higher than many other captively bred reptiles from outside the U.S.

this isnt from "a hat" but im pretty sure anything form australia is inbred. it would have to be. they dont allow collection of fauna in australia.

thats womas, jungle carpet pythons, ackies, many species of monitor, and a ton of other reptiles found in the pet trade.
 
I didnt say it was a fact. Its just my opinion. I would like you to pull another contender out of your hat. Ball pythons maybe? I doubt it becuse they import them by the boat load. How about ummmmm I cant think of anything besides leopard geckos and Beardies. Maybe Spur thighs?
 
Vince said:
Pure bred dogs have indeed been line bred. But in Dogs, single generation inbreeding results in defects due to the line breeding. Defects in the geckos how ever are desirable. Hypo, is a defect, albino is a defect, giants. Undesirable defects include no eyelids, kinked eye lids, kinked tails. Leopard geckos are the weakest pet reptiles genetically because there has been little to no imports for some years.
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Are these facts Vince????
Hypo is a defect or is it a change that happened in nature???? You do realize hypos were wild caught...... It is also a dominant trait, not a recessive one......

There is no proof that missing or kinked eye lids are genetic defects..... It would most likely be caused by either temp fluctuations during incubation or not enough supplimentation while the female was gravid......

I doubt kinked tails are the result of inbreeding...... However it is a genetic defect that has been propagated because of inbreeding......

So you seriously think that leos are a weak species of reptile???? Tell that to all of the leos I have that breed well and eat like pigs.....

Vince, you are talking about things that you do not know too much about and you are making some really bold assumptions...... I think you need to step back and really look at what you type before you hit the reply button.....
 
nd how did they reporduce they hypos they found in the wild? magic maybe?
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yes vince, magic. magic that flows from a lepracauns "hat".

actually imported animals carrying the hypo trait were bred to animals that did not have it from other localities as well as stock from the same locality. those animals than laid eggs. those eggs hatched. the result being baby hypos. those were than raised to sexual maturity and, depending on who the breeder was and what his stance on inbreeding was, it was either crossed to its brother or sister or outcrossed to other leopard geckos that, while linebred, carried a varied genepool from the lack of subspecific clarification in leopard geckos.

because of this nonspecific clarification, leopard geckos are probably the most OUTBRED AND NON LOCALE SPECIFIC REPTILE IN THE PET TRADE, which is why people have been inbreeding for so long with minimal bad side effects.

i dont know what you keep vince but youve got to be the most anti-leopard gecko leopard gecko enthusiest ive ever seen on this forum. i mean... you do keep leopard geckos, right?
 
Vince said:
LOL and how did they reporduce they hypos they found in the wild? magic maybe?
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What is your point????
They were reproduced just like any other reptile species that is captive bred....... I dont understand what is so funny and what majic has to do with anything......
 
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