What's the most y'all have ever paid for a gecko?

[chondrokeeper]

1500 to Ron Tremper back in 1999 for 0.1 albino that went ugly brown, and 1.1 stripes. I still have the female stripe and I'd probably pay another $250 to get a male like her.

1500 to Tim McBride in 1999 for 1.0 patternless and 0.1 normal leo, but the catch, het from Rainwater albino. Both hets came DIRECTLY from Tim (Rainwater). I never got a chance to prove out the male before I sold him. I never had an albino female to breed him to. I did. however, prove out the female normal het. She laid 16 eggs in 2002 and I had 4 albinos hatch.

Entire collection wise, from 1996 until now, I've probably spent close to $6K or more for leos. That's not even coming close to including all my time invested into them, feeding bills, caging, electricity, water, miscellaneous supplies. If you want to truly know how much people have spent on leos, you can't honestly ask that question without facting in the later.

Now, GTP wise, I started in 2002 and have currently spent roughly $4623 on getting 8 snakes. My most expensive one is my wamena. It came from Freek Nuyt (fnreptiles.com) direct from the Netherlands. Mark Twigg (arborealsplus.com) imported it. I paid a total (shipping, money order, priority shipping on MO, and snake) of $1023.

Selling feeder geckos, errr leopard geckos to get other herps you want is fun. But selling leo geckos because you kicked out your overly controlling girlfriend, that whined all the time while living with me that she didn't have any $$ and now has a "new" car (2000-something hundai it looked like), while you're stuck with a 1993 Ranger (god I love that truck though) that has a new clutch, new O₂ sensors, new re-manned tranny (that was replaced Aug 19,2004 and now won't hold 1st and 3rd gears), and pay rent, etc....SUCKS A HUGE ONE! But hey, my mommy (dad can suck a nut), grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives don't live here or mere 2 hour drives away. No they live in GA, FL, and NY, so who's gonna be ready for the real world now.....bah, end of rant < /RANT >

 

[chondrokeeper]

quoting Dan Poe:

no albinos that i have seen really look that much different ! ive seen a pic of tremper and rw together ....didnt look very different at all to me .......maybe just those 2 in particular or the pic ...dunno (not that ive seen that many..but still ) who has some pics for me ??

how's this work for ya....

Tell me which is the Rainwater and which is the Tremper. And then tell me they don't look different.

 

[MattP]

Chris,

I don't have any RWs, but it is obvious which one you are saying is the RW (the light one, right?). Anyway, this guy (below) is also very light and I don't think its obvious that it is a Tremper. Now, the people that know about this morph can obviously see that its a Tremper.....But a person who has never seen these, might not know what it is.

Sorry if I don't make sense, it's late....

Here is an older (15 grams ago) pic of my best Tremper (with my crappy camera). Currently this boy is smoking.........His tail has gotten alot nicer,

I'll post pics of all my best stuff when I get my new camera.

Matt

 

[chondrokeeper]

Matt...

I also failed to mention that photo was taken in 2001. Back then, most trempers looked like some variation of the dark animal. I'm not going to get into the whole Tremper thing, I've been dealing with it ever since Aug 1999 when my first beautiful Tremper albino turned into the ugly duckling. Even when I see Tremper albinos like yours all that I envision is such a beautiful thing turning dark muddy brown. uke: Example in point....

<center><img src="http://webpages.charter.net/geckos/tremper/TR-compare.jpg"></center>

both geckos in this photo are the SAME animal. 5 months old versus 7 months later. She was kept at a constant 88°F via a Helix DBS 1000 thermostat and well fed. She's a little thin in the 2nd photo as I took it after she had recently laid.

Some like it, I don't. That's my opinion for what it's worth.

 

[KelliH]

Yes but when Tremper eggs are cooked at 80-82 degrees, they end up being more brown geckos. Rainwater eggs cooked at 80-82 are usually light colored animals. Interesting but true.

I think it is pretty easy to tell the 3 strains apart but that may change in the next couple of years with all the hybinos that will be hatched out.

 

[groovygeckos]

yes i see that !

like i said i havent seen that many in that same quote .... my trempers are patternless and carrothead/tail tangerine .... so they hardly look anything like a plain tremper-albino anymore especially a brown one (which is due to temps below 90 degrees) any leo will fade or darken kept below 90 though ..... nice rainwater

 

[MattP]

Chris,

You probably know this, but the colors don't darken if they have a hot spot of 87-90 degrees.

I've got two females, both are as nice as that little male- and both are about 2 and 3 years old.

Also, I have done some experimenting- and my tremper hybino has darkened very little when exposed to colder conditions.....She actually looks better because the majority of her body is orange and the white on her tail turned from white to light tan............But the orange turned from yellow/orange to orange/red. I f!@#$* wish I had my new camera........ That girl was bred from this Tremper Jungle Line.

Now, I haven't hatched/incubated this strain-----------But, my tremper strains in the past have turned out like Kelli said, but I think if I incubate all of my eggs at 86 degrees+.......... I should hatch out the neon yellows/oranges/pinks/reds.

Well see what happens.......----I should be able to prove out this strain and I will tell anyone who wants to know, what the real deal is.

Matt

 

[groovygeckos]

ill have eggs from jungle carrothead/tail tangerines too

let me know how it goes ?

 

[KelliH]

so they hardly look anything like a plain t.-albino

Just an FYI, all 3 strains of albino leopard gecko have been proven to be T +.

 

[chondrokeeper]

to quote myself and take my own advice...

I'm not going to get into the whole Tremper thing, I've been dealing with it ever since Aug 1999 when my first beautiful Tremper albino turned into the ugly duckling.

As Kelli said, all 3 strain are forms of tyrosine positive albinism. That means they can ALL brown to varying degrees, whether minimal or extreme. I'm going to leave you with that. Take that FACT for what it is worth.

Now, this thread is about what people have spent for leos; not why Tremper albinos turn brown. It's a moot point in this thread and I'm just simply not going to continue on as it is off topic. If it continues all that will come of it is this , the same thing has happened elsewhere on another forum.

Chris

 

[KelliH]

CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?"

Sure, we can all get along but there is nothing wrong with having a discussion, be it heated or not ;-)

I apologize for the "correction" about the T.-, I just wanted to be informative, a lot of people probably do not realize that all 3 strains are T+. Tremper himself was convinced his strain was T- for quite a long time.

I wish there was a T- albino leopard gecko out there. Can you imagine how beautiful it would be?

 

[groovygeckos]

thanx kelli

yes they sure would be awesome

 

[groovygeckos]

someone before completely thought i was knocking any other strain than tremper !

not my intention i like RW`s but bells look too "normal" for me ..w/that spotting(again i havent seen that many ..yet and not in person !)

 

[USAGECKOS]

Can someone explain the difference of T+ and T-?

 

[beakgeek]

I found the following information on a site called the the GAPS INDEX:

Recent research has used analysis of DNA, the chemical which encodes genetic information, to arrive at a more firm classification system for albinism. Type 1 albinism (also called tyrosinase-related albinism) is the type involving almost no pigmentation. Type 1 albinism results from a genetic defect in an enzyme called tyrosinase. This enzyme helps the body to change the amino acid tyrosine into pigment. (An amino acid is a "building block" of protein, and comes from protein in the diet.) Type 2, a type with slight pigmentation, results from a defect in a different gene called the "P" gene.

T + = Tyrosinase Positive Albinism (Type II)
T - = Tyrosinase Negative Albinism (Type I)

Cool stuff.

Regards,

Terry

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

let's stay on topic...

Now, this thread is about what people have spent for leos; not why Tremper albinos turn brown. It's a moot point in this thread and I'm just simply not going to continue on as it is off topic.

Thank you, Chris! The original post was about the most ever spent on a leopard gecko, NOT albino strains. With that in mind, the most I have ever spent on a gecko was $250, but I think my husband paid about $400 for my 'birthday gecko', Flaming Janis, he bought from Kelli.

 

[USAGECKOS]

Is there a good web site or a book to learn about Leo genetics (that speaks in english..LOL)?

 

[KelliH]

I'm sorry I couldn't resist!

but bells look too "normal" for me ..w/that spotting

Those Bells and their pesky spots..

Hey wait a minute, that Bell doesn't have spots! Hmm...

I'm just messin with ya Dan

 

[chondrokeeper]

kelli, that gecko looks retarded and deformed, you'd better send it here along with the other hybino

 

[chondrokeeper]

not to start anything again, but someone sent this to me and I found it amusing. It is a REAL billboard...