Exotic Animals part II

As I mentioned in the first presentation in this part I would like to share with you what fascinates me in these small dragons;).
It’s started when my first gecko molted. At the beginning my gecko was yellow with gray stripes and after molt, the stripes changed into black spots.

This picture presents my gecko before first molt.

And this picture presents my gecko after first molt.

At the beginning I thought that my gecko is sick and has some kind of rash. Immediately I sat at the computer and searched something about these spots at the Internet. After reading a few pages about leopard gecko and their illnesses I found the answers;). Theses spots are normal for that type of lizard.
Geckos are the only lizards that come in different coats. Most of young geckos are identical and have yellow “skin” with black or gray stripes, which after few molts change to spots or completely disappear.
Chance to obtain interesting coat colors is what makes so many people interested in these lizards. Breeders from around the world compete with each other in getting newer and newer coats, with different qualities of coloration and they give them various names, sometimes strange. Thanks to many years of selection individuals for breeding they created such surprising leopard gecko breeds such as: hybino, carrottail, carrothead or midnight. The most amazing breeds are: raptor, aptor and amazing Diablo Blanco which have different skin and eye color and pattern.

This picture presents young Hybino which as adult looks like this:

Carrothead

Carrottail

Midnight

Raptor

Aptor

Diablo blanco

As you can see in the above pictures top, leopard geckos have many amazing colors. You can take a look at other interesting pictures of cool gecko in the videos released by one of the largest Polish breeders who has over a thousand different leopards.


And on the colleague’s website who have very rare and colorful geckos http://www.ultimategeckos.com/collection
Gecko’s genes are responsible for their colours. Breeders combine only those leopard which have different features and as a result they get new ones with other characteristics.
Unusual genetics of these animals allow for the mixing of genes responsible for the color and pattern coloration.

Scientists have proved that the temperature of eggs incubation is responsible for their color.
Eggs that were incubated at low temperature give gecko with darker coloration while eggs which have been in higher temperature give geckos with brighter color.

These lizards can change their color themselves and it depends on what they are doing at the moment. When the gecko is curious or visited a foreign area – it becomes brighter, and when its concerned or has a bad health condition – it becomes darker. This is because geckos have special cells in the skin which expand or shrink at the order of their nervous system.
To understand the inheritance characteristics of color and crosses geckos we would need to recall the basic concepts of genetics. But I will not describe it because it’s a topic for a long book ;) However, I encourage you to read a simple description which can be found at this site: http://gekonlamparci.com/index.php?page=genetyka
I also encourage you to review this website http://www.leopardgecko.yoyo.pl/odmiany.html where you can find most of gecko types and information how they were obtained. Lots of interesting pictures of amazing geckos can be found on this wiki page http://www.leopardgeckowiki.com/index.php?title=Category:Morphs
As a curiosity I would like to tell you that leopard geckos have different traits and it depends on which type they are. For example white & yellow are more quiet and trusting while ‘enigmas’ are nervous and timid.
At the end I would like to show you a funny behavior of these lizards.
Scared Gecko:

Yawning gecko:






The reason I became interested in these lizards is the possibility to obtain various types of color and character.

I spent lots of time on reading and writing about it. Based on my notes and results of genetic calculation I complement my geckos and at this moment I have seven different geckos. My interest in these reptiles makes my friends thinks I'm crazy;). But I feel like a child again, one who explores the world around;)

Questions:

1.)

On this picture you can see my geckos baby . Pleas propose my how can I call them;)?
2.)Please visit one of the webpage with different gecko morph, choose the prettiest one and write why do you like it?
3.)What do You think about experimentation with gecko genetics? Do you believe that they may end with something badly?
4.)What do You think about keeping large numbers of geckos by one breeder?
5.)Did you like gecko's funny behavior?
6.)Many times I heard that Diablo Blanco geckos can look scared. Pleas tell me what do You think about this morph.