There is debate within the reptile community about how to proceed when a gecko is born with defects that make life possible, if not “normal”. Some breeders prefer to cull these hatchlings in the interest of reducing the chances that a genetic anomaly will be passed on. Others feel that any creature which can live without pain should be cared for. This is the story of a “special” gecko who seems to have enriched the lives of those around her.

Sela Is Born

In October of 2008 I was given a pair of leopard gecko eggs by an acquaintance who didn’t own an incubator. In December the eggs hatched and it was clear that both hatchlings had congenital anomalies. They were smaller than expected, their limbs and heads were misshapen, their tongues were shorter than normal, and, most distressing, their eyes were very small with malformed eyelids. They were willing to eat, when hand-fed, so I decided to give them a chance. A close friend asked to adopt the more impaired hatchling, after caring for her for a short time and enjoying her people-friendly and calm manner. She named her Sela (short for Elisel) and we set her up in a 5 gallon enclosure. All of Sela’s “furniture” was kept in the same place at all times since we weren’t sure whether or not she could see.

Feeding and Housing

Her new owner painstakingly hand fed her as often as Sela was willing to eat. In order to succeed at this, Sela needed to be held in one hand, and small mealworms placed in the side of her mouth. Sometimes she needed help to get the mealworms into her mouth properly (due to her malformed tongue) and sometimes she needed more encouragement and persistence for her to be able to even try to swallow the food. Gradually she seemed to become better at finding her way around her enclosure. She would often circle the perimeter of her home in the evenings with her face bumping along the walls, and soon learned how to find her humid hide where she would lick the droplets of water. Eventually she was able to find her warm hide and to sleep inside it during the day.

Sela’s Vacation

When she was 4 months old, I took care of Sela for a week She weighed only 5 grams, still required total care for feeding and shedding and her head was grossly misshapen with a lump of some sort growing in the area of one eye, and pushing this eye opening out of place. (It was unclear at this time whether there was a formed eye on this side.) In all honesty, I was repulsed by her at first, but was soon won over by her willingness to be fed and her explorations of her temporary cage, in which, of course, I arranged all her familiar furniture as she was accustomed to it.

Growing and Developing

During the following 6 months, Sela continued to grow very slowly. She still required hand feeding with a great deal of patience and stimulation to get her to begin each feeding session. She was still unable to shed on her own most of the time. Despite these problems, as Sela grew, it seemed as if her left eye were beginning to develop. What had initially looked like a sunken black mass began to display a pupil which reacted to light. Although her eyelids remained deformed in the corners with an occasional mucousy discharge, she began to explore her environment more and would even sometimes climb on top of her ceramic hides. She also began reacting to visual cues, such as the motion of a person walking past her tank. She was still very small, but began to develop a more adult feeding pattern of eating every other day.

Medical Problem

In September, the lump under Sela’s right eye had grown so big it couldn’t be ignored. The eye was pushed out of place and she had some difficulty keeping her head level. When, during a shed she attempted on her own, she bruised the skin around the lump, something had to be done. At the age of 9 months and weighing 11 grams, Sela went to the herp vet. The vet diagnosed either an infection or a mucosele –a mucous-filled cyst likely caused by a blocked or poorly developed tear duct. Sela was injected with a small amount of lidocaine and the lump was slit with a scalpel, and a blob of clear goop removed. Immediately, her eye returned to a more normal position and the small incision closed. We were warned about the possibility of infection or scarring, but Sela has continued to grow and thrive and appears much more comfortable. Observation of the right eye socket shows that there is an eye here too, with a recognizable pupil.

Sela’s Future

We are still not sure to what extent Sela is able to see. She does not attempt to hunt for food and still must be hand fed. She is now eating small to medium superworms, has gained 4 grams in the month since her “surgery” and is developing a nice little pot belly. She needs to have her eyes moistened occasionally since the corners of the eyelids are not well-formed and her tongue is too short for her to be able to clean them by herself. She will always require a great amount of care and there is no guarantee that her mucosele will not recur. Sela’s owner has found the daily interaction with her to be interesting and enjoyable, and finds that caring for a creature who clearly needs her is more motivating than one that requires only occasional maintenance. She feels strongly that if Sela can thrive she should be given the opportunity, and is willing to continue to put in the extra time and attention Sela requires.

(I’d like to acknowledge Selah’s owner who provided invaluable help in editing this article and providing photographs)

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.

Here is what Rebecca had to say when the incubator arrived:

I’m ecstatic! It’s really awesome!
We put the shelves in, turned it on, set our temps (we set to 65 then to 81 to check the different temp ranges), and it took NO TIME to reach those temps. It’s a top-of-the-line, quality product.

Congratulations Rebecca, and thanks to everyone who submitted their photos to the contest.

Sponsor a Contest!

Know a company who may be interested in sponsoring a photo contest? Be sure to contact us!

Crackity Jones eating his CGD

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.

I got a chance to ask Daidra from Leopard Gecko Lair a few questions about what she does with her breeding projects and what some plans are for Leopard Gecko Lair. Daidra has been breeding leopard geckos for 3 years. Her basic Mission is to make healthy and vibrant leopard geckos for everyone to enjoy, whether they are breeders or just want to add to their collection of pets. Here is what Daidra had to say.

Who would you say is your mentor for getting started breeding reptiles?

I would have to say a mentor that I looked up to for breeding leopard geckos or any other reptiles I may breed in the future was Steve Irwin, as he truly loved any animal that walked on the earth and also respected them as I do. Reptiles are my favorite animals, like they were his, and I will never forget everything he taught me about animals and how they should be respected. They are a gift from God that should always be respected and cared for as he always showed us.

What types of projects or products are you planning for the future?

I am currently working on producing the Emerald Raptor that has yet to be debuted and many other morphs that are top secret at the moment but when the time comes, I will debut them and everyone will truly be amazed at their beauty.

Would you consider yourself a small, medium, or large breeder? What size would you like to grow to?

I would consider myself a small breeder with around 50 breeder leopard geckos and I hatch about 100+ babies per year. But I am currently downsizing to around 30 breeders, as I will be starting college and won’t have enough time to care for so many geckos then.

What is your favorite morph?

The Emerine is by far my favorite morph, as they have a different array of colors that they come and hatch in, and are in my opinion the most placid of all the leopard geckos I deal with or breed.

Where do you see Leopard Gecko Lair headed in the future?

I see Leopard Gecko Lair growing to large scale breeder of leopard geckos, corn snakes, sand boas, ball pythons, and viper geckos in the future, possibly even savannah monitors.

Do you attend any reptile shows? If so which shows do you attend?

I only attend the reptile shows in the Ft. Meyers area as of now and I will be attending the Daytona National Breeders’ Expo in a few years. I also will attend the other reptile shows in Florida.

That’s a wrap!

Thanks Daidra for taking time to tell all of us about what you are doing with Leopard Gecko Lair. You can check Daidra and Leopard Gecko Lair out on her website http://leopardgeckolair.com.

Our next Small Breeder Interview will be coming from Aliza. And as always if you would like to take part in this interview series please contact Cory at CSM Gecko. You can contact Cory through his website www.csmgecko.com or email csmgecko@gmail.com.

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.

Taking interesting, clear photos of any living, moving creature is a combination of skill, technique and proper equipment.  This article will provide some general tips for taking a good, clear photo of your gecko and editing out some of the more distracting background elements.

General photography tips

Background:

I don’t use one. But I guess a black background, or the plastic backgrounds used for aquariums will create a more natural looking effect.

Posing the Gecko:

I set my camera to burst mode and continuously shoot the gecko while it is moving. When putting the gecko on the drift wood, as in the example below, it tends to roam around, and doesn’t want to stay put. That’s why I had to hold the wood on my left hand, and shoot using my right hand.

Focusing the picture:

Geckos on wood won’t stay still. Ever. DSLR users will not have a problem focusing on the gecko because DSLR’s focus much faster than an ordinary point and shoot camera.  If the picture is coming out blurry, it’s likely that the focusing is off the subject. For precise sharpness, the point of focus should always be on the gecko.  For DSLR users, just set the focus to single point focus. If you use spot metering, there is  little chance that your picture will be over- or underexposed. But in case this happens, set the DSLR to A mode, then -1 EV to correct for overexposure and set it to A mode, then +1 EV to correct for underexposure.

Now, here’s an example using a picture of one of my geckos:

Follow these steps and see the result of my photo at the end of this post.

How I Took My Picture

Gear List:

1. Nikon D300s and Nikkor 18-55 VR
   kit lens
2. Basic desk lamp
   22w
3. Drift wood
4. Adobe Photoshop CS3

Here are a few tips in shooting your pets at a very minimal cost in terms of lenses and lighting set-ups. I will be using my own photographs to let you see how the original image looks, and how it appears after I edit it with a very simple work flow that will make your images stand out.

First, I used a DSLR (Nikon D300+18-55 VR lens) for this shot, and the 22w desk lamp. As you can see in the original image, the gecko and the wood are well lit, yet the background is already quite dark. The secret is, put your metering to SPOT METER, turn off the room light, use a dark background as much as possible, and focus the meter on the lightest part, which in our example is the gecko. Place the lamp 45 degrees on the side (not top) of the gecko to reduce unwanted shadows. For this shot, the lamp was positioned on the left facing the gecko. Be patient when shooting these animals since they move fast. I was holding the drift wood with my left hand, while shooting with my right… These creatures really are fast movers I tell you.

Now after taking the shot, open the image with Photoshop. I use the CS3 version but any version would suffice. Here is the step by step work flow that I used to make the final image:

• Open file with Photoshop
• Click: Image/ Adjustments/ Auto Levels
• Click: Image/ Adjustments/ Brightness & Contrast
• Values – BR: -15 / CT: +25

You will see a big difference in terms of contrast range and brightness level at this time. But we have to do something about the background which is quite distracting because of the variation in color.

• Click: Burn Tool (Hand Icon on the left), set the Range to Shadows, with an exposure of 20.
• Right click on the image, and select the diameter size of your choice. Hardness should be set to 0.
• Now brush the light portions of the background to make it black.

Now that we are done with the background. Let’s clean up the image a bit. This time we will edit out the specks on the wood:

• Click: Healing brush tool
• Set the right diameter for the speck.
• Press ALT beside the speck to replicate the wood.
• Release ALT then click on the white speck.
• You can continue the same way, cleaning up all specks that seem distracting in the image.

The image is now cleaned up, and everything looks good. The last thing to do is to re- size the image for web posting. Make sure your color space (located at: EDIT, color settings) is set to sRGB. This is the color space the web uses. If you accidentally set your image to aRGB (which is used for printing), there will be unwanted color changes when you post it on the web.

• Create a new layer (CTRL + J)
• Click on filter, then sharpen. Do this twice.
• Click on image, then image size. Set the size you want.
• I did a 800px on the longest end.
• Click on filter, then sharpen.
• Adjust the opacity of the layer (located on the layer palette) to your taste. I did 50%.
• To see the difference in sharpness, you may want to click on the eye icon of the layer.
• When all is done, right click on the layer and flatten image.

That’s it! Save the image as jpeg.

Before & After

By following these simple steps in Photoshop you can achieve results similar to the example below. Hover over the image to see an edited version.

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.

Gecko Time is pleased to have had a chance to talk with Brittney Gougeon of PacHerp, a California breeder of geckos and snakes.

How did you get started as a breeder and what is your current scope of breeding?

I’ve had an interest in reptiles since I was a child and would often go out in search of turtles, salamanders, toads and other creatures while I was growing up. I started with two female leopard geckos as pets, then after discovering this huge reptile breeding community online, I thought of how breeding these animals could really be a work of art, like a living canvas. So… two geckos became dozens.

Fast-forwarding to current times — During the 2010 breeding season I will be working with Leopard Geckos, African Fat Tail geckos, Knobtail geckos and Hognose snakes.

What is the significance of the name “PacHerp”?

PacHerp is the short form of “Pacific Herpetoculture”. As some may know, my previous business name was “South Bay Geckos”. I moved to the “east bay” about a year ago, and felt I needed to change my name to prevent confusion. I also expanded my business to cover snakes as well, so the idea of a name change was very fitting.

You’re quite successful in the web design field. Why do you think this is and what is your favorite part of it?

Design and Business Marketing have been passions of mine ever since I can remember. I began working in the Graphic Design field when I was a teenager; that is where I developed my basic skill set for the web design field. I went on to study Digital Art and Design in Canada where I received my post secondary credentials in Graphic Design.

I now work full time with members of the Reptile Community to help them create a visual image for their businesses. I always tell my clients at Reptile Creative that “I build online businesses” as most of the clients I work with do not have store fronts, and need an online outlet to sell their animals. It is a unique field, and I feel I have an advantage when working with other breeders because I also keep and breed reptiles myself — I know what they need and how to deliver these things in the best way possible to each of my clients while keeping each design new and fresh.

Could you tell us something about your work with Late Night Leos?

Late Night Leos is a reptile related online radio show on Blog Talk Radio that I co-host with Nigel Kinley from Nairwokii Reptiles. We schedule various guests from the Reptile community to come be a part of the show and discuss recent events.

We want all of our guests to feel comfortable and at home while joining us on the air, so we tend to keep things low key and more laid back. Our listeners and guests really seem to like this approach. We will be launching some very exciting updates to the website that we will be announcing on our 1 year anniversary show, November 27th.

Do you have a favorite species of gecko? What is especially attractive about it?

That is a hard question because I work with several different species and there are things I love about each of them. I started with Leopard Geckos and there is a part of my heart that will always belong to Leopards. The variety of selective breeding possibilities in this species is simply inspiring, I look forward to many more years of work with the Leopard Geckos.

If I had to choose a favorite, right now I’m feeling a bit more partial to the African Fat Tails. I find them to be a more challenging species, as they are not as easy to breed as Leopard Geckos, and their genetic possibilities are just starting to open up. The future of the African Fat Tails is exploding, and I’m excited to be on the cutting edge.

What are your long range and short range plans for your gecko breeding?

My short range plans: I’m looking to expand my Knobtail gecko projects to include several new unrelated bloodlines. With the African Fat Tails, I’m working on outcrossing existing bloodlines with wild caught animals. With my Hognose snakes, I’ll be producing some ‘green project’ animals soon, as well as my first generation of “Copper Reds” in 2010.

My long range plans: I am planning several line breeding projects with the Leopard Geckos, AFTs and Hognose Snakes that will take several years before the final results will be seen.

I’m expecting to see some early results in 2010-2011 from several of my leopard gecko line breeding projects. I also have some unique wild caught african fat tail geckos that I’ll be working on proving out over the next few seasons. I’ll also have my first group of red albino western hognose available in 2011.

How has the economy affected your gecko business?

In general the economy had not affected me too badly. I have seen the effects of the economy beginning to show at Reptile Shows where people are there looking for the best deals, as opposed to looking for the newest and hottest morphs available. I have also noticed many breeders taking advantage of the “barter” system where they trade animals with each other rather than paying outright for new breeder animals. I’ve done this many times this season with my breeder friends, and it has been lots of fun!

Regardless of how things have been changing in the community as the economy works itself out, I have faith that hard work will always pay off in the end and beautiful animals will always be in demand.

[View with PicLens]

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.

When I tell people that I run a gecko blog they often respond the same way. “A gecko blog, huh? People care about them enough to read about them on a regular basis?” We’re in a small niche, it is true. Gecko breeders and enthusiasts are spread out across the world. It is not common that gecko fans have meet-ups like a card playing group can.

Distance is our problem but by following a few simple methods we can be united on the web. Here are a few simple ways you can find the people who love geckos and bring them to your website:

Use What You’re Already Doing

There are many things that you’re already doing in your daily online life that can help bring more traffic to your website:

Email Signature

There are plenty of articles online that preach the benefits of including your website in your email signature. Maybe your email is not all gecko related, however. I have two answers for that. One, why not tell your non-gecko-loving friends about your passion. Maybe that’s not you; that’s OK too. Set up multiple email signatures and attach your gecko based one when dealing with your reptile related friends.

Forums

We all know that forums are a power house of traffic. People gather to discuss what they are passionate about. In the past we’ve discussed 10 Forums for Gecko Lovers. If you’re part of a forum then you should be including a link to your website in your signature. This is a given, and will bring you more traffic with ease.

Also, don’t be afraid to link to your website in messages you post on the forum. Does someone have a question that you’ve answered with photos of an article on your website? Tell them the answer and lead them to your website for more information. If it’s valuable then no one will be offended.

Not so intuitive ideas

So forums and email signatures may have been a no-brainer for some of you. Here are some ideas that you may not have thought of:

Join a Topsite

Topsites are a great way for web site owners to ’share’ traffic with other websites that have similar viewers, once you join the topsite and place the button on your website. People often click on that button and go to other websites listed in that same list. This is a great tactic to find more gecko viewers.

Advertise

Ok, so this idea isn’t free. But it can bring in some nice traffic. There are a few places that you can advertise around the internet that I would recommend. Here are some ideas in no particular order:

• HERE! At Gecko Time: Advertise with us
• Gecko Forums
• Geckos Unlimited
• Google Adwords: Will place your ads on Google search results and sites showing ads that have content relevant to your chosen keywords.

Each of these places will bring you different results. If you’re looking to hire a marketing director or looking for consulting advice then I’d love to chat with you. Email me any time.

Try something new

One idea that I really like is Marcia of Golden Gate Gecko’s Mean Old Gecko Lady page. The idea of a light hearted, fun website can spread quickly. It is often said that you cannot create viral marketing on your own but this is a great way to spread your website name without much work. Once people discover this it will spread to their friends with little effort on your part.

Be helpful

Do you include any sort of helpful articles on your website? Include a care sheet, answer some questions you frequently see asked. These will be referenced when people see that question asked in the future. Also, it is very likely that search engines will pick up your articles and you’ll start to generate more traffic from search engines.

That’s it

Work on each of those tactics and I truly believe you’ll be driving more traffic to your gecko related website. Let me know what you think in the comments!

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.

It’s time to vote on the Cutest Gecko Photo Contest, sponsored by ReptiPro Incubators! Vote for our favorite photo. Only one vote per person. Voting closes October 22nd at 12PM eastern!

Photos are listed in order of submission.

#1: Dinosaur with a Gecko Tail – Rhacodactylus leachianus henkeli by Tamara Locke

#2: Just Minding My Own Business by Kyle Nordyke

#3: Here I am ! by Andreas Danier

#4: Ready for the World! by Emma Murphy

#5: Super Snow Super CUTEY! by Sean Kirk

#6: Matoatoa brevipes by Grant

#7: P.m.grandis High Red hatchling by Elad Smit

#8: a week and half baby gecko by Jeremy Gambrel

#9: carrottailed eclipse by Jon

#10: Sibling Rivalry by David Martin

#11: I said look at me by Daidra Salyers

#12: mini milii by Marcia McGuiness

#13: Rhacodactylus ciliatus: Taste of life by Cindy Wechsler

#14: Life!!! by Chris Van Aken

#15: Chewie Stick by Derek Wong

#16: Crackity Jones eating his CGD by Rebecca Smith

#17: My first steps by Javier Perez

#18: get me outta here!!! by Andrea Allgood

#19: Stop touching me! by Kasey Kimberly

#20: Lickety Split by chris smith

#21: Sleepy time! by Rachel

#22: Food? by Erik Niemans

#23: Look I’m a Crested Gecko by Eric Oldham

#24: Mini by Jennifer

#25: Sleepy Fat Tail by Chris Hansbrow

#26: Enigma hatchling book ends by Rick Myre

#27: Mittens and her Tunnel. by Stephanie Jordan

#28: Party Gecko by Kristi Housman

Cast Your Vote

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Need to ship a gecko? This is something that is done regularly in our industry. Sometimes it’s the only way to safely and effectively get a gecko to its new home. This can be stressful not only on the gecko but the shipper, especially if it’s your first few times shipping. These 5 tips to better shipping will point out some things you might not think about as a new shipper.

Confirm Info

This is something I do with all live shipments. Before shipping any live package make sure to confirm the recipient’s address. It might seem kind of trivial but a slight error in the address could cause confusion with the delivery driver which may result in the box riding on the truck all day. With extreme temperatures this could cause major injury or worse for the animal. Also get your customer’s phone number to put on the shipping label or in case you need to contact them quickly.

Around Christmas is the peak of shipping. This is when UPS experiences the largest volume of packages all year. Don’t ship any live packages several weeks before Christmas as the next day service won’t be guaranteed overnight.

Know Your Temps

Temperatures are very critical when shipping. These temperatures will determine if you are going to use a heat pack, cold pack, no packs or not ship at all. Use the National Weather Service or The Weather Channel to check the forecast for both your area and your customers. One thing most people overlook is the forecast at your shipping carrier’s hub. This is important because the package will spend several hours in this location while it’s being sorted. I use UPS for shipping and their main distribution hubs are in Ontario, CA for the west coast and Louisville, KY from the Rocky Mountains to the east coast.

If high temperatures are above 93 degrees or below freezing at night consider not shipping. This would apply to both the UPS hub and your customer’s destination. Make sure there is not inclement weather such as a hurricane, ice storm, tornadoes etc. that may be in the area you are shipping to. If this is the case absolutely delay shipping. It’s better to wait for better weather than to have a dead shipment. Remember you are the shipper and are responsible for the shipment getting to its destination in one piece.

Hold for Pickup

This option can be handy when areas are experiencing extreme temperatures. Essentially your package will be sent to the UPS Customer Service Center closest to your customer and held there for pickup. Go to the UPS website and use their location search tool. Enter your customer’s address to find the closest Customer Center. The address that is listed is the location to which you will ship the package. Make sure to add “hold for pickup” if you create and print your own label at home. UPS can provide you with a hold for pickup sticker with your customer’s phone number. When the package is ready for pickup your customer will receive a call letting them know. Most packages are ready by 8:30am the day after shipping although some may be a few hours later.

Again though, if there is ice or snow on the ground or if temperatures are above or below what’s mentioned above, delay shipping.

Heat and Cold Packs

The use of heat or cold packs insures your shipment arrives in good condition but it can sometimes be confusing as to when to use them. As a general rule I use heat packs when the high temperature is 70 degrees or below. I use 40 hour heat packs for all shipments that require one. Don’t ever place the heat pack where it will touch the deli cup containing the gecko as the surface of the pack reaches a peak temperature of 110 degrees. For high temperatures that are from 70 degrees to around 80 degrees I use no heat or cold pack. For temperatures above 80 degrees to 93 I use a cold pack that has been in the freezer for at least 24 hours. I would wait on shipping with temperatures over 93 degrees.

Who to Use for Shipping

I prefer to use UPS for all my live shipping needs. Another service that people successfully use is FedEx. However their terms for live animal shipping will differ from UPS so be sure you have everything needed to ship with them.

After your box is packed you will need to go to UPS for shipping. The best place to take them is the main Customer Service Center in your area. They will accept any package even if it’s live. You can also try a UPS Store but they may not accept a live shipment. This is because most stores are franchised and the individual owner sets the policies for their store. You may be able to contact corporate and have them approve you to send live animals from a specific store but there are no guarantees. If you ship often you might be able to work out an agreement for you to ship.

Along with my step-by-step shipping guide I hope these tips aid you in your shipping ventures. Knowing these techniques will help you make better decisions when shipping and keep your animals safer. Happy shipping!

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.

In a stunning development, Alberto Candolini of A&M Geckos has recently decided to sell the leopard gecko part of his business.  Alberto agreed to speak to Gecko Time about his decision and his plans for the future.

What has A&M reptiles been up to for the past few years?

Well, for the past few years one of the main goals of A&M has been to combine all the genetics in leopard geckos making a lot of new combination morphs, a lot of work and a lot of animals to produce to lock in those genetic combinations. It was worth it. It is a great feeling when you hatch that 1 gecko where you only have a scientific chance of producing 1 out of 128.

We have recently heard that A&M reptiles will be up for sale. What has led to that decision?

Well the bad economy of course is taking a toll also in my family. Not much to do with A&M itself, we are still in good shape with sales as I deal a lot with exports to Asia and Europe and the economy is not as bad overseas.

The main problem is with my wife losing a very profitable job that offered also all the benefits, so we are having a very hard time making the monthly payments for our mortgage and family insurance now to add to the pile of bills. With this happening, the decision to sell A&M is a hard one but I hope to be able to refinance my house so I can take those low mortgage rates being offered right now to bring my mortgage to a lower payment to be able to afford it with the amount of salary we are bringing in right now.

How do you imagine continuing your involvement with reptiles in the near future?

I am only selling the leopard gecko business, so my involvement with reptiles will still be strong with my other rare geckos species which I will not part with right now. So my involvement with reptiles will not stop at all.

How can the gecko community support you in this time of transition for you?

I do not see what the gecko community can do to change this drop in the economy so the best thing people can do to help is to continue buying my geckos, LOL, as they have been for the past 10+ years. I think everyone is suffering from this one way or another so I think we can only wait and hope that things turn around soon for the best.

What advice do you have for reptile breeders in the current economy?

Well, some people are still making sales and moving a lot of animals. I guess the best thing to do is to produce less animals if you are not able to move or sell them so you can reduce the cost of maintaining the colonies. The best plan is to reduce the cost as much as possible right now and try to sit this situation out until things are back to normal. Some people, I am sure it is happening already, unfortunately will have to sell out. A lot of businesses, small and big, in all fronts are closing down. It’s a painful situation but that is how it is right now.

What is the biggest piece of advice you have for breeders looking to deal in the European market as well as the US?

Well, in my opinion, to be able to get in the European market the best way would be to try and work some shows in Europe. I have done that for many years, and it is the best way. People get to know you, trust you, and know the quality of your animals. If you offer good stuff they will be sure to come back for more. It’s not easy to do: a lot of money needs to be invested, starting from the import, export and all the custom costs, also traveling to Europe with no assurance of making a profit every time but if you are sure of the quality and price of your animals and willing to travel a bit it will sure open up a lot of new doors.

What are your long term goals and dreams?

Well, those change all the time due to circumstances. Right now my best dream would be to be able to keep my house and live with no economic worries but as my grandma always told me, the health is the main thing. So as long as we are healthy we can always rebuild.

Let’s say, if I was to win a big enough Lotto right now, the second thing I will do (of course first I will pay off my house, lol) is to travel to the locations of all the geckos I love the best, find them and study them in the wild. Since I love geckos pretty much from all continents this would be a very long trip, lol. After that I would build a big facility in NYC with all natural habitats set up for all the geckos I love, sort of like a big gecko zoo with the most rare and beautiful species in the world where people that are interested in geckos if they ever travel to NYC would be sure stop by, a must see facility. Yeah, I dream big or not at all, ehheeh.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your situation and your plans?

Well, I think I covered all the angles of the situation. The plan is first to stay healthy, then save the house, if I can, then I will move to the next one that comes to my mind.

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.

The Requirements

Here are the requirements for the photo contest:

• You may submit one photo
• You must have taken the photo
• The photo must be of a gecko hatching, hatchling, or juvie
• You are asked to subscribe to Gecko Time updates through RSS or Email here

What can you win?

For this photo contest we are proud to have ReptiPro as our sponsor. The winner of the photo contest will receive a ReptiPro 5000 – Reptile Egg Incubator! This incubator is amazing, perfect for a gecko breeder in every way. The ReptiPro 5000 has heating and cooling capability so it will keep your eggs at the exact temperature you desire no matter what the surrounding temperature is. It also holds humidity very well and has increased our overall hatch rates by 25%. Read more about this incubator on ReptiPro.com.

Submit your photo

Dates

Submissions will be open from September 22nd to October 2nd. Voting will begin on October 7th and close October 21st 12PM eastern time.

This post is property of Gecko Time - a blog about geckos.