Gecko growth rates

[Rocket]

I am wanting to test an observation and theory of mine to see if it is publicly acknowledge or noticed by other breeders.

At present (and over the past few years) I have been breeding Thick-tail Geckos of multiple lineage and colouration. Some of them result in being what most refer to as hypomelanistic. I am wanting to put it to the other breeders of these geckos (I know theres a few of you out there) to compare the growth rates of these versus your standard or darker colouration animals. To me, these 'hypos' take alot longer to reach a size that a regular coloured and patterned animal would.

I have a clutch of hypos and a clutch of normals, all of similar age and hatch date, fed at the exact same time on the same diet, same heat and calcium levels etc and the normals just seem to grow alot faster than the hypos. Also, one thing I personally have noticed is the thickness of the tails. A personal thought is that regardless of the amount fed, my juvie hypos will not gain alot of girth in the tail until they exceed a year in age, at which point, they will pile on the fat in the tail. I will post some photos up of mine shortly...

I am not claiming this to be scientific fact, I am just wanting to voice my observation and theories to see if they match up with those noticed by other gecko breeders.

There is NO need for flaming or accusations of any kind to occur in this thread.

 

[AUSHERP]

i no longer breed thicktails, though when i have previously, yes i noticed that morph gex grow at a slower rate than the normal ones, i put it down to the morph is clearly a retardation of a normal thicktails molecular makeup and so has a different metabolic system ie different growth rate....

 

[Rocket]

Thanks for the reply... so its not just me noticing these differences...

Interesting choice of word in using 'retardation' as an explanation for the morphological differences

 

[Sdaji]

You may be comparing apples and oranges. If the hypos are from different lines from the 'normals', you may be comparing one line to another rather than hypo vs normal. If lots of the hypos going around came from one original line, and that original line just happened to be weak, you might get the wrong idea about the hypo condition causing the problems.

I have seen wild hypos in a few populations of U. milii, sometimes they're pretty common. If they were at a significant disadvantage/retarded, they wouldn't be so common. Some of the more 'extreme' hypos you get after a few captive generations of selection might be a different story though. I've never seen hypos in the wild as extreme as some of the captives. It's an interesting observation, and if what you're seeing is because of the hypo trait it will be fascinating. Make sure you eliminate other possible variables though

For the record, I've never kept the species privately. I've done field work with them and cared for them in the lab, but never on my own license.

 

[CodeRed]

this is pretty common in many morphs, not just milli. For example the albino pilbs are taking at least two years to reach maturity.

 

[GeckoJosh]

In my limited experience with hypo O.castelnaui I have noticed they are roughly 20% smaller than the non hypo examples I have seen

 

[Rocket]

Good good, this is the type of discussion I was after. Thanks Sdaji, CodeRed and Geckoman.

Please keep the discussion going.

 

[jordo]

I have a case relatively free from variables, although lacking in sample size
I recently got 2 thick tails from the same clutch, one is looking like a hypo, the other is "normal". As you suggest, the hypo seems to be growing just that little bit slower than its darker sibling. I didn't think much of it as often there's a runt or two in lizard litters/clutches but it's interesting that there are a few people out there with similar experiences.

 

[syeph8]

perhaps being cold blooded and of the same genetics, it is just that darker colours absorb more heat and more energy goes to growth.. shot in the dark but im going for it. im not a gecko man and havnt thought it through at all. its midnight which is way past my bedtime so should not be offering any theories, but this is the first that popped into my head

 

[scratchy]

Hi Rocket,
I have been breeding these "Hypo" / "blondes" for nearly 10 years now. All of my very best looking specimens were very slow growing. I have lost many just before they have reached adult size in the past . This year very few quality "hypo's" were bred by myself and some other breeders I know of. I can only speak about my line. Also, I dont know the reason for these problems . I have made some out crosses in the past but it didnt eliminate the problem.
I must admit, eventhough few were bred there are some high quality animals amongst them.

 

[AUSHERP]

retardardation doesnt necessarily mean "bad". its just that in this hobby we like to dress up our animals, its fantastic to get an albino or hypo in a clutch but when this happens in humans, we are not so happy, because it is clearly a retardation of the standard. I think it would be naieve of us to expect that only the colour changes with these morphs, perhaps it is heat absorption being affected through colour, or appetite being affected through poorer sight (affected retina).
it would be interesting to know for sure.