Time for a spring update. This has been a busy spring in terms of gecko sales and new additions. My spring gecko sales went very well, with most animals selling very quickly when posted for sale. I probably sold 25 - 30 geckos when the spring shipping window opened up here in Wisconsin.  I've had, and continue to have, a waiting list for helmeted geckos. I let 8 more of them go this spring to people who have been on the waiting list. I wish them luck with this interesting species. I hatched out a dozen more in February and March, but I will be holding back this group for some time, as I need to add a couple more females to my breeding group. I should have some extra males at least available by early summer. Depending on what the ratios look like, I may even be able to release a sexed pair or two.

Of course gecko sales means money in the gecko account which usually translates to purchases of new geckos as well. I added 4 new species this spring. A couple of them, Gonatodes vittatus and Oedura castelnaui were added on somewhat of a whim. I've considered them in the past, but they weren't high up on my "most wanted" list. However, I saw an ad and the price was right so I picked them up. The Gonatodes are a tiny species. I knew they'd be small, but was a bit shocked at just how small they really are. They're still babies with a lot of growing to do, but even as adults they will be very small. The Oedura is also a baby, and is an amelanistic.

The 2 additions that I am very excited about are animals which should be breeding yet this year. Both species are ones that I've wanted to add for quite a while now. I picked up an extremely nice trio of Chondrodactylus angulifer from Jon Boone, and a pair of Pristurus carteri from Phil Tremper. The C. angulifer are a big, blocky species. I've always liked their "bulldog" looks. The male is fully grown, and the 2 females will be ready very soon. The P. carteri are another species that I've wanted for years now. They're my first diurnal (day active) species and they are very inquisitive, following my every movement in the gecko room. Unfortunately they both dropped their tails (one of the unique features of this species) in shipping. They will regenerate a stub tail, but it won't have the same appearance as the original. This won't affect their ability to breed though, so I am very excited at the prospect of potentially reproducing this species later this summer.

I also had some setbacks during the winter. I lost my only female P. rangei (webfooted gecko) and a couple of helmeted gecko breeder females during brumation. I was especially looking forward to breeding some web-footed geckos this year. That will now have to wait a while.

All in all, I am very excited about the breeding season ahead. I've just collected my first eggs, with hopefully many more to come.
 


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