possible Giant?

Ok, a month ago the lps here got in a whole bunch of 3 month old Tremper Albinos, all the exact same size, now they weigh in at about 15-20 grams, but ONE of them is three times the size of the rest now and weighs close to 50 grams, is it possible she is a giant? they all get fed the exact same diet, she isnt being power fed, and is having a noticable growth differance then the rest. As i am looking for a femal giant tremper to eventually breed with my male giant tremper (after alot more reserch of course) i was wondering if any one else thinks she might be a giant, if so ill be buying her next week.

While it's possible, it doesn't mean it's a genetic giant. You'll have to know the genetic background to even calculate the % of chance it could be a giant. Some geckos are just large geckos, so it's hard to tell by just the weight.

Does it visually look a lot longer, stockier, heavier torso, and bigger head than the other tremper albinos?

yes, it is litterally 3 times the length and stocky-ness as the others, when a month ago is was almost the exact same size, but with slightly thicker build and a bigger head, now its the size of my 10 month old leo where the others are about the right size for a 4 month old. and it also has a larger head then my 10 month old. it has the same basic build of my 11 month old, 110 gram that was said to be a giant from several different breeders. the only differance is its almost 50 grams, not as old as my male though

Well it sounds like a giant, but there's no way to know for sure without either test breeding, or find out the genetic background of the gecko.

well i plan to get her and breed her with my giant male, same morphs so ill see how the babies come out. Already have a incubator ready and 9 different "breeding care sheets" two from breeders, one i got off here. so we will see, ill keep her growth updated once i purchase her and when she is 8 months old ill see if she is ovulating, and during breeding season, if she seams ready ill introduce her to my male and keep the breeding project updated. thank you for the help.

If the place youre getting her from knows she's a temper then they should be able to get info from the breeder to find out of she's a genetic giant. Like mardy said, just because she's big didn't mean she's a genetic giant. I suggest looking at a place called designer geckos, google it should come up, think Ray is in colorado, he specializes in giant and super giant and had some nice info on what to look for. tail length is a good one to look for as is head and body length. Ray has BEAUTIFUL giants. Me personally would NEVER breed a pet shop leo as the history and genetics are suspect at best. Last thing the leo hobby needs is more new breeders adding inferior genetically muddy animals to the fancy just mucking things up when so many breeders work so hard to establish ethical breeding programs. Anything worth doing is worth doing right from the start, theres a reason those animals are in pet shops and not holds back for the people that bred them.

I do not plan on breeding the trempers for sale, i was wanting to do it because i personally love the morph, and love the giants. and it would be a way for me to start breeding and learn first hand, if i would ever want to do it for sale. If i decide its not to diffucult of a task for me to take on, then i will be buying leos to breed from reputable breeders and not from petshops. Trust me on this one, i have a friend who breeds snakes for sale, and i yell at him all the time because he decides to mix morphs and even spiecies, i have way more respect of the animal and all the hard work the breeders put into making these specific morphs. heres a example of the messups my friend does, he recently bred a RTB to a Burm. the babies all came out mutated and didnt survive the first few hours, one had two heads and ate the other head, one even came out missing half its spine. I am not the kind of person to risk that ever. like i said the plan of breeding the trempers is purely for my self, and to be displayed in my house. i will buy "pure breds" from well known and trusted breeders if i decide to ever breed to sell.

What do you intend to do with the babies you produce out of this "test breeding"? Thats at least 20 souls you'd be bringing into the world... Also your friends an idiot, sorry. If you really want to learn first hand about breeding, get a mentor, don't experiment with living creatures. Thats just not ethical imo sorry.

I have to agree, if you want to get into giant breeding, the first step is to make sure you have genetic giants in both male & females. It would be disappointing if you find out after all this time next year that she's not a genetic giant. It's well worth the money to purchase a genetic giant from a reputable breeder. Ray from designer geckos is a very reputable breeder, I got two giant females from him awhile back. They are proven giants bred from two proven giant parents. I can also say his prices are more than fair, you really won't be disappointed.

I myself have giants from him, steve sykes, and ron tremper. These are all reputable breeders that won't sell you "maybe" or "borderline" giant geckos. Their geckos are all bred from proven giant parents, and they are sold when they are proven giants. I have issues with some breeders out there that are selling borderline giants. They are geckos that are barely hitting the giant mark, they aren't as long as they should be, and many of them sell "super giant" geckos when they are hatchlings...knowing full well that some of them will not turn out to be giant sized.

Breeding a petstore gecko without solid background info is taking a risk that in my opinion not worth taking.

Already said I plan to keep them. I have plenty of space for them and have about 50cages from.previouse reptiles and fish I have owned and ones people gave to because they didn't have the room to store the tanks. Its a test breeding yes, but I do plan to keep, care for, and love every single one of them, plus the breeding wont happen till around 2014. So I might change my mind by then and just get breeders.

Ron Tremper is actually close to me and the one I plan to buy from later. He is only a 3-4 hour drive from me so the shipping cost wont be as high. Currently can not afford any of his leos though, have to wait untill after I get surgery and pay that off along with the other treatments for my cancer.

thank yall, ill think about the breeding more and decide if i really want to risk it, plus i can also contact the breeder and get the exact genetics from him, taken with a huge grain of salt at that, and decide then if i really want to attempt it. thank you again. I will still buy the female though, even if i dont breed her, she will be a lovely "display" to love.

Thats a 20+ year commitment for 20ish babies, you can honestly say you can make that kind of commitment, not sell any of them and guarantee they'll never be bred? Thats one heck of a commitment...and a little difficult to fathom honestly. I breed competition show rabbits and know how difficult it is finding places for all the babies that don't make show grade, but thankfully there are outlets such as chool buyers at shows, friends with hungry snakes, and in a bind pet shops, but I prefer not to go that route because much like leo buyers, many people don't know how to properly care for rabbits and they end up dead after a year.

In my opinion, if you can make the commitment to have a child, a gecko or 20+ is not much different, they require "less" care. But like i said, i may very well rethink breeding the trempers. I guess it all depends on how my treatments go, and i might just very well get two giant trempers from ron. and sorry about comparing it to children, as a mother i cant belive how many people decide to have children then abort, put up for adoption, or miss treat them because they decide there really not ready for that commitment. With "pets" in my opinion, its the same thing, if you decide to buy or even breed your pets, understand how big of a commitment it is before hand, and make sure your 100% ready for what it will call for, from food expenses, to medical bills, housing, vitamins, ect. perfect example, before i had to sell my veiled chameleon, she was costing me 100$ a month just in food. i took on that responibility, but my father decided when i had to move back home, that he didnt want me owning a lizard that ate that much.

Then imagine how he'd feel with 20+ mouths to feed sorry that your going thru some health issues, that's something else to think about, what happens of youre incapacitated for a time and unable to care for your animals or god forbid your illness takes you away and your family is left to deal with your collection.. Theres a lot of what ifs in your world at the moment, I'm glad youre taking your time and thinking things thru properly. Thats a sign of a responsible potential future breeder.

Thank you, and the risks of being incapacitated, like i will be for a few months come jan-feb, is a huge reason i said i wouldnt even attempt breeding at all till 2014. Also the reason i said it all depends on how my treatments go. because if it is past first stage, my life expentancy for the next 5 years greatly reduces the further progressed it is. But if its still first stage, then the surgery i will be getting will remove it, just have to keep up with yearly checkups to make sure it doesnt come back. I have bred corn snakes before, but my ex husband killed all the eggs because he decided to pick them up and rotate them, basically playing with them. that made me and the guy who had loaned the male to me, very mad. But i do still plan to buy the female, even just as a pet and never breeding her, like i said, i love the trempers, and i love the larger ones even more. so when i have the funds and am ready, no more health issues, ill get some ones from ron to actually breed.

Good girl I hope all goes well with your treatments, never give up. I hear great things about cancer treatment center of america, my father in law went there for his prostate treatment. Real cutting edge stuff so don't let the statistics scare you, miracles happen all the time. sending good vibes all goes well.

i will be going to MD. Andersons, my mother worked there for 13 years, and the OB Cancer doctor is a friend of hers. Plus my mother went there to have all her Melenoma removed, was 3rd stage, now she is cancer free for 10 years. Also i had first stage melenoma before but it was completly removed when they found it. This is scarier now then that was because now i have my daughter and pets i worry about leaving behind. where before i didnt have either