Kingsnake.com Ron Tremper Leopard Geckos March 2, 2007 PHFaust: On behalf of Jeff Barringer and all of us at kingsnake.com, I'm very pleased to welcome Ron Tremper to our Ninth Annual Chat Week. PHFaust: Ron Tremper brings to our chatroom his 50 years of experience as private hobbyist, zoo professional and commercial breeder having pioneered the establishment of bearded dragons, argentine horned frogs, veiled and panther chameleons for the hobbyist community and pet trade. He is recognized worldwide as the leading authority on leopard gecko genetics and creation of new morphs PHFaust: Thank you so much for joining us, Ron, and welcome! MorphMaster: Thx for having me here davidtobler_nr: Hey Ron! I'm located here in Fresno. I'm curious as to what role you played in the construction of the Chaffee Zoo's reptile house displays? I have been a volunteer there, so I've seen the plumbing!! MorphMaster: I desinged the entire Fresno Herp House myself in 1978 and was the zoos first curator of reptiles davidtobler_nr: I wasn't sure of the details, thanks. MorphMaster: All the displays allowed us to show many types of herps and breed many species. dragomlover: I own a Tremper Albino that was given to me by a friend who bought it from you bascially the little old leo gecko is about 10 years old now. Do you think he would look any different from the new albinos you have been producing since he was made? MorphMaster: The albino morphs have incresed in color and pattern since their debut in 1999.......many changes to come still. NewVisionDragonZ: I have two female Hybino Het Raptors and they're not eating very much at all. There temps are between 80-88 depending on the day they get a good amount of light in there cage every day but when I feed them worms the next day I still see them in there bowl. Any suggestions or changes that I can do to get them eating properly? I also heard that they don't like any light at all. MorphMaster: When albinos are young they don't like the light, but as they get to 10 mos or so they do fine and are active during the day...... MorphMaster: As for the feeding, check temps where they spend most of their down time and make sure it is 86-90F all the time there.... under tank heating is best....... MorphMaster: Try crickets as a change or other live insects....sometimes one gecko (even a female) is causing stress in the others some try to house a weaker gecko alone and assist feed to jumpstart their metabolism and feeding response. NewVisionDragonZ: Ron, in your years of expeirience do temperatures affect breeding, I house my male and 2 females together and since I lowered the temps they haven't bred at all, just wondering if you have noted this behavior at all. O7h yea and what is your prefered feeder? Thank you MorphMaster: housing temps...It's best not to chill females during their first year of growth as this interupts their needed growth and often puts them into their first breeding cycle at too low a body weight. MorphMaster: Temps.... gang_nr: they are both 2-2.5 years old - the females that is. MorphMaster: ...after cool temps you will not get goo eating patterns or breeding cycles until you raise the temp to 85-90f. gang_nr: Well they are eating pretty much normal amounts. I was just curious about the cycleing effecting their breeding, when being housed together. MorphMaster: feeder insects....... I have only used normal pet mealworms for 30 years......... MorphMaster: It's what you feed your insects and the type of vit/min powder provided that make good geckos. loconorc: I have a big male leo (10 inches, his name's moose :p) And I found what I think are seminal plugs in his cage. Do leos do this and does this mean anything? My females cage is right above his so will her smell or anything get him excited? By the way, how is your Moose? MorphMaster: My moose is fine........and sitting at 152 grams right now with some ladies for the 2007 season........ loconorc: Is he still world record? loconorc: Mines not even close, but still a big un MorphMaster: Yes, hemipenal plugs to form in leos and most males can invert their organ and remove these themselves...... loconorc: His pores are HUGE right now, does that mean anything? I dont plan on breeding them, btw. MorphMaster: But some males have problems and this can cause infertile eggs or prolapsed hemipenes........ MorphMaster: scents..... loconorc: Will it affect his behavivor? He is a rescue and was very shy and now is very curious and friendly. I dont want any breeding activity to make him aggresive. MorphMaster: Yes, geckos right near a male can give off phermones that could attract a males interest...but most often the presence of a male in a females cage will cause cycling if they are together for more than 5 days. loconorc: I'm not sure if leos do that though like some lizards - he's just a pet, so I want my little buddies to stay nice. loconorc: ok thanks ron MorphMaster: your welcome KMS: How many leos do you produce in a year and how many mealworms in a week do you feed? MorphMaster: I produce around 6-8,000 geckos per year and use 130,000 insects per week......... GA paulnj: I am interested in breeding 2 of my adult females but they are not interested . How do I get them interested in males? The temps are right and my males are ready but the females are standoffish. MorphMaster: Try your females with the male once a week for one hour. paulnj: ok MorphMaster: It maybe that they are still a bit young or not up to 45+ grmas yet. Herphaven1: Ron, I was curious if we can expect any giant mutations of the diablo blanco anytime soon? MorphMaster: Yes. I am working on that right now. davidtobler_nr: I have to know, how did you and Bob H. first start finding zonata around here? I doubt there was much information available. I currently herp the very areas you guy's orginal found. Also, you wouldn't by any chance still have old field photos of the black bellied aberrant kings from this area? MorphMaster: Ah yes, my days in the sierra nevada. davidtobler_nr: bringing you back a few years here MorphMaster: My family had a cabin at Shaver lake and I started finding zonata in 1968.....always near water, good sunlight above 4500 ft, and rock on rock habitat. davidtobler_nr: Do you regret sending Hubbs to your spots? MorphMaster: I still have many of the blk bellied aberrant slides stored away........and they still are all around the San Joaquin river in the Valley. Eublepharids: What do you think of the enigmas and mack snows and do you plan on adding them to your projects? MorphMaster: I have been using the mack snow genes for 2 years here towards some projects I am testing. Eublepharids: cool cool MorphMaster: I have some geckos that resemble the enigma line hatching this year........strange eye color and body pigments...... the snow is a proven morph. As for the enigs.....I think they could be a hot item but their genetics need to be tested and relieved through 2-4 years of more breedings........ nice geckos for sure. gang_nr: Do leos need to eat their sheds, or do they do it if they are lacking nutriants? MorphMaster: No one has really studied this...... some reseachers feel that to leave skins in a geckos habitat attracts predators. There is no nutritonal value to speak of. MorphMaster: Someone should do a study to see if geckos that are not given their sheds to eat do any worse than ones that eat their shed. yankneck_nr: How far do you see the raptor line going will it stop with red eyes or is more coming? Also I have a six month old pastel that acts normal but dont grow is 19 grams and holding have you seen this? MorphMaster: raptor futures....... The raptor can be brought to a little higher standard by making them patternless and with 100% carrot tails.......BUT, you need to know that the raptor has the genes that unlocks several new morphs......... what I call hidden genes that surface when certain pairings occur......so the raptor will be an important foundation morph for several more years........ MorphMaster: Dwarfs........while all of are trying to produce size and color or marketable traits........there is also the chance to unlock unwanted genes.....just as we have found genetic giants there are also the mininature traits.........some of these are expressing themselves in recent years and so we must always try to improve the lines and set a good standard. yankneck_nr: thx buckeyeherp_nr: I have a pair of double het tremper / rainwater and although they eat drink and act normally, @ 4 months they're <15 grams. Why while my other babies grow do these guys stay one size? Also on your article on color and incubation correlation how can your get a very brightly colored female albino? MorphMaster: size...as I said above........some combinations make for weak young......it can be genetic or it can be nutitrional........r: buckeyeherp_nr: Their sibs are doing fine though, and on the same diet. MorphMaster: Please read on my website the section on the affects of temp on color and there are suggestions on how to easily get pretty female albinos via incubation. WindyO: what are the effects oo temps during incubation on non albino tangs - same rules apply? MorphMaster: The lower the incubation temp the more concentrated the color pigments become. KelliH: Hi Ron... I was wondering if you could clear something up about how the Raptor trait works... There is some confusion about that... Is it recessive, incomplete dominant, or is it, as some have speculated, the combination of breeding two aptors to each other? Thanks! MorphMaster: The raptor is the result of a combination of genes......one for eye color and one for pattern basically........ it is not the combination of breeding two raptors together...... MorphMaster: When you breed a pure raptor to any other gecko that does not have raptor genes you do not get intermediates but they do not clearly follow the definition of a recessive trait either........... at this time I am leaning towards a case of incomplete dominance, but I must tell eveyone that through some of my other test projects I am getting results that don't fit any known genetic definition......... so we all need to work on these traits and not rush to define them by only one gecko or only 1-2 years of test breedings.......... lots to learn....... davidtobler_nr: Ron could you describe your setup at the building near 99, where you first started breeding leopard geckos? What other herps were you breeding at that time? MorphMaster: I was born and lived in Fresno, CA for 41 years......my place near hwy 99 albino housed the first beardeds brought in from the Frankfurt zoo in 1985.......(Bob M of sandfire bought some of the babes then).......... MorphMaster: I also started the first natural breeding of Argentine horned frogs in 1981 (wagner bred them two weeks ahead of me with hormones)........ we did thousands of C. ornata out of that site ........... also...... MorphMaster: I brought back the first panther, oustalets and parsons chams from Mad in 1988 to that building........the first veileds in 1990 from Czech Rep......... great years. NewVisionDragonZ: Are there any new morphs that you have been working on that will be popping up in the future that we can exspect from you? MorphMaster: Yes, I have several new gems to unleash over the next 1-3 years that are in varoius stages of improvement and testing............ you know about the Diablo Blanco which will be sold for the first time in May of this year.......it will be a nice beast and one that folks can run with to make others............ MorphMaster: I also have a new albino.......but please do not ask for pics and prices....... I hate to tell of such things because I don't want to get everyone crazy, but there are nice things to come and I like to test them for 3 years before release........ and I have one other. yankneck_nr: We were at show in Atlanta at the time we were only breeding snakes and bearded, I did not know anything about geckos but saw one that a breeder was selling it looked like a snow but had areaqs of colors that looked liked different colors of cotton candy the most distinctinve being a pastel pink. He called it a fantasy gecko? I have looked for it ever since and have not found one. Other breeders have said they have heard there is something out there but, they are not for sale yet? MorphMaster: I have not heard of this fastasy......and I do hear of all new things.......many folks are so anxious to have found something new that they don't even know what they have and that it's often just a nice albino at 2-4 months of age that will turn into something very normal. paulnj: I have a 7 month old male who I got 7 weeks ago that refuses to eat more than 2 mealworms a week. He's in the same rack as my other leos housed alone. I tried crix, mealworms, supers, waxworms, any suggestions? MorphMaster: House him alone, have his stool looked at for parasites......and try assist feeding......actually place a freshly killed mealworm in this mouth each day until he starts up feeding........there are diseases out there, but stress is often the biggest cause of non feeding...that and low temps. PHFaust: On behalf of Kingsnake.com, Jeff B, and myself, I want to take a moment to thank Ron Tremper for being part of our chat week. Ron, thanks for taking the time out to chat with us on Leopard Geckos. loconorc: bye ron! thanks! I'm getting your book at the next show! PHFaust: Thank you so much Ron! MorphMaster: thanks eveyone for your interest in leos...... I promise you that there will be many more great mutations coming.....anyone can do it !! |
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