Crested genes

[Go Go Geckos]

I have always wondered which side most of the genes come from when a Crested lays eggs and they hatch. Do they split half male half female or does the male have more effect on what comes out of the egg?

[lauraleellbp]

Babies in general display a mix of the traits from those geckos in their lineage; parents, grandparents, etc.

Not many (if any?) traits are cut and dry with crested genetic inheritance.

[Xuniet]

I love that about crested geckos...

[Brian(:]

Babies in general display a mix of the traits from those geckos in their lineage; parents, grandparents, etc.

Not many (if any?) traits are cut and dry with crested genetic inheritance.

As Laura said. It's kinda up in the air. You can expect your hatchlings to mostly represent the Sire and Dam but once in a while you get one that throws you completely off.

[Cohazard]

I'll admit I was a bit disappointed when I first read that crested gecko breeding isn't as simple as breeding two fantastic animals then having stellar babies.

But then I realized that it comes down to a numbers game.

Sexual reproduction entails the combination of half the male's genes, and half the females. When you have an animal such as a crested gecko which only lays two eggs at a time, that's a frustratingly low sample of what the 'possible' genetic combinations could look like from that pair.

Compare that to breeding cichlids. They lay hundreds of eggs in each spawn, and if you could save every fish from that spawn, you will see natural variation within the group, with some offspring turning out with all the best characteristics from both parents, and some who inherit all of the ugly genes

My take away is that there may be a bit of treasure hunting involved when breeding crested geckos. You'll have to let a pair produce a fair amount of clutches to get a clearer picture of what they are capable of producing together.

[TigerTech]

I guess this might be slightly off the main topic, but how much does inbreeding play in crested genetics? I come from a veterinary background with mammals where even slight inbreeding can cause some major defects in the line. Does this need to be monitored as closely as with mammals? I'm starting my collection young so I have enough time to learn as much as I can before breeding. I've had basic herpetology courses, but none of them went this far in depth with breeding and genetics.

[ShadowKorin]

I guess this might be slightly off the main topic, but how much does inbreeding play in crested genetics? I come from a veterinary background with mammals where even slight inbreeding can cause some major defects in the line. Does this need to be monitored as closely as with mammals? I'm starting my collection young so I have enough time to learn as much as I can before breeding. I've had basic herpetology courses, but none of them went this far in depth with breeding and genetics.

You should definitely try to do some searches on the forum about inbreeding. It's a major debate among gecko keepers and has been thoroughly discussed multiple times here on Pangea.

[Brian(:]

I guess this might be slightly off the main topic, but how much does inbreeding play in crested genetics? I come from a veterinary background with mammals where even slight inbreeding can cause some major defects in the line. Does this need to be monitored as closely as with mammals? I'm starting my collection young so I have enough time to learn as much as I can before breeding. I've had basic herpetology courses, but none of them went this far in depth with breeding and genetics.

From what I've scoured around here on the forums, hatchlings can be bred back to the parent with no obvious effects, but good care must be met to introduce "new blood" into your breeding lines.