Hot Off the Press!

I got my business name registered, and have been placing ads on kingsnake.com! I am a little disappointed that flocks of people didn't immediately come begging for my grandchildren, but I didn't realistically expect that. The number of people who are willing to pay more for outcrossed, socialized geckos is small. I reckon most folks looking for eye-catching leos as pets don't look online too often either. Also, breeders of leos generally have a few babies they keep from the previous season ('hold backs'), then buy a few new breeders, breed them for one season, and then sell them off (rinse and repeat). I don't want to sell my geckos into that kind of life.

Plus, I am dealing with a lesser-known morph that has never really been much of a fad. When most folks think 'snow,' they think of the Mack snow (likely the same as the Gem snow), which is easier to incorporate into breeding projects, since it's a genetic trait similar to albino, patternless, blizzard etc. (with the Mack gene being a matter of incomplete dominance, and those last three being classic Mendelian). Some folks know about the Urban Gecko's strain of snow (a third kind of snow), which I gather is another genetic trait. Anyways- it's just a bummer for me that so few others are interested in selectively-bred snows (much less obsessed like I am- I've never heard of anyone else that works only with them).

I guess I could advertise more, but it's just not my style. I could lower my prices, but the whole point of having prices at all is to try and make sure that their forever home is a good one. I definitely won't ever come near to making a profit, or even care much about the money aspect. I've learned in my work with animals (it's sad but true) that someone is slightly more likely to take care of a fancy cat they paid a jillion dollars for than your average kitty (for example). That's why I only breed my fancy guys, since all leopard geckos are beautiful and personable. I suppose it doesn't matter too much if no one ever buys a gecko from me- that's why I never breed more than I can keep myself, if need be. And who wouldn't want to hold on to these guys?

Either way, it is neat to have my own website- just the idea that someone might visit it and learn a good tip or smile at a story makes it worth it.

In colony news, Penguin laid yet another clutch on the paper towel over the heating pad, but I think I caught them early enough to rehydrate them! I'm also thinking about breeding Gamble. She's from Evergreen Reptiles, and I'd like to shake things up with as many bloodlines as possible. I'm also tempted to breed Terri or Alaska (as they're not going anywhere until someone buys them), since those two have grown so nice and fat recently. I think I'll hold off, we'll see how my other girls do. If I'm sure there will be room, we'll see... Maybe bring old Rasputin into the picture. We shall see... nyesss, exxxxcellent Smithers...

There have been a few, wee kinks in my scheme. Firstly, Nimbus laid slugs (unfertile eggs), and Pablo hasn't laid at all. So I guess I'll have to keep working on that.

Also, my kingsnake ads got pulled, since I hadn't registered Muftin Geckos as my Assumed Business Name. I thought I had done enough research (in terms of how I didn't have to register or pay taxes as a business), but I guess I missed part of it. So right now I'm waiting for my registration to finish processing, so I can post my ads again. Ah well, live and learn, eh?

I just posted my first kingsnake ad! I'm excited, but very nervous.

In other news, the girls have started laying! I finally convinced Caiman to put the moves on Nimbus. (I had to put Adonis in a clear box and stick him in the tank with them- poor Adonis! He was a good sport about it.) Veruca and Penguin have laid their first clutches (fertile). Pablo, Slinky, and Nimbus are very obviously gravid. So exciting! In about three months, it will be nursery time!

I did it! All 5 geckos are ready to go, and the website is fully updated. I just started the registration process for a classifieds account on kingsnake, so soon I will be posting in the leopard gecko section. Eeee! I'm so excited and nervous!

Well, the 2008 breeding cycle is underway here at Muftin Geckos. I'm pretty psyched- I got Penguin to mate with Adonis! I never thought it would happen, she'd given me such grief in the past- I guess I just got the timing right for her this time around. I've also gotten Adonis to mate with Pablo (hurray!). On the bummer side of things, I can't get Caiman to participate. I'm trying to get him to mate with Nimbus (who's so gorgeous!), and it's definitely him that's the issue. I've tried rubbing Rasputin's markings on a paper towel and putting it in with Caiman to get his dander up, and it seems to be having some effect. We'll see how it goes. If all else fails, I may even attempt to fall back on ol'Rasputin himself!

This also means that the time has come to get my grand-bebes' pictures all taken and the website all current, so they can find their forever homes. Then I'm planning on advertising on Kingsnake. I'm pretty nervous, never actually 'advertised' before.

In terms of my other adventures, I've had some tough luck lately. I didn't get admitted to vet school, and it seems that they will no longer schedule meetings to discuss strategies with applicants anymore (I'll try again later- don't want to irritate them). I'll never give up- I'll be applying next year. In the mean time, I'll just keep on keepin' on. My biochemistry course is quite difficult (yowza!), especially since it's taught so heavily from a chemistry (versus biology) standpoint. It didn't help that I literally had a rock (yes, a rock) fly under my eyelid on the way in to take the second midterm. (I'm still glad my prof believed me and let me go to Urgent Care before coming back to take the midterm.)

I have been taking forever getting new photos taken, midterms keep interfering with my clever plans. I do have Alaska's done, check out her page here. I also think I'm going to take pictures of each gecko next to each parent, I think it would be useful.

One thing I've noticed is that all my guys seem real small. I'd be totally paranoid if I hadn't raised baby geckos to huge sizes before (Caiman, Adonis). Either way, I'm going to raise my next batch of hatchlings in larger quarters from earlier on, and keep a larger portion of it warmer, just in case it might help.

For a long while, things here at Muftin geckos were tough. (Thus the long absence.)

It took a long time for my vet and I to figure out what had happened to Trox. We were still stumped when her sister Penguin became ill (the only other female gecko that was currently breeding). I immediately ran her over to the vet. She had a blocked bowel, from having ingested her laying medium! Dr. Burgess was able to successfully get her unblocked and back on her feet, and none too soon. Through Penguin's illness, Trox's death was explained. The pathology on Trox had indicated that she had been overwhelmed by a bacterial infection, one which resembled bacteria from the bowel. Though she had not had an impaction, it made perfect sense that the perlite medium, when ingested, would have irritated her bowel sufficiently to cause infection, as well as to effect her appetite, making her more susceptible to the bacteria.

The lesson there is plain and two-fold. Firstly, I was not feeding her adequate levels of calcium, which led her to instinctively ingest some substrate, as leopard geckos do in the wild. I had thought that removing particulate substrate from the main body of the tank was enough, but I turned out to be wrong. All of my tanks have now been converted to having exclusively sponge as a humid hide/egg-laying medium. Secondly, Trox's diet was not balanced enough for egg production. In the future, all of my egg-laying females will receive a diet that is more skewed in favor of calcium than that which Trox was given.

I tried my hardest to nurture Trox's three remaining eggs. When the first one hatched (6/17/07), I was overjoyed. I named her Hope, and set her up in her own 10-gallon. She didn't eat, and died after 6 days. I was incredibly sad, but I wouldn't give up. I told my vet about the situation, and prepared even more for the remaining two eggs. I had supplemental food, more heat in their nursery, and put the two eggs in two different kinds of tubs in their incubator, just to increase the odds. One died in the egg, and the other got half-way out before passing away. Trox was too weak to lay healthy eggs. Given what happened to Spark, her only hatchling from 2006, I can't help but wonder if she wasn't able to have healthy offspring. Either way, I miss her and remember her fondly.

After Penguin had started on the road to recovery, I brought every single one of my geckos to my exotics veterinarian to be examined. I was pleased to hear that they all looked good. Also, all of my juvies (Impi, Owen, Alaska, Terri, and most likely Steve-O) appeared to be female, just as I suspected.

After the tragedy of the season, I decided to put a hold on breeding for the time being, and set my sights on getting ready to apply to veterinary school. Last year, my application wasn't considered, as one of my transcripts got lost in the mail. So I was triple-ready this year to make sure nothing like that happened again. Also, the Oregon State University's College of Veterinary Medicine had just added quite a few new prerequisites to their admissions process, so I've been working like crazy on taking classes, when I had thought I was all done. Ah well- you do what you have to do. I won't know whether I'm being considered for an interview until February, but hopefully I'll be selected for the entering class in Fall '08. Wish me luck!

In other news, I briefly had a third job working for the traveling exhibit, Body Worlds 3 (I also work for a low-cost, mobile veterinary service, 'Luv My Pet,' and at Arbor Pet Clinic, a full-service clinic). I was just doing basic data entry, but it was fun. My favorite plastinate was the baby camel! I loved seeing the rumen on the adult camel! I could go on and on about that- I definitely recommend any of Gunther von Hagen's Body Worlds exhibits to anyone.

As a treat for myself, I went to the Burning Man arts festival this year, at Black Rock City, Nevada. It was great fun! Also, I just re-vamped my entire leopard gecko setup, and it's looking fabulous. Now, if only I could get ahold of larger quantities of large silkworms more frequently. I'm contemplating trying to add earthworms into their diet (never buy from bait stores or collect from areas that use fertilizers or insecticides), as they have a great Ca/P balance. I suppose that's all for now, bear with me while I work on updating the site.