My biggest regret when I used to breed leopard geckos was letting go of a baby leopard gecko from two high yellow leopard geckos male was nearly 9 1/2 in and female 9 inches. The baby when hatched was at least 4 inches long a lot bigger that its clutch mate ( I had to buy another cage because he was so large compared to the other.) I nicknamed him BFC (big fat and chubby for good reason) when I sold him at 3 months old he was about the size of my 5 month old baby. Since I sold it to a friend of a good friend of mine I got told a year later it was 11 or more inches and around 130 grams. They it was around 11 and a half but I find that hard to believe. So was this what you'd call a giant? Both parents were from a pet store but the pet store claims they've never had any giant leos. Can you get random giants? I wish kept this baby now and bred it to another big leo. Kirsten
Yes, it is possible to have two normal sized parents and get a giant hatchling. This happened to me once - I purchase the leo in my sig at the end of a breeding season and the owner said she might still lay one clutch... and she did! The father was a bold jungle (normal in size) and she is a rainwater (normal in size), little did I know... the little hatchling was 90 grams by the time I sold him at a little over a year old! The Giant gene is a hetero gene and in which case both parents could have had it and then combined in the last little hatchling of a long breeding season both genes came together and gave me a giant Unfortunately even if you bred him again you would not have gotten any giant hatchlings unless the leo you bred him to was a proven het for giant or she was a giant or super giant herself.
Also there is a giant morph in leopard geckos. This gene can be breed into any color combination. Your two adults may look like just high yellows, but because breeding they could have that gene that produces giant morphs. Try breeding the pair again and see if this wonderful phenomenon occurs again.
Actually, I [don't quote me on this] would assume it's random. If two short people have a baby, who grows up to be tall, then that doesn't necessarily mean that every child they have is going to be tall as an adult. Lolz, they're a breeder, I'd assume they're aware of the giant/super giant morphs already. ;]
http://designergeckos.com/giants Giant geckos can yield normal offspring but those offspring still have the giant gene in their DNA structure.
I'm aware. ^3^ But it's also possible for two leos without any giant genes at all to produce a leopard gecko to be considered "Giant". :]
Let's do some genetics = ) The Tremper Giant gene is a co-dominant trait; which means a mutant allele is paired with a normal allele on the same gene to cause the animal to have a particular phenotype that is different from both the normal and the homozygous forms of the gene. So there is a decent possibility that offspring from a 'Giant' parent may NOT have the genes to be giants. There's a possibility that it will passed on, but depending on what the animal is bred to they may not in a percentage of the offspring. Here's how co-dominant traits work: There is the homozygous (often referred to in our hobby as the "super" form) of a particular phenotype/trait/mutation. The homozygous individual in this case would be the Super Giant, the heterozygous individual is visibly different that the normal - making it a Giant, and then you can have the Normal individual from alleles on the same gene Unless you have a Super giant, there is a chance that that the alleles will match up to produce Normal individuals who lack the Giant allele all-together. They will never get it back, its gone. I'll do a brief rundown: Lets make a co-dominant Giant individual have the following representation: Gg The Super Giant, homozygous form will be : GG The Normal individual shall be: gg If you cross a Giant [Gg] with a normal [gg] (using basic Punnet principles) we get the following outcome: 50% Gg , 50% gg . So you will end up with 50% of the offspring who do NOT carry any form of the giant allele anymore. Any offspring they produce in the future will not be giant unless they are bred to another giant or super giant. Now, Let's cross a Giant [Gg] with another Giant [Gg] You now have a shot at the homozygous trait for the giant gene, the 'Super Giant' [GG] You will produce 25% GG, 50% Gg, and 25% gg. There is still a chance of normal offspring who lack the giant gene alltogehter, but you have a shot at the homozygous super form of the mutation and increase odds at the heterozygous giants. Only when you have a Super Giant, homozygous form of the allele [GG] can you guarantee no normal offspring. All offspring will have the Giant allele. The percentages of how many are super giants vs. giants depends on what it is bred to. *Of course, the Tremper giant gene has been proven genetic as a Co-dominant trait. There is always the possibility of random mutations or non-genetic outcomes that are completely random. Some leos can just get big!* Yay! = )
