This week, Gecko Time interviews Cody Castellanos of ProGeckos.  Cody is not only a gecko breeder, but also sells a variety of useful gecko related products online.

How did you get started in Breeding and how long have you been doing it?

I have always been an animal lover. I kept tropical fish for many years but never really discovered keeping reptiles until 1998. My first reptile was a box turtle. After having her for a year I acquired a pair of adult leopard geckos. The following year I bred them and produced my first babies. After the first babies hatched I was hooked. Even to this day some 10 years after the first hatchling I get excited to see new babies.

What types of projects or products are you planning for the future?

It’s hard for any reptile enthusiast not to want everything out there. I do plan on continuing to improve my current SHTCT leopard gecko project. The past few seasons have yielded some incredible babies. The babies are now adults and are breeding this year. I also added some new bloodlines and the combination of these two is already promising with just a handful of hatchlings.

Within the next year or so I would like to add patternless and whiteout fat tails along with some Diplodactylus species and expand my current collection of Nephrurus. There are a few other projects in the works but they are secret for now.

As for the supplies I do plan on gradually adding more. I’m not the one to go out and buy everything that’s being manufactured just to sell. I stock products that people want, that work and make keeping a reptile easier. With that said we are working on manufacturing a couple of new products that will be made with geckos in mind. I can’t say what they are right now but I’ll make an announcement when they are ready.

Would you consider yourself a small, medium, or large breeder? What size would you like to grow to?

I consider myself a smaller breeder although most people think I’m much larger. I typically produce 100+ offspring per season. We recently finished a new facility with homemade racks and incubators. With the new setup I can house over 330 individual animals. As long as I can handle the maintenance and up-keep of the collection I would like to grow to a medium size breeder in the future.

Another goal I have is having a separate room dedicated to breeding all my own feeders. I currently produce all my mealworms, superworms and roaches along with a small percentage of crickets. It not only helps the feeder bill but I have access to any size feeder and I know where they came from.

What is your favorite morph?

For any reptile I love bright, vibrant colors. My absolute favorite leopard gecko morph is the super hypo tangerine carrot tail. There is just something about a bright orange to red gecko that is so eye catching. My favorite African fat tail gecko morph is a nice striped amelanistic.

How many breeders do you have in your projects and what types of morphs do you produce?

I have about 50 breeders and that’s including all projects. I have scaled back my leopard gecko morphs to just super hypo tangerine carrot tails. The fat tails include banded, stripe, banded amelanistic and striped amelanistic.

What animals do you enjoy breeding the most?

That’s a tough choice. Leopard geckos were my first breeding project so there is always a special place for them. In recent years though, I would have to say the African fat tail. They are a little more challenging to breed and not as prolific as leopard geckos but they have incredible personalities at any age. With all the new color morphs hitting the market right now there are endless possibilities.

What type of problems or challenges have you faced in starting breeding?

The biggest problem I’ve had is maintaining constant temperatures. My old racks had light dimmer switches to control the heat tape which works great as long as the room temps stay consistent. The area I live in can have highs below freezing in winter and triple digit heat in the summer. This makes the room have a wide range of temps. My new racks now have proportional thermostats that automatically adjust the heat even when the room temperatures change.

Temperatures are very critical so having a space heater, central heating and air conditioning or a portable a/c unit to help maintain a room is a real must.

Are you affiliated with any groups, organizations, clubs, or forums? If so which ones?

I’m a member and participate as much as possible on Gecko Forums, Reptile Culture and Geckos Unlimited. Time is usually not in my favor but I try to post as much as possible. I also have a YouTube channel and Facebook.

Do you offer any other services or supplies other than live animals?

Besides the animals and supplies I’m one of the few breeders that is also a graphic / web designer. I designed everything for Pro Geckos from the website to the business cards. I also offer high quality printing at affordable prices.

How did you get into selling reptile supplies?

I got into selling supplies very unintentionally. My very first product was Pro Gutload which is for feeder insects. Things were picking up and I had customers buying the gutload wanting other supplies in the same order. It makes sense getting as much as you can from one source, right? This is what I thought so I figured out what I could get that people wanted. I gradually started adding new products and have been doing so up to this day. One thing that was essential was to provide a good way to present and sell the products. I upgraded from a Paypal shopping cart to a more professional cart that I’m using now.

Getting started in supplies is pretty straightforward. The biggest thing you need is money as it can be a very heavy investment. A lot of people don’t realize how much up front money is needed. The majority of the manufactures or distributors have minimum orders that can be anywhere from $250 to $3000 per order.

We interview breeders about every other month and are always looking for people interested in being interviewed.  If you would like to take part in this interview series please contact Cory at CSM Gecko.  You can contact Cory through his website www.csmgecko.com or email csmgecko@gmail.com.

Ohio Gecko is a family business run by Thad Unkefer and his two sons Dylan, age 13, and Derek, age 11. Ohio Gecko started in 2006 when Dylan was given a Murphy Patternless and then Thad bought a couple of Mack Snow Hypo leopard geckos from JMG Reptiles. Everything snowballed for them, and their goal is to produce quality geckos while giving the boys good real life business experience.

Where do you see Ohio Gecko headed in the future involving your projects?

We don’t have a goal of where we want to be in 5 years, but we want to keep it fun, make a profit, and produce high quality geckos. As far as our projects are headed, we have African Fat Tails, Leopard Geckos, and this year we added Viper Geckos and Nephrurus Amyae Geckos.

In our AFT projects we are working with Super Zero White Outs, Granites, and Stingers.

In our Leo projects we are working with RADARs, Red Stripes, and some greens and lavenders, and producing some really nice Sunglows, SHTCTB, Giants, Reverse Stripes, and Mack Snows. 

Do you think you have a particular niche in this market?

We do a lot of shows and have produced quality geckos. Because of that we get a lot of repeat business and referrals.  Dylan and Derek do a good job at the shows and most people like to talk to them to find out what they know. There aren’t very many shows that we have seen that have had a 13 and 11 year old running the booth by themselves.

We also offer full genetic backgrounds on the geckos we produce. This includes the parents, grandparents, and great grandparents and their genetics.  While at shows we offer humid hides and full habitats for geckos.

Would you consider yourself a small, medium, or large breeder? What size would you like to grow to?

 We consider ourselves to be a medium size breeder with over 350 geckos and currently adding more. We converted a 10’x12’ room in our basement into our main gecko room that can hold over 400 geckos.

We also use another part of our basement for quarantined geckos and bug breeding.  We breed our own mealworms, superworms, and dubia roaches to cut down on feeder costs.

What reptiles do you enjoy breeding the most? And what is your favorite morph?

We’re not sure which gecko we enjoy the most. The Viper Geckos are cool because they are new and the N. amyae are exciting because we have not laid any eggs yet.
As for our favorite morphs: Thad and Derek really like Super Zero White Out African Fat Tails while Dylan likes the White Out African Fat Tail.

 What type of problems or challenges have you faced in starting to breed reptiles?

Our original problem was getting good info.  There are so many conflicting articles on the web and it was hard to distinguish between the good and bad info.  We really dove into www.geckoforums.net at first as there is a wealth of knowledge and information on that site.

Are you affiliated with any groups, organizations, clubs, or forums? Do you attend any reptile shows?  If so, which ones?

We are part of several forums under the name ohiogecko.  The main forum we use daily is www.geckoforums.net. We attend the Taylor, MI, Columbus and Cleveland, OH shows every month. We also attend the Mars, PA show bi-monthly.

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Big Thanks to Ohio Gecko!

Thanks Thad, Dylan, and Derek for taking time to tell all of us about what you are doing at Ohio Gecko.  You can check the guys at Ohio Gecko out on their website http://www.ohiogecko.com. 

The Next Interview.. Could be you!

Our next Interview is yet to be determined.  And as always if you would like to take part in this interview series please contact Cory at CSM Gecko.  You can contact Cory through his website www.csmgecko.com or email csmgecko@gmail.com.

Gecko Time had an opportunity to speak with Kelli Hammack, owner of H.I.S.S. and GeckoForums.net, and multi-species breeder. 

Tell us a little about the scope of your gecko breeding projects.

My focus has been on my leopard geckos for the past few years. I work with several variations of Bold Stripes, Bell Albinos, Rainwater Albinos, Tangerines, Snows and more.

Some of my past successful gecko breeding projects have included a variety of species of Rhacodactylus, Uroplatus, Nephrurus and several others. I currently work with a small colony of fat tail geckos, and hope to produce Patternless and Hets, White-Out Het Patternless, and some nice Amels in 2010. Almost all of my fat tails were produced by Pat Kline at Luxurious Leopards, so all credit for their beauty goes to him! I am also currently working with Uroplatus henkeli (Frilled Leaf Tail Geckos) and Aeluroscalabotes felinus (Cat Geckos), both of which I hope successfully reproduce this year. I am slowly beginning to build up my “non leopard gecko” collection again and I am feeling great about that!

Patternless Fattail Gecko

On a side note I also keep two groups of Xenagama lizards, X. taylori and X. batillifera, which are fascinating little lizards that are about the size of a medium sized Nephrurus gecko, but have care requirements similar to a bearded dragon. I still have no fertile eggs on the ground but I have high hopes for this year. These little guys are fantastic pets and are rarely seen as captive bred hatchlings in the hobby.

You have been involved in the early stages of breeding several new morphs of leopard gecko such as bell albinos, bold stripe, the enigma. What have your experiences been working with these morphs when they were new?

Well, let’s start with my favorite, the Bell Albino. This was a brand new morph back in the early 2000’s and when I set eyes on my first Bell it was gecko love at first sight! The original animals were heavily spotted with bold, maroon colored markings on a paler background. Another thing that I found so striking about them was the reddish-pink eyes, which was quite different from the grayish colored eyes of my Rainwater Albinos (at that time the only albino line I worked with).

World's First Bell Blazing Leopard Gecko

I immediately thought of the potential these Bells had, and what the future could bring. I crossed them into my SHTCT line and my Bold Stripes right away to begin the process of creating new morphs of leopard geckos. In 2004 I hatched the world’s first Bell Hybino , and the next year hatched the first Striped Bell. It is a fantastic feeling to check the incubator one morning and see those one of a kind geckos that have just hatched!

I continue to work on improving my Bell Albinos by selectively breeding them. I am very happy with the high lavender Striped Bells I produced last year. I also produced some absolutely stunning Striped Bell/Emerine crosses last year which I cannot wait to breed together in 2010. I’ll keep you posted on those! My Bell Hybino project consists of a very small group, however the nicest Hybino I have ever produced came out of that group in ’09. Paul Allen from Bright Albino now owns that animal (a female) and the rest of my Hybino clan are going to live with him for awhile to see what kind of magic he can do over there!

HISS' Best Bell Hybino

“Gecko Forums” has grown tremendously. What were your goals when you started?

I had been thinking about starting a forum-based website that centered on leopard geckos for a couple of years prior to actually taking the big step and just doing it. Prior to GeckoForums, the leopard gecko community was (or so it seemed at the time) much smaller, and while we had our “Leopard Gecko Forum” on a couple of the larger reptile related websites, we really didn’t have a place to call our own. In 2006, I decided to just go for it and well, that’s what I did! With the help of Ryan Roth I started GeckoForums.net.

At the time of its inception, the site was meant to be a place for a small group of people that kept leopard geckos to share their opinions and experiences with each other. I had no expectations of anything more, and the fact that the site has grown so tremendously over the years is fabulous. As with any large, forum-based website, there are some personal drawbacks to running it but the majority of my experiences with it have been positive and I know that the site has been a wonderful resource for leopard gecko lovers worldwide, both new to the hobby and old timers.

Adult female Afghan leopard gecko

Looking at Gecko Forums now, what do you see in the future?

My hope is that GeckoForums can continue to grow as a community, and continue to provide an outlet for keepers all over the globe to share their knowledge and promote their businesses.

What are some of your projects and plans for the future?

As far as leopard gecko projects go, I am quite excited about my Striped Bell/Emerine crosses as I mentioned above. My goal with that particular cross was to increase the lavender color on the Bell Albinos, because the “green” color on the Emerines is actually lavender until the geckos begin to reach subadult sizes, and then it is overtaken by the tangerine color, which is what gives it the green hue. However, I am very pleased with both the large amount of “green” these crosses display, and also the intense orange color most of them possess. I am thinking the offspring from these will be unique and very pretty.

My plans for the future include expanding my “other gecko” collection and also working with some rare lizards that are not bred often in captivity. I recently acquired a group of Green Tree Skinks, Lamprolepis smaragdina for example, and I have high hopes for them. They are lovely and (I feel) under-appreciated in the hobby.

How do your and your husband’s reptiles projects differ from or complement each other?

This question is an easy one! My husband’s projects differ from mine in that he does not keep any reptiles at home anymore. We have one Honduran Milksnake that is my 8 year old son’s pet, and the rest of the animals are mine. Steve works as a keeper at our local zoo and he gets to have lots of cool experiences with herps during work hours. He decided that was enough for him at this time and is taking a break from keeping any reptiles at home. He’ll eventually get back into it though. It’s inevitable!

You have been dealing with geckos for a long time and have seen big changes. What do you see as a future for the gecko market as a whole?

The gecko market has seen its shares of up and down times over the years, and with the added worries about a troubled economy, 2008-2009 were not the best years for selling geckos. However, I feel a major shift and I believe the market is going to pick up in a big way in 2010. I meet so many new people becoming interested in geckos and reptiles in general on GeckoForums and at the reptile shows where I vend, and have personally done quite well at the last few shows I have done, which makes me feel that it’s going to be an awesome season!

Red stripe leopard gecko

How do you go about trying to take vacations with such a vast collection?

Vacation? My “vacations” if you can call them that are when I go work at an out of town show for the weekend! I will say that Steve and I are lucky that we have a 19 year old son who lives in the same city we do and doesn’t mind helping out with our animals when we have to be gone for a couple of days to a show. I must admit a real vacation sounds great right about now (me on a beach in some tropical area of the world with a fruity tasting drink in my hand…) but for now I am quite satisfied with being at home with my family, and my geckos!

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Thank you so much for sharing so much with us. Readers should check out Kelli’s website at www.hisss.net and the Gecko Forums at www.geckoforums.net.

Eric from The Valley Reptile or TVR as he refers to it contacted me through iHerp to let me know what was going on in his neck of the woods. Eric is the owner and operator of TVR which he started back in 2005 with Crested Geckos only. He is located in Northern Alabama in the Tennessee Valley and here is what he had to say about his breeding projects at TVR.

How did you get started in Breeding and how long have you been doing it?

I bought my first pair of Crested Geckos in 2002 after reading an article about them in a reptile magazine. At that time I was looking for a gecko with easy care and something fun for a first time breeding project after talking with a local friend about his Rainbow Boa babies and breeding projects. I spent my first two years just keeping them as pets, learning as much as I could from them and in 2004 I started my first breeding project. After having good success with the Crested Geckos I decided to try other geckos and started keeping Leopards, Pictus or Panther geckos, Gargoyles and a few others.

What types of projects or products are you planning for the future?

The future looks great for TVR. My Crested Gecko projects are already going. I am working with Extreme Harleys and Blonde Harleys now. I also have a Yellow Pinstripe project that I started this year and it has started off better than I expected. I held back a handful of their hatchlings that should make next year very interesting for the project.

I started a Pictus gecko project again this year. Last year I bred normals and since I have a little experience with them now, I decided to try putting some projects together to selectively breed the next few years. I will have Snow and Red projects for the next year and I will then cross some of the offspring to see what comes from that.

With the Leopard Geckos, I am working with Raptors, Enigmas, Snows, Tangerines, and a few others. My biggest project for 2010 will be the Gem Snows, crossing them with Raptors, Trempers, and Enigmas.

I also just picked up a lot of nice additions to these projects and am looking forward to trying other geckos that I have not worked with yet. At the top of my list are N. Milii and R.Leachianus.

Would you consider yourself a small, medium, or large breeder? What size would you like to grow to?

I would consider myself to be a small breeder. I only have one 16’x16’ room dedicated to the geckos. With 80 geckos in my projects including holdbacks from this year the room is big enough but does tend to get a little crowded in the middle of the season with all the eggs hatching. I would like to double that next year and get a small building dedicated to my reptiles. I would like to stay around a medium size breeder range as long as I can keep up with everything.

What reptiles do you enjoy breeding the most? And what is your favorite morph?

Crested Geckos will always be my favorite. They have been my main project since I started keeping them in 2002. With all the colors and patterns out there now, it’s fun to see what comes out of the eggs.

With the Crested Geckos, my favorite morph is the Pinstripes, a nice high contrast Harley or anything with bright orange colors. My favorite Leo morphs are Gem Snows and Raptors; the Enigmas are another good one.”

What type of problems or challenges have you faced in starting to breed reptiles?

I have not had too many problems lately. When I first started I was given bad advice on the Crested Geckos’ diet. I was recommended to use baby food as their main food. After hatching some babies I soon started seeing MBD in some of them and one of my females had a severe calcium crash and nearly died. I switched to the Repashy diet and that took care of all the problems.

I also have a small problem keeping temps right during the summer when it can reach 100 degrees. I had to cover the windows and put in an extra air conditioner to control the heat and that has worked out well for the last few years.

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Do you attend any reptile shows? If so which shows do you attend?

Right now I attend the Dixie Reptile Show 3 or 4 times a year in Birmingham, AL when I have available geckos. I am planning on attending the South Carolina Repticon show next year.

Are you affiliated with any groups, organizations, clubs, or forums? If so, which ones?

I am a member of many of the gecko forums including Pangea, Ciliatus, Repashy, Reptile Culture, Gecko Forums, and iHerp. The Crested Gecko forums really helped me out when I was starting off and would recommend them to anyone just getting into geckos.

Thanks Eric for taking time to tell all of us about what you are doing with The Valley Reptile. You can check Eric and TVR out on his website http://www.thevalleyreptiles.net.

Next Interview is yet to be determined. And as always if you would like to take part in this interview series please contact Cory at CSM Gecko. You can contact Cory through his website www.csmgecko.com or email csmgecko@gmail.com.

Gecko Time had a chance to speak with Paul Allen of Bright Albino.  Paul is a breeder primarily of leopard geckos and shares with us his perspective about managing the size and quality of his collection.

On your website (www.brightalbino.com) you detail your history of becoming a gecko breeder.  Could you summarize this for us here?

Like most breeders, I’ve had an intense interest in reptiles from a young age.  I collected reptiles throughout my childhood and teen years.  Once I got out on my own I began to enlarge my collections.  I tried a few different species until I landed on geckos.  Geckos work well with my space and family constraints (wife says “no snakes”…ha ha).  I’ve always said that I’d breed reptiles no matter what, so it’s been fun making a successful hobby out of my passion.

What other leopard gecko morphs do you produce besides albinos and what other reptiles do you breed in addition to  leopard geckos?

N. wheeleri

This season I’ll be focusing on about 15 Leopard Gecko groups.  Three of these groups will be non-albino morphs:  Dorsal Stripe Tangerines, Redstripes and Halloween Masks.  Outside of Leopard Geckos, I’ve started to have success breeding a few Nephrurus species (Levis, Wheeleri, Milii) which I really enjoy and hope to expand a bit.  I also keep a small group of Cresteds, a pair of Gargoyle geckos, and a pretty neat trio of fat tails.

Are there any special projects you’re planning that you can let us in on?

Well, I would…if I had any!  Since most of my projects are “line bred” I keep pretty open about the genetics.  It’s kind of the “what you see is what you get” approach – of course, “what I see” gets a little better each season (on most occasions), so I don’t mind not having special projects.  On that note, I am very excited about some of the specific breeders we’ve been able to acquire or produce this season.  If all goes as planned we should have some very nice Tangerine Bell Albinos and Redstripe Bell Albinos next season.  Kelli Hammack (www.hisss.net) sent me a Bell Albino (hybino) that blew my mind (pictured below).  Some of our Bright-line Bells are turning out better than expected now that their adult colors are coming in.  I also obtained an amazing Raining Redstripe (Rainwater) Albino from my good friend Albey (www.albeysreptiles.com) to help take our Rainwater projects to the next level.  Our hold back Redstripe Bell Albino male is a special gecko and I would say that a few of our Halloween Masks are very unusual looking geckos.  The Dark projects are coming along well also, but those will take a while for us.  Selective breeding can seem slow, but I’m finding that the payoff is huge if you stick to it.

HISS Bell Hybino

Oh, I guess I do have one leopard gecko this season I’m real excited about that’s kind of special – an eclipse female that’s proven non-het for Tremper…or anything else! (from Jenn Warren at www.phatgeckos.com)  I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with her…but the potential gets me pretty excited.  And something else I’m thrilled to be working with this season will be Albino N. Pilbarensis.  I’ve been wanting to get those at Bright Albino for years and it’s finally happened!

What is your favorite leopard gecko morph, and why?

Bell albinos.  I’ve worked with them for so long and I’ve witnessed such progress through selective breeding.  It’d be really hard for me to narrow down my favorite Bell albino morph!  Based on appearance, my favorite Bell morph is the Bell Dalmatian (Super Snow Bell Enigma Albino) because of the bright red eyes.  I have one male that I just love to look at because his eyes look like they glow.  I think certain Radar crosses will soon be my favorites though.  But for now, if I had to pick a morph I couldn’t live without…it’d be a tie between Halloween Masks and one of our Tangerine Bells.

Redstripe Bell Leopard Gecko

What is your gecko facility like and how do you manage the care responsibilities?

Well, it’s hard to even call it a facility!  I converted a corner of our garage into my gecko room years ago.  Each year I make it a little more like an actual room…but it’s definitely still a corner.  The care responsibilities are a huge concern for me.  For the past few years I’ve been producing more geckos than I could responsibly care for.  I’ve been trying to “cut back” for a long time without much success, but I can finally say that’s changing in 2010.  We’ve drastically reduced our collection for a number of reasons – care being one of the top concerns.  I’m still amazed by the amount of time involved in properly caring for a sizable collection.  I find that if I don’t wake up early in the morning to work in the gecko room then I quickly get behind.  So, to keep things a little more sane we’re focusing on a much smaller collection this season.  At this point in my life I’m only able to spend about one hour a day in the gecko room doing basic feeding and cleaning chores.  Then I take about 4 – 6 hours once a week to do a more thorough cleaning and spend time doing the odd jobs that always seem to come up when working with live animals.

What changes has Bright Albino been going through recently?

Halloween Mask morph Leopard Gecko

Like I said before, we are narrowing our collection in a pretty drastic way. It’s a good thing though! I’ve had to really take a step back and look at the big picture lately. My collection grew so quickly between 2004 – 2007 that before I knew it I was hatching 600-700 geckos in a season. Before having children and a full time job, dealing with that many offspring was feasible for me. But realistically that’s not the case anymore!  I decided a few years ago that I wasn’t going to be an “absent dad & husband” just so that I could enjoy a hobby.  Also, my job as a Youth Pastor keeps me plenty busy…I’m usually out of town for 4 -6 weeks during the summers.  Add to that a household, a busy schedule and life in general…and all of a sudden a hobby I love can become a real burden.  I knew I didn’t want to quit the hobby, but something had to change.  So, we’ve had to give up a lot of projects and geckos that we didn’t plan to.  We’ve chosen to become a small breeder.  With this new mindset I feel a whole new sense of appreciation for the geckos and a much clearer direction. We’re working on going back to our roots, I suppose, as we refocus on producing the brightest albinos we can.  And the extra time with my family (and reduced stress on me!) is priceless.

You talked about reducing your collection.  How did you decide which ones to cut back on and how did you find homes for all the geckos you chose not to keep?

Halloween Mask

Lots and lots of work!  I had to do a lot of soul searching to determine which projects to continue.  I went over the geckos, the genetics and the numbers over and over again until I felt like I was going crazy!  We do this every season, but this year was a lot more intense.  A big key for us was deciding not to do all the crosses we’re used to doing.  It’s really tempting to cross a lot of projects each season because the results could be interesting.  This year we chose to keep our projects “pure” as much as we’re able.  I think the results will show…and I wish I had taken this approach years ago.

Finding homes for the geckos is another story.  Personally, this is the most stressful part of the hobby for me lately – not because of the economy or the market, but simply because I over produced.  Especially two and three years ago when I had 500+ offspring.  I don’t like the feeling that I “have to” sell geckos just to have enough room for next year’s babies or to pay for the food bill.  This is a reality of being a breeder, but I’m finding that a smaller collection is already reducing this stress.  I hope that selling geckos will soon become something I enjoy again.  I really enjoy the interaction with other gecko enthusiasts, especially at shows and making “sales” just isn’t that important to me.  Don’t get me wrong – the extra income is very helpful – but for this to be an enjoyable hobby for me I don’t need to be tied up in sales all the time.

What are your plans for the future?

raining redstripe

I’m probably more excited about breeding geckos than ever before.  With a smaller collection I’m finally able get to know all my geckos.  I also feel that I’m able to give them the consistent TLC they deserve as captive animals.  I didn’t neglect my geckos before, but I was so busy feeding and cleaning that I never got to sit back and really enjoy them the way I’d like.  Also, a smaller collection has allowed me to think more thoroughly about which projects to continue and which pairings could produce the best results.  Basically, I feel like a smarter, happier, and more thoughtful breeder by simply reducing the size of my collection.  But, it was a huge and difficult task for me to do.  I still see geckos and think “wow, I need that gecko”, but then I catch myself and remember what it was like to be one step away from burnout.

My long term goal is to hopefully help create a new trend in the leopard gecko community where certain “lines” and even specific geckos create more of a buzz than the latest genetics do.  Perhaps similar to what you might see with a champion sire AKC dog.   This year we’ve selected only 15 males to carry on our projects.  That’s a huge difference from years past when we had 30 – 45 males to pair with 120 – 150 females.  The number of geckos, projects, and morphs was overwhelming, to say the least.  This year we’re seeing things a lot more clearly and I’m appreciating the full potential of our breeders…not just color and genetics, but things like personality, structure, etc…  I feel that all of this will enable me show off our breeders a bit better and perhaps build a new appreciation for certain lineages.

What advice do you have for people at different stages of their family lives who want to get into gecko breeding?

I’m really passionate about this and my answer could go on and on…so, I’ll just sum it up with a few thoughts.  Of course, each family and situation is different, so I can only base these on my personal successes and failures:

• Be realistic about how many geckos you can handle.  They can multiply really quickly…so think ahead – way, way , way ahead!
• Don’t let geckos take you away from time with your family.
• Don’t go into debt over a hobby.
• Be realistic about the amount of time and energy involved in finding good homes for the geckos you plan to sale.
• Realize that a huge part of being a breeder takes place outside of the gecko room.  Things like email correspondence, website updates, pictures, forums, shipping and shows can take a lot of time and energy.
• Find the geckos and projects that YOU love…not necessarily the ones that are the most popular.  If you envision a certain “look” or trait, take the time to make it a reality (don’t just follow the trends!).  It may take years, but it’s a thrilling process.

Paul Allen at the Daytona Reptile Show

Why did you choose to breed geckos to sell in addition to your python breeding?

I didn’t! When I got my first crested geckos, I worked for Gateway (computers) and never intended on selling them or even going into the reptile business full-time. In fact, it’s actually the crested geckos (and how popular they are) that made me decide to start breeding reptiles for a living. Crested geckos really didn’t show up on my “radar” until I read Allen Repashy’s 2002 Reptiles USA article. I read it about ten times over the course of about a year…just couldn’t get over the fact that you could keep them without crickets and that they thrive at room temperature. The way I saw it, the less I have to spend on food and caging, the more of them I could have. I still wasn’t convinced I needed geckos, but that’s when the idea entered my head. In January of 2003, my friend Gary Quirk (now business partner) showed me some crested geckos at his house, which was when I went over to take pictures. They felt soft like suede and they let you hold them…now I was convinced I needed them! So I came home with two babies. Ironically, I wasn’t all that impressed with them at first…they were brown with little black Dalmatian spots. After a while, though, the spots got bigger and the geckos started changing color. One turned orange and the other red. These geckos were both females. Coupled with another one of Gary’s holdback male Dalmatians, that became the start of our Chips bloodline. That said, before I even had a chance to actually breed those first geckos, I was hooked. When I say hooked, I mean I bought a good 200 geckos over the next two years. Looking back, it’s no wonder my whole family (and almost all of my snake buddies) thought I had gone off the deep end…what are the chances I’d end up being able to breed them for a living?

Which gecko species do you work with and which are most interesting to you this season?

Crested geckos, Gargoyle geckos, can’t forget Chewie – he’s my pet Chahoua (high red mainland – great display), Leopard geckos, Mourning geckos and Tokay geckos. I’ve kept others, but that’s the list for now. We’re currently looking at adding a couple species of day geckos and some of the other Rhacodactylus species, like saras and chahoua. We’ve considered fat-tails too, but decided to wait and see how the market responds to the prices being asked for them. My gut instinct tells me they’re probably going to come down drastically in the next 12-18 months, so we’ve decided to wait it out. I do go through phases where certain species are more interesting to me than others, but we’ve been planning our 2010 pairings, so I’m really excited about everything right now. I could go on for an hour about our crested gecko projects and another hour on our leopard projects…and give me another couple hours to cover all the other stuff. The cresteds and leopards are really shaping up nicely….the cresteds continue to wow me and we’re going into our seventh season now, so that’s gotta say something for them. I’ve gotten jaded over the years, but our numbers have grown so fast that the quality is starting to improve equally as fast…so even when I think I’ve seen it all, something ends up blowing my mind every time I go through babies. On the leopard front, we’re just now getting into the good stuff….probably where we were on crested geckos about three years ago.

2010 will be the second year that we’ll be breeding leopard geckos that we actually produced ourselves. This means production should be much higher for the females we bred the first year and also that our quality will get even better through selective breeding. Like the crested geckos, we also have plenty of new/unique projects in the works. The one I’ve been excited about most lately is crossing our extreme tangerines in to the Mack snows and the Raptors. Like I said, I could spend a few hours going over all the new stuff coming up!

What can you tell us about your new crested gecko projects?

I really could go on for an hour about them all (probably longer), but here are some of the ones that really stand out to me at the moment. Harry Pinstripes– I’m breeding Harry himself to a bunch of girls that came from our black & cream pinstripe groups. The offspring are great…loads of cream, noticeably long crests as they mature. Have no idea why I didn’t think of this before.

Chocolate Pinstripes Doesn’t sound that cool, but just wait till you see them…some of the best looking pinstripes and the most attractive color you’ll ever see…and they’re brown! You know you’re onto something when you take a bunch of brown geckos to a show and people become irritated that I won’t sell them! On top of being total eye candy, these geckos have great structure and crests, but there’s something a little different that I guess you could call a structural trait. Their skin feels very smooth…almost like silk instead of the typical suede feeling.

Red Phantom Pinstripes– this is one of my favorites. They’re a red version of our “phantom” pinstripe and the color quality on them is just amazing. The first couple of red phantoms I produced were a bit mediocre in terms of color intensity (after all, the phantom gene comes from our black & cream pinstripes), so I took the first ones we produced and bred them with solid red geckos produced by my Alpha Red Harlequin group. That did the trick…the results were exactly what I was after and a lot better than I expected in one generation. They’re now about as red as a fire truck and built like one too.

Red Patterned Tigers– like a nice yellow/orange tiger, but with red markings instead of the normal black. This appearance cropped up in the Area 51 colony from breeding a wild caught male Tiger to a bunch of different females. Pretty cool project, but still very early….I think we may have five or so thus far, but I think this one will take off pretty fast when I get them bred into our other stuff. Tangerine Pinstripes…and Tangerine Phantom Pinstripes and Tangerine Phantom Dalmatians! I’m still calling this new because it started with a single unique female and has taken forever compared to projects where we started with a male. I’ve bred her to a half dozen different males over the years to produce a diverse line of her offspring, which we’ve selected for color like mom’s and are now breeding together. This year we finally produced a couple of smoking 3rd generation tangerine males, so this project should start moving along at a more normal pace from here on out. On top of that, the Phantom gene got worked into this line back when I bred Stripes to Pink (that’s the original female), so now we’re also starting to put together groups of Tangerine Phantoms…some of which are also Dalmatians and Super Dalmatians. And by the way, that’s not a typo…it really is spelled “Dalmatian” (not Dalmation). And for those of you who haven’t seen our Tangerines in person and still think they’re just orange, you’re most likely looking at the first generation outcrosses that I put on my website, which we produced in 2006. Those aren’t nearly as intense as the 2nd and 3rd generation tangerines, which are actually closer to a coral-pink color than they are orange. Perhaps tangerine wasn’t the best name? Anyway, if you’re really into crested geckos, that project is one you really need to see in person at a show. In fact, if I had to pick one crested gecko project to work on for the rest of my life, this would be the one I’d take, even over our red harleys…that’s how different and attractive they are.

Tell us a little about your facility: how many geckos do you have and what kind of help do you have to care for them?

Our facility is 2,200 square feet of warehouse/office space. We have two larger grow-out rooms…one for geckos and one for snakes, the smaller incubator/growout room, and then there’s a large breeding room (the warehouse part) with a ground level loading dock (complete with garage door, etc). I don’t know how many geckos we have exactly, but it’s currently around 3,000 in total…most of which are non-breeding stock (babies, grow-outs, holdbacks, available, etc.)

We grow a lot of geckos out for our selective breeding projects and to see what they’re going to look like in a few months, so our numbers are always a bit higher than they probably need to be. With that many geckos to choose our future breeding stock from, quality is increasing dramatically from year to year, so from both a business AND hobbyist perspective, I think it’s worth the extra expense.

One figure I do know off the top of my head is the total number of tubs and cages, which is a little over 1,800 including snake cages and everything. To answer your question about help, there are three of us in total. Gary Quirk is my partner on the leopard geckos, boas and some other odds and ends. He spends most of his time managing the facility, which includes a million different things….making the feeding/cleaning/watering schedule, keeping track of inventory, shipping, bug orders, setting up babies, etc. Jason, Gary’s son, handles the bleaching, some feeding and cleaning, keeping our supply inventory well stocked, etc.

What advice do you have for people interested in breeding geckos on a large scale?

1. If you’re doing it out of your home, I say knock yourself out…the overhead is low and it’s not unheard of for a breeder to sell $50-100,000 worth of geckos a year from home. If you want to open a larger facility, just be careful not to grow too fast. It takes time to learn how to deal with large numbers efficiently…both in caring for them and in selling them. If you get too big too fast, you may end up making mistakes that cost you a lot of money or put you out of business.
2. Create something new instead of trying to produce the same morphs or combos as everyone else. Start with selectively bred lines that other people have developed and try to create something new either by selective breeding, or by crossing them into other morphs/projects. Selective breeding is something fairly new to herpetoculture and the possibilities are almost endless.
3. Don’t be afraid to spend a little more on your founding stock. Average quality geckos take just as much time and money to produce, and they usually take longer to sell since there’s so much more competition. At the end of the day, you probably won’t sell as many geckos either. Going into business can be risky as it is…why put yourself at a disadvantage with average quality animals? That little bit of money spent now will continue to pay for itself year after year. Yes, you can make your own nicer geckos by selective breeding, but you’ll always be two steps (or further) behind. Example…If you can buy geckos with the color you want for your new project, don’t spend all that time developing a project with lesser quality than you could have started with.

What aspect of gecko care and breeding takes up the majority of your time and why?

The majority of my time with the geckos is spent on logistics…going through stuff and deciding what to do with each gecko – or in many cases, deciding that it’s too early and that I need to decide later. Selecting who’s going to be paired with who and selecting which ones I’m going to keep is a lot trickier than you might think. When you’re producing several thousand geckos a year, you literally can’t afford to raise them all long enough to see who all is going to be outstanding and who’s not….so it takes some planning to figure out what we can afford to keep and what has to go. Even with the older geckos that we do grow out, sometimes there are geckos that are so nice, you can’t afford to keep them. I guess that’s cool though because we’re still making huge strides and it gives a few other breeders the chance to access the absolute best stuff we’re producing. I say it’s tough, but only from a selective breeding standpoint. Sorting through a bunch of cool geckos for a living isn’t tough at all. I can’t leave out Gary and Jason, though. Those two spend even more time with the geckos than I do (between feeding, doing inventory, cleaning and watering, etc.)

How has the economic climate affected your sales?

Honestly, I’m not really sure, but I know it has. I’ve been selling reptiles online (as a hobbyist) since 2001, but only full time since around mid-2005. That means we’re still growing our collection, so our sales have increased steadily every year…even this year is up from last year. That was to be expected, though…especially with the rate we’ve grown the collection. That said, I think we would be doing a lot better if more people were working right now. All in all, I guess I try not to think about it too much. We’ve already made it through the worst part (at least that’s what they’re saying) and if our business can grow through this economy, we’re bound to be successful if we keep growing and adapting like we have been doing.

What kind of gecko-related supplies do you offer on your website and how did you decide on them?

Currently, we really don’t focus too much on supplies. We do distribute the kritter keeper racks (very big seller for us), show displays and a couple of books that we recommend, but that’s it. That being said, things could change soon. Gary and I have been talking casually (thus far) about opening up a retail location of some sort. If that happens, we’ll most likely start selling the products on our website first, in order to build up an inventory and find out what’s popular, BEFORE we take on even more overhead. So if you see us start offering more products, you’ll have an idea of why.

Thanks so much for your time, Anthony!

I got a chance to ask Daidra from Leopard Gecko Lair a few questions about what she does with her breeding projects and what some plans are for Leopard Gecko Lair. Daidra has been breeding leopard geckos for 3 years. Her basic Mission is to make healthy and vibrant leopard geckos for everyone to enjoy, whether they are breeders or just want to add to their collection of pets. Here is what Daidra had to say.

Who would you say is your mentor for getting started breeding reptiles?

I would have to say a mentor that I looked up to for breeding leopard geckos or any other reptiles I may breed in the future was Steve Irwin, as he truly loved any animal that walked on the earth and also respected them as I do. Reptiles are my favorite animals, like they were his, and I will never forget everything he taught me about animals and how they should be respected. They are a gift from God that should always be respected and cared for as he always showed us.

What types of projects or products are you planning for the future?

I am currently working on producing the Emerald Raptor that has yet to be debuted and many other morphs that are top secret at the moment but when the time comes, I will debut them and everyone will truly be amazed at their beauty.

Would you consider yourself a small, medium, or large breeder? What size would you like to grow to?

I would consider myself a small breeder with around 50 breeder leopard geckos and I hatch about 100+ babies per year. But I am currently downsizing to around 30 breeders, as I will be starting college and won’t have enough time to care for so many geckos then.

What is your favorite morph?

The Emerine is by far my favorite morph, as they have a different array of colors that they come and hatch in, and are in my opinion the most placid of all the leopard geckos I deal with or breed.

Where do you see Leopard Gecko Lair headed in the future?

I see Leopard Gecko Lair growing to large scale breeder of leopard geckos, corn snakes, sand boas, ball pythons, and viper geckos in the future, possibly even savannah monitors.

Do you attend any reptile shows? If so which shows do you attend?

I only attend the reptile shows in the Ft. Meyers area as of now and I will be attending the Daytona National Breeders’ Expo in a few years. I also will attend the other reptile shows in Florida.

That’s a wrap!

Thanks Daidra for taking time to tell all of us about what you are doing with Leopard Gecko Lair. You can check Daidra and Leopard Gecko Lair out on her website http://leopardgeckolair.com.

Our next Small Breeder Interview will be coming from Aliza. And as always if you would like to take part in this interview series please contact Cory at CSM Gecko. You can contact Cory through his website www.csmgecko.com or email csmgecko@gmail.com.

Gecko Time is pleased to have had a chance to talk with Brittney Gougeon of PacHerp, a California breeder of geckos and snakes.

How did you get started as a breeder and what is your current scope of breeding?

I’ve had an interest in reptiles since I was a child and would often go out in search of turtles, salamanders, toads and other creatures while I was growing up. I started with two female leopard geckos as pets, then after discovering this huge reptile breeding community online, I thought of how breeding these animals could really be a work of art, like a living canvas. So… two geckos became dozens.

Fast-forwarding to current times — During the 2010 breeding season I will be working with Leopard Geckos, African Fat Tail geckos, Knobtail geckos and Hognose snakes.

What is the significance of the name “PacHerp”?

PacHerp is the short form of “Pacific Herpetoculture”. As some may know, my previous business name was “South Bay Geckos”. I moved to the “east bay” about a year ago, and felt I needed to change my name to prevent confusion. I also expanded my business to cover snakes as well, so the idea of a name change was very fitting.

You’re quite successful in the web design field. Why do you think this is and what is your favorite part of it?

Design and Business Marketing have been passions of mine ever since I can remember. I began working in the Graphic Design field when I was a teenager; that is where I developed my basic skill set for the web design field. I went on to study Digital Art and Design in Canada where I received my post secondary credentials in Graphic Design.

I now work full time with members of the Reptile Community to help them create a visual image for their businesses. I always tell my clients at Reptile Creative that “I build online businesses” as most of the clients I work with do not have store fronts, and need an online outlet to sell their animals. It is a unique field, and I feel I have an advantage when working with other breeders because I also keep and breed reptiles myself — I know what they need and how to deliver these things in the best way possible to each of my clients while keeping each design new and fresh.

Could you tell us something about your work with Late Night Leos?

Late Night Leos is a reptile related online radio show on Blog Talk Radio that I co-host with Nigel Kinley from Nairwokii Reptiles. We schedule various guests from the Reptile community to come be a part of the show and discuss recent events.

We want all of our guests to feel comfortable and at home while joining us on the air, so we tend to keep things low key and more laid back. Our listeners and guests really seem to like this approach. We will be launching some very exciting updates to the website that we will be announcing on our 1 year anniversary show, November 27th.

Do you have a favorite species of gecko? What is especially attractive about it?

That is a hard question because I work with several different species and there are things I love about each of them. I started with Leopard Geckos and there is a part of my heart that will always belong to Leopards. The variety of selective breeding possibilities in this species is simply inspiring, I look forward to many more years of work with the Leopard Geckos.

If I had to choose a favorite, right now I’m feeling a bit more partial to the African Fat Tails. I find them to be a more challenging species, as they are not as easy to breed as Leopard Geckos, and their genetic possibilities are just starting to open up. The future of the African Fat Tails is exploding, and I’m excited to be on the cutting edge.

What are your long range and short range plans for your gecko breeding?

My short range plans: I’m looking to expand my Knobtail gecko projects to include several new unrelated bloodlines. With the African Fat Tails, I’m working on outcrossing existing bloodlines with wild caught animals. With my Hognose snakes, I’ll be producing some ‘green project’ animals soon, as well as my first generation of “Copper Reds” in 2010.

My long range plans: I am planning several line breeding projects with the Leopard Geckos, AFTs and Hognose Snakes that will take several years before the final results will be seen.

I’m expecting to see some early results in 2010-2011 from several of my leopard gecko line breeding projects. I also have some unique wild caught african fat tail geckos that I’ll be working on proving out over the next few seasons. I’ll also have my first group of red albino western hognose available in 2011.

How has the economy affected your gecko business?

In general the economy had not affected me too badly. I have seen the effects of the economy beginning to show at Reptile Shows where people are there looking for the best deals, as opposed to looking for the newest and hottest morphs available. I have also noticed many breeders taking advantage of the “barter” system where they trade animals with each other rather than paying outright for new breeder animals. I’ve done this many times this season with my breeder friends, and it has been lots of fun!

Regardless of how things have been changing in the community as the economy works itself out, I have faith that hard work will always pay off in the end and beautiful animals will always be in demand.

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I got a chance to ask Whitney Lowell about her breeding projects and a little info about goReptiles.com.  Whitney started goReptiles as most of us seem to, a hobby and passion that just kept growing over the years.  She has many interesting projects brewing with goReptiles. Here is what she had to say about goReptiles and her projects. 

CSM Gecko:  How did you get started in breeding reptiles and how long have you been doing it?

goReptiles: It all started when I turned 16 and I received my first leopard gecko.  It was a 6-9 month old normal female from a pet store that my dad bought me.  He also bought me all the supplies that the pet store employee told him to.  I named her Banon and did most of my own research.  A month later I bought a small albino then a friend gave me, a male she didn’t want and swore he would not breed because she and his previous owner had both tried with several females.  They lied…he bred with Banon and so I quickly borrowed an incubator.  I got another female, and that’s how things got started.  It was an oops that turned into what it is today, even though there were a few good years in between that oops and my first real breeding pair.  But overall I’ve been raising reptiles since 2003, and steadily breeding since 2006.

CSM Gecko:  What types of projects or products are you planning for the future? 

goReptiles: I hope to continue with high quality crested geckos, as well as various leopard gecko morphs.  I would also like to expand my rosy boa collection to a few more.  I’m hoping to expand to tree frogs, dart frogs, and various tortoise species.  All that will come much later on though.  I’d prefer sooner, but I just don’t have the space at the moment.  I would also like to expand to products such as cage décor one day.  I haven’t been able to determine where and when to take that leap yet.  I have ideas, but it’s just a matter of developing those ideas. 

CSM Gecko:  What is your favorite morph? 

goReptiles: It would probably have to be the pinstripe crested gecko with the cream pinning and reddish back and head.  It’s hard to explain, but they’re really nice. I’ve seen a number of different types of pinstripes, but to me, these are just clean looking.  As for leopard geckos, it’s hard to decide, but a nice red-orange super hypo tangerine has always caught my eye. 

CSM Gecko: Where do you see goReptiles headed in the future? 

goReptiles: Some days I want to say bigger and better things with more variety and more reptile species, but other days nowhere and this day is the last. Most of the time, I hope to continue expanding new projects with species. Space, time and money is needed to expand though. 

CSM Gecko:  Do you attend any reptile shows?  If so, which ones? 

goReptiles:  I’ve attended solely as an attendee, but I know that’s not what you’re asking.  I have not vended at any shows yet, but I would like to vend at some of the shows in Atlanta. 

CSM Gecko:  How many breeders do you have in your projects or collection? 

goReptiles: Off the top of my head, my collection is somewhere around:

• Leopard Geckos – 4.12
• Crested Gecko – 5.14.30
• Rosy Boas – 1.1
• Russian Tortoises – 1.1
• Pacman Frogs – 0.0.3

I’m probably missing a few, but that’s about it I think.

Thanks! That’s a wrap.

 
Thanks Whitney for taking time to tell all of us about what you are doing at goReptiles.com.  You can check Whitney and goReptiles out on her website www.goReptiles.com. 
Our next Small Breeder Interview will be coming from Daidra at Leopard Gecko Lair.  As always, if you would like to take part in this interview series please contact Cory at CSM Gecko.  You can contact Cory through his website www.csmgecko.com or email csmgecko@gmail.com.

Who is CSM Gecko and what is your mission or goals? (Give us a little history)

CSM Gecko is a Leopard Gecko Breeder and Supplies Online Store.  I, Cory, operate CSM Gecko in every aspect.  My wife helps me out with some of the daily tasks of breeding though.  I started CSM Gecko to have a fun project for my daughter and  me to do.  Then I had to decide what I was going to do with all the babies produced and so CSM Gecko was born.  I have always wanted to open and run my own business, and I have been into reptiles since I was a young kid as well .  I have had various lizards, snakes, and turtles as a kid, so it kind of just made sense to start my own business breeding and selling leopard geckos.  I really wasn’t planning on breeding until I bought some geckos from a pet store and they turned out to be sick and I had to take them back.  They had crypto.  And with all the research I did on leopard geckos in order to try and find out what was wrong with them, I learned a lot and decided breeding would be a fun project.  Then I also added on the supplies stuff as an afterthought.

Who, if anyone, would you say is your mentor for getting started breeding reptiles?

Since I am just getting started in my breeding projects I wouldn’t say that I have a set mentor.  I use and have read a lot of the books on leopard geckos that are available.  I am also involved in GeckoForums.net and IHerp, where I ask questions if I am running into any issues.  But along with any good advice on public forums there can be questionable advice, more someone’s opinion that is stated as fact.  So when I am in doubt of an answer I have turned to Steve at Geckos Etc, from whom I have purchased one of the breeders with another on the way.

What types of projects or products are you planning for the future?

I have been thinking about projects for the future once I get everything settled from opening and get this first year out of the way, and I think I leaning towards experimenting with the various morphs in Bell Albinos.  Also I have been working on my own line of hides and décor that I am trying to find the best way to manufacture right now but it is looking like I am going to be custom making a lot of it.  That is all in the works right now and as soon as I can I will be releasing those products.

Do you think you have a particular niche in this market?  If so what do you think that is?

I think the niche in the market that I am going to fill the best is going to be customization.  I mean I am already taking special orders for products not posted for sale on my website.  Dealing with my reptile supplies, if I can get it then you can have it is basically my standing.  The products I am going to release in the future will be able to be customized as well.  Dealing with my leopard geckos will involve using the Bell strain for projects, where not too many people seem to be using that strain.  Everyone seems to focus more on the Tremper strain.

Would you consider yourself a small, medium, or large breeder?  What size would you like to grow to?

I would consider myself at the moment an extremely small hobby breeder because I only have 4 breeders and 1 on the way.  I am going to be expanding quite a bit within the next year, but I wanted to get everything on track before adding too many animals.  I would like to be able to grow to a medium sized breeder within the next 2 years.

Do you attend any reptile shows?  If so, which ones?

I am not planning on attending any shows this year, just not prepared yet.  I will be scoping out shows starting next year to get a feel for which shows I want to attend.  I am planning on attending shows in California, mainly Southern, Las Vegas, and I would like to get to the Raleigh, NC show starting in 2011.

Upcoming Breeder Interviews

This interview is the first installment of a new series of interviews being conducted by Cory from CSM Gecko.  This new series of interviews is going to be done on New and Upcoming Breeders, as well as some Small Low Level Breeders that may not exactly be new.  If you are interested in doing an interview then please contact Cory at csmgecko@gmail.com.  Cory will be randomly picking breeders to interview.  Thank you and I look forward to discussing this interesting hobby with you.