In honor of Halloween, we are presenting our best Halloween Masks of 2010. 

The History:

We have been working for several years to develop a 'true' Halloween Mask 'Bandit' Bold Stripe, and we have finally achieved that goal this year!  The 'Bandit' trait displayed on our Halloween Mask crosses does not come directly from Ron Tremper's bloodline, but has developed naturally within our groups of Bolds, Bold Stripes, and Halloween Masks.  We have never crossed a Halloween Mask directly with a Tremper 'Bandit', these are all line bred.  

The Genetics: 

We firmly believe there is a difference between the two distinct genetic traits called 'Bold' and 'Stripe'.  Far too often these two words are grouped together when describing an animal without truly knowing what each of the words mean when it comes down to genetics.  

>> 'Bold' describes multiple markings on a leopard gecko that are thick and dark black. These dark black markings are concentrated areas of pigment that are passed down in a Dominant manner to the offspring. When you breed two bold geckos together, the offspring will naturally be more bold that if you bred a bold gecko with a non-bold gecko. 

>> 'Stripe' describes a gecko that has markings that are not 'banded', like the wild type leopard gecko.  The stripe extends the length of the body from the head to the base of the tail, and sometimes all the way to the tip of the tail. 

**Striped geckos do not need to be 'bold' to be considered striped, and bold geckos do not need to be striped to be considered bolds.**

>> 'Bandits' are animals with a full band of black pigment across their nose. The 'bandit' marking is usually bold, and does not break up on the animals with best examples of the trait.  Two juvenile Bold 'Bandit' Halloween Masks are pictured together below.  

>> 'Halloween Masks' are animals with a genetic trait allowing the markings on their head to become bolder as the animal grows older. When observing a Halloween Masks head pattern development vs. a Bold Stripes head pattern, the difference is obvious.  Around the 25-35 gram mark, the Halloween Masks see an intense increase in dark pigment in their masks, and with each shed the markings begin to mold together into what we call the signature 'Mask'.  In contrast, the Bold Stripes head pattern begins to decrease around this time, and their head markings develop into only a few 'Bold' spots in their heads and nose.  Halloween Masks also have a distinct dark body coloration that get darker as the animal grows older, similar to how the mask trait works. Halloween Mask babies that display an unusual amount of dark coloration are generally the best examples as adults, one is pictured below at 3 days of age. 

Introducing 'EXTREME BOLDS'

Halloween Mask Bandit Bold Stripes combine the best of all of the traits mentioned above. When all the genetics align they create a completely new and unique appearance.  In order to describe their appearance, we are calling the A+ Grade animals from this bloodline, 'Extreme Bolds'. 

> The first EXTREME BOLDS will be available in 2011, please contact us if you are interested in being added to our reservation list.  <

I just posted the second wave of 2010 offspring on the available pages.  Some of the new geckos include Mack Raptors, Raptors, Sunglows, Bold Striped Bells, Jungle Bells, Bold Stripes, Eclipse, Mack Snow Eclipse, Hi-Yellows and Normals. 

http://www.pacherp.com/leopard-geckos

There are also 2 new 100% het Patternless African Fat Tail Females.  

You can view them here -->  http://www.pacherp.com/available-african-fat-tail-geckos

I'm pleased to offer this unique opportunity to my breeder friends and colleagues in the United States.  If you are interested in exporting your animals to the Hamm Germany show, or even direct shipping all over the world, you are welcome to apply to be a Certified Partner.

Contact Brittney at info@pacherp.com to find out more about how to get certified or fill out our Online Application HERE.

I'm pleased to announce that we are working with White Out African Fat Tails!  'Tux', our Striped White Out male has been living with us for a while now, and we are expecting to have some of his offspring available shortly. 

Check out the updated African Fat Tail Projects page for pictures of Tux! 

http://www.pacherp.com/african-fat-tail-geckos

-Brittney

I'm pleased to announce that PacHerp is now certified to ship our animals worldwide! If you are a breeder in the UK, Germany, Malaysia, or even Japan, we can get our animals to you.  Combine your order with other local breeders to save on the costs of shipping and importing.

Please contact us directly at info@pacherp.com or 408-219-9661 to discuss your order. 

Geckos like these don't come around often, but when they do they are definitely worth sharing!  This female hatched out from a pairing that was a bit of an experiment for us... and oh boy, am I glad I tried it!  

This girl is only 4 weeks old, and already showing the mature mask markings of a 3-4 month old Halloween Masks. I can't imagine what she's going to look like as a mature adult! 

I'll post updated photos as she grows and develops so you can see first hand the joy of keeping and breeding Halloween Masks.  They are quickly becoming my favorite leopard gecko morph to work with.  

Thanks for reading... I'll update again soon! 

- Brittney 

This time of year it seems like every time I open the baby geckos tubs to feed and clean them,  they've changed!  Each and every shed brings out something new in the pattern and colors on the animals. 

That said, I feel that it would be beneficial to those visiting the website to routinely update the available page so that you can also enjoy the development of the animals on the available page.

Today I have updated the photos for all the available geckos, as well as added some new Tangerines, Bolds, and one Eclipse.

 Check back next week for more updates!

(below is an example of some of the changes that young leopard geckos go through in their first 2-8 weeks)

I'm very excited to launch our new Online Payment Gateway!  You may now purchase animals directly through our website, pay in full, or pay a 25% deposit on select animals. All transactions take place on our website and are guaranteed to be 100% Secure. We will contact you immediately after your purchase to make arrangements for shipping or local pick-ups.  Shipping prices will be determined for your package after your online payments have processed.  

We hope you enjoy these usability improvements! 

-Brittney 

To view more of our videos, please subscribe to our YouTube updates! --> http://www.youtube.com/PacHerp

1) The 'Blonde' Project

We are excited to announce our 'Blonde' African Fat Tail Project! This animal was hatched in captivity from two Wild Caught animals. She is unrelated to any other fat tail in captivity. Her coloration is high yellow with no orange, almost pastel looking in person.

We have nicknamed this the 'blonde pastel' project, although it is not yet proven. Her parents are already breeding and laying eggs for the new season. We will be breeding the 'Blonde' female later in 2010 and hope to be able to prove the trait out either recessive or dominant.

We will be updating you regularly about this project, so please stay tuned to the News page, or join our Newsletter for the latest updates.

2) The 'Charcoal' Project

We currently have over 100 eggs in the incubators from our Leopard Geckos and African Fat Tails, with the first few clutches due any day. All of our girls started ovulating a bit early this year all around the same time, so we may end up with an explosion of offspring over the next few months.

We are now beginning to look forward into the next 3-8 months as we plan for the Trade Shows we want to vend. I'm planning on doing the San Diego Super Show in June, the NARBC Anaheim Show and the Sacramento Reptile Show in the fall. We may also vend at a few other small expos in between.

So, do you have an project you are excited about for the 2010 season? If so, share with us! We love to hear from you! :)

- Brittney