Strength In Leos Podcast

Spotty Tail Geckos is a small hobbyist breeder that focuses on quality genetics and maintaining excellent husbandry. Andy got started in the hobby when his daughter wanted a pet leopard gecko. He immediately fell in love with the animals and the hobby. Andy started breeding his first leopard geckos in 2015. To this day he keeps a very small collection of geckos sourced from top tier breeders.

On this episode of the pod, I wanted to get an outsider's perspective on the reptile hobby. So that's exactly what I did. I brought on one of my close friends Jessie Globerman to get her opinions on Leopard Geckos and the community around them. 

Welcome to season two of the Strength On Leos Podcast! This is Chris's third appearance on the podcast and his second time being on the premiere episode of each season. Today on the show we discussed how Chris is able to produce such awesome animals through careful selection of his pairings and a bit of luck. 

The Reptile Super Show & Breeder Expo is all about showing off animals to the world that deserve our attention. From slithering snakes with friendly faces to shell-dwelling tortoises that can have their own comical personalities, this show opens your eyes to a world you may have previously disregarded. On the show, I interviewed Ramy Guirguis, the show promoter of the Reptile Super Show, to hear what it really takes to run the biggest Reptile Show On Earth!

Lance Musgrove is the owner/operator of Grove Geckos and has been involved with reptiles and breeding animals all his life. For him, what started off as a pastime has now become an absolute passion for the enhancement of the species and reptile community. Lance is on the podcast with me to help discuss what it takes to turn your hobby into a small business. Tune in to learn more about marketing, logistics, and what's needed to become a great breeder. 

This episode of the Strength In Leos podcast features two awesome reptile personalities, Garrett Hartle of Reach Out Reptiles and Brian Kusko of Triple B TV. Both wear many different "hats" in the hobby and have loads of life experiences which they also touch on in their podcast, Searchable as Reptiles. This episode is full of industry insights and allows you to gain a much deeper understanding of the reptile community. Sit back, relax, and have a great time listening to this lax episode with great information.  

How cool would it be if we found more undescribed species of Leopard Geckos? Villanova Biology professor Dr. Aaron Bauer, like many of us, is a huge gecko enthusiast. Dr. Bauer serves as the Gerald M. Lemole Endowed Chair in Integrative Biology at Villanova and has described more new species of reptiles than any other living scientist, including over seven percent of the more than 1,800 living geckos. In this episode of the podcast, I was able to speak with Dr. Bauer about his research, how he got interested in this field, and what’s next for gecko research in the future.  

On Session Twenty-Three of the Strength In Leos Podcast, I speak with Dillon Damuth of Gecko Labs about a few distinct reptile species, as well as the importance of conservation. He has a very strong background in Biological Sciences and is currently working on my PhD. In the last few years, he has begun to focus more heavily towards advancing husbandry, studying behavior more intricately, and now delegate a large chunk of profits to help fund conservation, specifically, Urban Ark Conservation. Dillon is a wealth of knowledge and shared some great advice in regards to specific viewpoints as keepers in the hobby. Listen in to learn more about Dillon's operation and quite a few different species that are quite rare in captive collections.

A mutation that was first discovered in 1999 out Ron Tremper's Tremper Albino project, there has been much debate over what this gene is. Is it Co-Dominant, Incomplete Dominant, Polygenic, Recessive, or does this "gene" really exist? In this episode of the podcast, I had the opportunity to speak with Kevin Baron of Mutant Geckos about his Super Giant projects. Kevin is a relatively new breeder in the hobby, but this hasn't kept him from being super knowledgeable about the genus Eublepharis. Enjoy this awesome free-flowing conversation about his experience breeding. 

On this episode of the podcast, I had the awesome opportunity to talk to Bill Strand of The Chameleon Breeders Podcast. Bill is a passionate chameleon breeder and keeper who also has his podcast geared towards the chameleon community. Bill and I discuss what makes podcasting so awesome and how fortunate we are to bring the reptile community together through audio. Listen in to hear us talk about spreading knowledge, education, the reptile community, reptile experts, and much more.  Listen all the way through to hear some bloopers! Chameleon Breeder Links: https://www.instagram.com/chameleon_breeder/ https://www.facebook.com/chambreederpodcast/ https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/  

This episode of the Strength In Leos podcast features two guests, Joe Phelan and Melissa Davis who are corn snake breeders who run Port City Pythons. Joe and Melissa both host the podcast From The Ground Up, which is another awesome reptile podcast that brings on a variety of different guests from scientists, conservationists, and reptile breeders. Listen in to hear a great conversation about reptiles and our goals as podcasters to get the word out about these awesome cold-blooded creatures. 

Got (a) B.A.E?? I'm guessing you don't since it is a brand new recessive eye pigmentation gene. This Sunday I am joined by the "Leopard Gecko Godfather" Ron Tremper. With over 40 generations of leopard gecko breeding, he has the most experience and tons of knowledge about the species. On this episode, we discussed the new recessive, the Blue Amber Eye, along with his recent book, Leopard Gecko Morphs. 

Join us this Sunday for yet another Episode of the Strength In Leos Podcast with our first-ever Round Table Discussion. This episode features an in-depth conversation about leopard gecko breeding and photography. I will be joined by John Scarbrough of GeckoBoa Reptiles and Chris Charlton of Suburban Geckos. We focused on answering two very common questions that are asked in the hobby today about breeding and how to take the best pictures of your leopard geckos. This episode is designed to help the beginners as well as more advanced a better insight to get better breeding results, as well as take high-quality pictures of those babies that you've produced.

This episode of the Strength In Leos podcast features Garrett Hartle of Reach Out Reptiles. Garrett is reptile breeder who's main focus is producing amazing Dwarf and Superdwarf Reticulated Pythons. On the show Garrett and I talked about the business side of the reptile game as well as what it takes to actually "make it" in the reptile industry. 

Just as the title of this episode states, my next guest needs no introduction. John is a wealth of knowledge and a "walking eublepharis encyclopedia" at best. This episode covers a range of topics including information about what John has brewing in his lab for this season to the current state of the leopard gecko breeding hobby. Oh and how could I almost forget? Listen to hear about the new gene recessive gene that has popped out of his collection.

In this episode, Don Hamilton from Highwoods Exotics joins us on the show discuss many different topics regarding the quality of some of the amazing morphs he's developed over the years. Don is full of helpful information and advice due to his many years of being in the reptile hobby. I hope you gain some insights about what it's like to develop quality lines and selective breed for specific traits. 

Dr. Matthew Vickaryous conducts research on leopard gecko regeneration at the University of Guelph. He obtains a a BSc (Zoology) and an MSc (Vertebrate Palaeontology) at the University of Calgary, as well as a PhD (Evolutionary Developmental Biology) at Dalhousie University, Halifax. In this episode of th podcast we dive deep into the amazing powers of regeneration in leopard geckos. 

In this episode of the podcast, I was able to speak with Sage Quiggle of Q's Geckos about quality and genetics of Leopard Geckos. Not only did she discuss the subject but explained why these were important in detail with examples regarding her projects. 

This episode features Mike Smith who runs Handcrafted Herps. We discuss his revolutionary Leopard Gecko enclosures, as well as some of his special projects he's working on this year. 

In this episode of the Strength In Leos Podcast, I had the opportunity to speak talk withBrian Kusko of Triple B TV about many different aspects of the reptile hobby.     Herpeton: Herpeton.org     Triple B TV: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClET9V-hDKuhHKhpRxHgDgw    Brian's Vlog Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXbwN03hrVLmWxaN7d9u3hw