Koolaid morph

MauricesExoticPets

MauricesExoticPets

New member
I'm putting this here as an alert to the new people out there and to some of you old ones too who have not experienced this in the past.

A show I attended this past weekend had a group of shockingly red Leos for sale, I assumed something was up right away. Maybe that red calcisand stuff that stains reptiles feet or something similar. Since I was set up right next to a Leo breeder I asked her what she thought was up with the red Leos, her reply "the koolaid morph" was all she needed to say.

I had never seen this before and assume it can be done with any gecko, and any color, so just keep an eye open and ask someone to verify that things are as they seem if you lack experience enough to tell the difference between an uncolored gecko and a Koolaid Morph.

Maurice Pudlo
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
Good warning Maurice! The community needs to remember that, like in any other community, there are good people and not so good people. There are certainly people out there that are looking to take your money and will do unethical things to get it. So...ALWAYS...buyer beware!
 
MauricesExoticPets

MauricesExoticPets

New member
Dipping I believe, but I did not question the seller, I tend to avoid such people like the plague.

I have no idea if they actually dip or mist them, or maybe some other unscrupulous method I have not imagined was used.

Leo sales are generally down in our neck of the woods, mostly due I believe to a general lack of interest in the species more than anything else. Mid level morphs go for less than a quarter of market value so I see a trend of people moving away from selling them as their only offering.

The few who are sticking with them are counting on high end sales to make show attendance worth while.

I can only guess that a bright red Leo would attract the newcomers who have never seen such a critter and considering pet shop pricing of Leos $40-$60 would seem like a steal.

The same vendor has shifted from breeding snakes (high end ones at that) to flipping anything that can be sold at $12-$20. I'm afraid they have seen the shiny pile of money that can be maid preying on the uninitiated youth in our market and turned to the dark side.

What other shady tricks do you guys and gals know of that are or have been used to sell geckos? Big WC monitors are often kept cold to slow them down, same goes for iguanas that are big enough to be a real threat, but this has to be the first gecko related sales trick I have ever heard of.

Maurice Pudlo
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
I think that the herp market in general is pretty piss poor right now (not just leos). I've seen a LOT of breeders selling all sorts of herps at way lower than market value. It's hard to get people to buy pets when they're trying to squeak by to pay their mortgage or feed their families. But things will shift around eventually. They always do. Hopefully sellers will keep that in mind and not crash the market with their cheap prices in an attempt to dump their animals.
 
billewicz

billewicz

New member
Yeah, I've got a couple of 'slightly modified' (Photoshop) Tokay I can sell you, WINK, wink! ;-);-)

Tokay on Acid.jpg

It's my "Acid" Morph! Enjoy!!! :evil:
 
Graham_s

Graham_s

Super Moderator
Sadly, it doesn't surprised me.
It just reiterates how you need to be very careful (especially at reptile shows), but also have a good knowledge on what you are looking for and how to identify geckos that are maybe being mis-sold (be it selling WC as CB, or whatever).
In this hobby, it seems to help to be a bit sceptical sometimes!

It reminds me of what someone told me before I first went to the big Hamm show in Germany, that every time you go, you will see something that you disagree with or dislike, or something that upsets you. Because at the large shows, you are seeing (almost) all sides of the hobby.

Thanks for sharing this, Maurice.
 
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