Gecko Daddy and Leopard Geckos
Amid the hustle and bustle of the Anaheim Reptile Super Show we were able to steal Chris Hansbrow away just long enough from booth duties to sit with us for a few minutes and talk with him specifically about what made Gecko Daddy tick and here’s what he told us.
RA: “Well we’re here with Chris from Gecko Daddy. What got you started in this wild and crazy industry as it were?”
CH: “Well uh, when I was a kid my brothers and I we got into reptiles as a necessity because we were actually raised by our single mom in a small apartment and it’s what we could keep in our bedroom that the apartment would let us keep. So we got some turtles. I started with turtles when I was eight and I still have those turtles, they’re actually in my backyard now. So when I was about twelve or thirteen I started getting into geckos and working with them. I took a break in college and then got married and had kids. Then I wanted to introduce my kids to reptiles. That was several years ago now. We’re modest, we don’t produce a lot. We produce a few hundred geckos a year.”
RA: “Now what’s the mission statement behind Gecko Daddy?” (This alone was one of the most impressive aspects of why I was immediately drawn to speak with Gecko Daddy. They actually have a Gecko Daddy Pledge they hand out to any customer.)
CH: “We started out believing that every animal wanted to live. So we wanted to educate people on how to take care of their animals so that that animal has the best life and has the best chance at a long healthy life. So we try to give as much information as we possibly can on how to take care of the animals that they get. Reptiles are special, and most people are not aware when they get an animal that it has special requirement and they think that a fish tank is all they need as long as the animal can’t escape then they’re good to go. Many reptiles have quite particular and special requirements.”
RA: “All those requirements are posted at your site right?”
CH: “We do have care sheets for the animals that we sell and we provide as much customer support as we possibly can. If our customers are successful then we’re successful. If they’re not successful then we’re not successful.”
RA: “I noticed you have Leopard Geckos, some African Fat Tails, and I saw a couple of the Knob Tailed Geckos (featured in Issue 4 of Herpetoculture House Magazine) as kind of the specialty items. Is there anything new on the horizon such as special lines you’re working on this year?”
CH: “Well we pick the projects that are fun. We all have kids, and they all work with us. My kids help take care of the geckos and so we do have some of the more rare species and things that we’re working with but our biggest would be our Leopard Geckos and Fat Tailed Geckos just because they’re so kid friendly. We also have Crested Geckos but mostly we deal with the Leopard Geckos and Fat Tail Geckos and some of the projects we’re working on there that are most exciting to me are the Bolds and the Halloween Mask crosses. I’m really big on patterning and then our Sunglows, just line breeding to have the most brilliant color. We’re really thrilled with those and then our Fat Tails are becoming popular as well.”
We photographed one of the Sunglows at that show let me tell you, folks this was a screamer! We hope to see Gecko Daddy at future venues and if you should want to take a peek at their site you can see it at Gecko Daddy.