Partly pertinent to my post on "addiction", how many of us regard ourselves as specialising in a particular area of animal keeping, eg Green Iguanas, geckos or salamanders? I have noticed that there is at least one person who seems from the makeup of his collection to be a gecko specialist.

Personally I think specialisation can be a good thing if it encourages people to focus on one group of animals, or even one single species, and to share their experiences with the rest of us. Or do people regard it as too restrictive? I'm genuinely interested in feedback here.

I would definitely say that monkey tails are my real passion - hence the reason why I have so many of them Not being a fan of designer morphs, I would personally find the keeping of just one species somewhat limiting; I think that people that are constantly experimenting with genetics have more motivation to stick with one species.

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3.4.1 Monkey Tailed Skinks - "Kaiser", "Nimbus", "Murdock", "Aquila", "Bali", "Altjira", "Gremlin" & "Grover"
1.2.1 Chuckwallas - "Mojave", "Chinook", "Keres" & "Geronimo"
1.0.0 Argentine Tegu - "Big Teg"
0.0.7 Northern Blue Tongue Skinks
0.0.8 Chuckwalla Eggs

Jos Little World - Monkey Tailed Skinks
Jos Wider World - Tegus, Chuckwallas, BTS, Lacertas and More

I certainly think that specialising is a good thing to do. I'm moving onto small/medium skinks and medium/large geckos. Due to this, I don't think I'll be getting any snakes, chelonians or amphibians ever again. Although it may seem like a loss to some, It will probably allow me to widen my knowledge within specific areas, instead of general knowledge of too much. Medium skinks and geckos are huge "categories" anyway, so I'm hardly trapped with certain species.

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2.4.0 Leopard Geckos - Munch, Tango, Cookie, Muffin, Custard and Storm
1.0.0 Fat Tail Gecko - Thumper
1.0.0 Tanimbar Blue Tongue Skink - Iggy
1.0.0 Fire Skink - Scorch
0.1.0 Snow Corn Snake - Crystal
1.0.0 Ornate Horned Frog - Pudding
0.1.0 Mexican Red-Rump Tarantula - Ruby
7 cooking eggs
Saving up for Hamm...

Re monkeytails, I'm pleased to hear somebody is keeping and breeding them! I think they are very interesting lizards.

Also re small/medium skinks likewise. I get the impression a lot of people think skinks are boring, but I think otherwise. Part of it is that they are such a large family and there is such a wide range of both behaviour and habitats, even streamside skinks. I also think skinks have a lot to offer in terms of attractiveness and ease of keeping.

The other thing about keeping a number of a certain species (if you have the room and money) is that it allows you to start to tell what is just unique behaviour for an individual and what is generally true for the species as a whole, eg tameness or food preferences. So I don't think people should feel bored just because they can't do much with colour morphs or genetics. Personally I'm not a huge fan of the more extreme morphs anyway, but perhaps I'm just prejudiced.

i suppose that i specialise...

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Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
...Confucius

I do agree with you really - having several monkey tails, its quite easy to recognise individual behaviours and foibles, which makes them even more endearing and fascinating. I read a brilliant article in Reptilia about them, and it was great to compare what I always thought were unique behaviours in individuals to someone elses. Working with them has been the most satisfying herpetological experience that I have had, and I think if I had to only keep one species I would be happy with monkey tails.

Having said that though, I do enjoy the diversity of my collection - I have rainforest and desert species, herbivores and omnivores, lizards that produce eggs and livebearers. Ive never been a big fan of morph breeding, and so owning twenty of the same species in a range of colours, all housed separately, isnt my idea of fun. I much prefer my social groups and pairs that are pretty much hands-off.

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3.4.1 Monkey Tailed Skinks - "Kaiser", "Nimbus", "Murdock", "Aquila", "Bali", "Altjira", "Gremlin" & "Grover"
1.2.1 Chuckwallas - "Mojave", "Chinook", "Keres" & "Geronimo"
1.0.0 Argentine Tegu - "Big Teg"
0.0.7 Northern Blue Tongue Skinks
0.0.8 Chuckwalla Eggs

Jos Little World - Monkey Tailed Skinks
Jos Wider World - Tegus, Chuckwallas, BTS, Lacertas and More

I love geckos and keep only geckos and tortoises with the odd 'non gecko' entering my collection now and again. I do however try and stay clear of cresteds, leos and other 'common' geckos but it does not mean that i dont like them.
now I only have 3.3 Namibian web foots 1.1 Phelsuma robertmertensi and 1.1 Phelsuma klemmeri (getting another 2.2 klemmeri at hamm sept) but at one point i had over 30 pairs of various geckos but had to reduce due to studying for a teaching degree.

My brother however has a mix of species but then only lizards and has no interest in other reptile species.

Leopard Geckos are my area I've loved them since I had my first one at the age of two. Now have quite a few lol.

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I do and I don't specialise.
I prefer most boids over colubrids, I prefer snakes over lizards, but my collection is still rather eclectic.
I plan on breeding the boas, and the royals, but everything else I have, just because I like it.

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~Royal Pythons~1.2-Albino1.1-Albino Het1.2-Axanthic0.1-Black Pastel1.0-Bumble bee0.1-Butterscotch Ghost1.0-Desert Ghost0.1-Honey bee0.1-Ivory0.1-Killer Bee1.0-Lemon Blast0.1-Lesser Bee1.1-Lesser Platinum2.11-Normal1.1-Orange Ghost1.1-Pastel1.3-Piebald1.2-Piebald Het1.2-Pinstripe1.2-Spider~Reticulated Pythons~1.0-Super Dwarf1.0-Platinum0.1-White Albino~Other snakes~0.1-Aru Island Green Tree Python1.0-Northern Shield Emerald Tree Boa1.0-Khal Albino Boa Constrictor0.1-Mangrove Snake1.0-Blood Red Corn0.1-Hypo Lavender Corn

Gecko Fanatic!

99% gecko,
Current direction, day geckos (not phelsuma)
Lygodactylus, Sphaerodactylyus, Gonatodes.

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Geckos galore!