T.r.palarra

[scaredofbees]

In my ongoing search for a male for my female aspera, I've also become interested in the other shingleback subspecies, T.r.palarra. I was wondering if anyone on the forum kept them (other than the #1 European breeder of said species ), what they thought of them, if there's anyone stateside to trade offspring with, etc....

[Jeff]

The only one that I know in the States that keeps them is Tula_girl on the forum. She does not post much, but may respond to a pm or email. She has one pair of palarra that she got in two different years from pipa.

I have no first hand experience with palarra, but from talking to 3 people who keep them, it sounds to me like they are very similar to T.r.rugosa in pretty much every way. I guess it's not surprising that some people question whether they should have a separate sub-species designation from rugosa. Other than the slight difference in the taper of their tail, I think the geographic separation of their ranges is the main reason they are considered a separate sub-species.

Here is a thread about Fred's in the Netherlands: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21440

[scaredofbees]

Awesome Jeff, thanks again! From what I understand they are slightly smaller than rugosa and apparently, out of the 4 subspecies, the least difficult to breed. It seems as long as they are young, healthy and cycled properly, not as much emphasis is put on pair compatibility.