"2019 Leapin' Leachies Visit Log" Episode 1

✈️ Why I decided to visit Leapin' I had known Steve for a long time, but I had never actually visited "Leapin' Leachies" in the U.S. Then I heard that the NARBC reptile show would be held in Tinley Park, and I thought, "This is the chance." So I put together a travel plan. It was a short schedule with both the show and the Leapin' visit, but it was full of excitement from start to finish.

📍 Finally arriving at Leapin' At last, I arrived at "Leapin' Leachies"!! I had waited for this moment for so long. On the plane and in the car, I kept imagining this scene, and then it was right in front of me. The building on the left was the facility where the Leachies were kept. It was much larger than I expected, and I could not stop saying, "It's this big?" Steve was already in the reptile room. While we were catching up, he quietly showed me one animal. Its color and body structure were overwhelmingly strong, and I immediately felt, "So this is a Leapin' Leachie."

Even among GT (Grand Terre) animals, this kind of pattern-and-color combination is uncommon. The presence was incredible, and I ended up talking with Steve in depth about that animal. We covered genetics, the history of the Darth Maul line, and even future breeding plans.

The individual I saw had a deep, dark base like tree bark with intense red pattern layered over it. The combination was unbelievably beautiful, and that subtle color depth simply cannot be captured by photos.

🏡 Touring the inside of the Leapin' facility After staring at the Darth Maul animals, I got curious about the surroundings and walked through the facility. Everything was extremely clean and organized, and temperature/humidity control for each animal was handled with real precision. What impressed me most was space design based on growth stage. Breeding-pair zones, grow-out zones, and more were all managed systematically. It naturally made me think, "A breeder with decades of experience really is different."

🛠️ The Leapin' husbandry setup Looking closely at the setup, you could feel thoughtful detail everywhere. First, ✅ there were many hiding structures so animals could retreat and rest whenever they wanted. Multiple natural shelters were used, and the floor had ✅ bark substrate spread widely for humidity retention. And of course, a critical point: ✅ water bowls were always present so animals could hydrate anytime. 😊 If you keep Leachies, this is a setup style worth referencing. It was simple, but all essential points were exactly in place. 👀 And after reviewing setup, it was finally time for focused animal observation.

💜 A purple-tinted Leachie named "Purple" Even before full firing, the soft purple hue spreading from the pattern looked truly mysterious. It had a hard-to-describe charm. What stood out most was the skin texture of "Purple" - smoother and sleeker than usual, almost like a melanistic animal.

🖤 The appeal of melanistic animals is hard to escape They are so cool, right? 😎 The animals here were melanistic Leachies. "Dark, shadow-like tones with a smooth texture" describes them perfectly. The more you learn about them, the deeper the appeal gets.

🐾 LLDM animals at Leapin' Leachies Dark morph animals usually show heavy structure and a dark base tone, but the two I saw were very calm in temperament. 😄 That made photography easy, and the results came out clean. The photos below show LLDM animals in hatchling stage. They are still small and not fully fired, but you can already see that signature dark atmosphere. 👀

🐲 Meeting the legendary Leachie "Bubba" Bubba was one of the animals I most wanted to meet. 😭💜 I had only seen Bubba in photos and videos, so seeing the real animal in front of me was unforgettable. Bubba had a gentle personality and massive, grounded presence. Just watching him felt calming. When we actually weighed him: 471g!! 😮 Steve laughed and said, "If he had been given high-protein treats like pinkies more often, he would've gone over 500g."

🏞️ Seeing Mt. Dore line animals in person I also got to see Mt. Dore line animals directly. At first glance, I thought, "These look fairly close to Koghis types," and in fact the head shape and body structure were quite similar. What I especially liked was the light brown base tone they show when fully fired. It has softness with depth, giving the whole animal a more refined and gentle impression. 🛫 Let's take a short pause here - that's it for Episode 1. There are too many moments I still want to share, so I'll stop here for now. 😊 I'll continue with more details in Episode 2. See you next time! "LIFE IS BETTER WITH PETS"