Crested Gecko

Removes yellow and red coloration, creating grey/black phenotypes. Recessive inheritance. Homozygous animals lack xanthophore pigments. Synergistic with Pinstripe to create strong paper-white pattern expression.

ID tips: Axanthic animals lack yellow/red colors, appearing grey, black, or desaturated. Combined with Pinstripe creates strongest paper-white.

Fixed dominant allele producing black/dark base coloration. Most prevalent in wild and captive populations. Produces normal dark crested gecko coloring when not modified by other traits. Creates Lavender combo morph when combined with Hypo.

ID tips: Black Base animals have typical dark crested gecko base coloration.

Produces lighter, coffee/tan coloration. Heterozygous animals show intermediate tan coloring. Homozygous Super Cappuccino show light coffee coloration with possible structural modifications. Part of allelic complex with Sable. Both het and homozygous forms are viable and fertile.

ID tips: Cappuccino animals appear lighter and more tan/coffee colored. Super Cappuccino extremely light, nearly cream.

Refined/enhanced Hypo line producing extremely light coloration. Appears to be a distinct Hypo form or enhanced modifier. Tom Favazza's work on hypo refinement. Dominance pattern not yet confirmed.

ID tips: Cold Fusion animals are extremely light, lighter than standard Hypo in many cases.

Adds distinct black/dark spots throughout the body and pattern. Dominant trait with additive effects in homozygous animals producing more/denser spotting. Creates a speckled or spotted appearance overlaid on existing patterns.

ID tips: Look for distinct dark spots or speckles distributed across the body and pattern.

Reduces or eliminates dorsal/back pattern coloring while retaining pattern structure on sides. Heterozygous shows moderate pattern reduction on back; homozygous shows extensive back clearing. Antagonistic with Harlequin (overcomes concentration).

ID tips: Empty Back animals show reduced/cleared dorsal pattern. Super Empty Back shows extensive clearing.

Creates flame-like pattern formations, possibly distinct from Harlequin flame-concentration. Appears to produce pointed flame shapes. Dominance pattern unclear. Polygenic inheritance suspected.

ID tips: Flame animals show distinct flame-shaped pattern elements.

Produces enhanced scale texture creating "furry" appearance. Work in progress, inheritance pattern not yet confirmed. Limited breeding data. Polygenic inheritance suspected.

ID tips: Furry animals show enhanced texture giving "fuzzy" appearance.

Concentrates dorsal pattern into flame-like or high-contrast patches. Heterozygous animals show intermediate pattern concentration; homozygous show maximum concentration and contrast. Interacts with Tiger to create visible pattern breaks and "portholes." Antagonistic with Empty Back.

ID tips: Harlequin animals show concentrated pattern flames, especially on dorsum. Super Harlequin shows maximum flame concentration.

Reduces melanin and dark pigmentation, producing lighter base coloration. Dominant over melanin. Multiple forms exist, all dominant. Hypo acts as an epistatic modifier over Black Base, Red Base, and Yellow Base. Creates Lavender (H+B), Pink (H+r), and Cream/C2 (H+y) combo morphs.

ID tips: Hypo animals are noticeably lighter in base coloration. Multiple Hypo forms range from subtle to extreme lightening.

Produces white/cream coloration with pattern reduced or eliminated. Heterozygous animals show white coloring with some pattern retention. Homozygous Super Lilly White (L/L) is LETHAL and must NEVER be attempted. All breeding must use het x het or het x normal.

ID tips: Lilly White animals are predominantly white/cream. Het animals show white coloring with reduced pattern.

Creates marble-like pattern formations. May be a Tiger variant or distinct pattern modifier. Limited data available. Polygenic inheritance suspected. Research ongoing.

ID tips: Marble animals show marble-like pattern elements.

Creates marbled/mottled coloration pattern. Only a few generations produced. Early stage research. Marbling most distinct on Lilly White background. May be related to or distinct from Brindle.

ID tips: Marbling animals show mottled/marbled coloration pattern.

Secondary form of pattern color expression producing orange/yellow pattern lines and spots. Polygenic inheritance. Creates Halloween (B + OP) and Tri-Color (WP + OP) combo morphs.

ID tips: Orange Pattern animals show orange/yellow colored pattern elements.

Creates orange/yellow spotting and marking patterns. Appears distinct from Orange Pattern. Dominance unclear. Polygenic inheritance suspected. Early stage research.

ID tips: Orange Spot animals show orange/yellow spot markings.

Complete removal of pattern elements. Distinct from Phantom (which is a melanin-producing trait); Patternless removes pattern structure entirely. Homozygous animals are completely unicolor with no pattern lines, spots, or flames.

ID tips: Patternless animals are solid/unicolor with no visible pattern elements. Distinct from Phantom, which retains some pattern but modifies melanin.

Melanin-producing trait that creates various phenotypes including bi-color, patternless, buckskin, cream, and tan appearances. Blends melanin with base colors, particularly visible on yellow-based animals. Expression ranges from high dominance (strong bi-color, patternless) to low dominance (subtle melanin blending). Affects pattern expression and can suppress white pattern on raised scalation. Key finding: bi-color, patternless, buckskin, cream, and tan are NOT separate traits — they are all phenotypic expressions of the single Phantom trait.

ID tips: Rule 1: Any bi-color or patternless animal has Phantom. Rule 2: Yellow-based animal with melanin blending (buckskin, cream, tan) = Phantom; clean yellow = Hypo. Rule 3: On Pinstripe animals, White Pattern fades tail-to-head when Phantom present. Rule 4: Lower dominance Phantom + Pinstripe shows darker head, lower lateral pattern present, upper lateral absent.

Raised scales along dorsal midline creating a distinct ridge or stripe. Dominant expression creates visible raised scalation. Interacts with Tiger to create brindle and reverse pin phenotypes. Homozygous expression more pronounced than heterozygous.

ID tips: Look for raised scales along the spine/back. Pinstripe animals have noticeably textured dorsal ridges.

Produces red/orange base coloration when homozygous. Recessive inheritance. Heterozygous animals may show blush (pink/red coloration on cheeks) as a reliable het marker. Blush is one of the few confirmed het markers in crested geckos. Creates Pink combo morph when combined with Hypo.

ID tips: Blush (pink/red coloration on cheeks) is a proven marker for heterozygous red base — one of the few reliable het markers in the species. Homozygous Red Base animals show red/orange coloration.

Produces darker, more saturated coloration. Heterozygous animals show intermediate expression; homozygous express full Sable phenotype. Part of allelic complex with Cappuccino at the same locus. Sable x Cappuccino crosses did NOT produce Super Cappuccino, proving these are separate alleles despite occupying the same gene locus.

ID tips: Sable animals appear darker and richer in coloration. Het animals show subtle darkening. Homozygous Super Sable extremely dark, nearly melanistic.

Creates white spotting/flecking pattern in snowflake-like formations. Epistatic to White Pattern — Snowflake requires WP to express. Heterozygous shows moderate snowflake spotting; homozygous shows enhanced spotting. Synergistic with Lilly White to produce near-full white coverage.

ID tips: Snowflake animals show white fleck/spot patterns. Expression requires WP. Combined with Lilly White produces nearly unicolor white.

Produces matte coloration and smooth scale appearance. Heterozygous shows moderate matte effect; homozygous Super Softscale shows enhanced matte and scale spacing effects. Structural modification affecting appearance and potentially tactile properties.

ID tips: Softscale animals have matte coloration and smoother scale appearance.

Creates pinstripe-like raised scalation across entire body (not just dorsal). Appears to follow recessive inheritance but may be complex. Limited breeding data available. Homozygous expression produces extensive striping.

ID tips: Superstripe animals show widespread raised scalation resembling multiple pinstripes.

Modifies pattern and base colors toward orange/peach/pink tones. Acts as a color enhancer/modifier rather than a standalone trait. Synergistic with White Pattern to create pink/bubblegum patterns. Dominance pattern unclear; acts as a modifier.

ID tips: Tangerine animals show modified pattern colors shifted toward orange/peach. Combined with WP creates pink/bubblegum effect.

Fixed dominant trait present in ALL crested geckos — cannot be isolated from the species. Controls pattern separation and distribution into distinct spots/flames. Similar to spots on leopard geckos or alien heads on ball pythons. Ratio of Tiger to other pattern traits determines expression from brindle to reverse pin to solid.

ID tips: All crested geckos carry Tiger. Visual identification relies on interaction ratios with Pinstripe and other pattern traits.

Primary form of pattern color expression (as opposed to Orange Pattern). Creates white/cream pattern lines and spots. Polygenic inheritance. Base for Snowflake expression (epistatic relationship). Modified by Tangerine to create pink/bubblegum patterns.

ID tips: White Pattern animals show white/cream colored pattern elements. Combined with Tangerine shifts to pink.

Creates cream/white coloration along lateral (side) edges and body perimeter. Heterozygous shows moderate lateral white; homozygous (Whitewall) shows extensive lateral white, potentially approaching unicolor appearance. Extreme expression of white pattern laterally.

ID tips: Whitewall animals show cream/white coloring on lateral edges and sides.

Produces yellow/light base coloration. Naturally hypo-melanistic. Dominant or co-dominant expression. Creates Creamsicle (y + optional H/TANG) and C2/Cream Squared (y + H) combo morphs. Yellow-based animals with melanin blending indicate Phantom trait.

ID tips: Yellow Base animals show yellow/light coloration. Clean yellow (no melanin blending) = Hypo absence. Yellow with melanin = Phantom.