Leopard Gecko Morphs & Genetics

Below are the leopard gecko morphs, lines, traits and genes we have in our collection, including gene inheritance mechanisms, some history and so on. For more in-depth information and comprehensive lists of genes, polygenic traits and proven lines, please see Resources and References for some great places to start!

Fig. 1. Topaz - White and Yellow Tremper Albino Bandit from RS lineage and our DB project.

Fig. 2. Cashew - Dark Bold Striped Tremper Albino Bandit

Polygenic Traits, Morphs, & Lines

A polygenic trait does not have a single mode of inheritance, rather many different combinations of genes contribute to the overall look of the morph. A morph describes a phenotype that can be one gene or polygenic, and a line is phenotypically unique geckos of a morphotype that has been worked on by a breeder and refined over time and many generations (aka linebred). I.e. Tangelo is a line of Tremper albinos (see Recessive Traits below).

Banded, striped, reverse stripe, & aberrant are all polygenic traits that are independent of color, and describe how the markings and pattern are expressed along a leopard gecko’s body. A banded leo (Fig. 1. Topaz) has bands that run across its body and is the most common wild type pattern seen. A striped leo (Fig. 2. Cashew) has bold stripes running down along a gecko’s sides, while a revers stripe leo (Fig. 3. Maya) has a stripe (or pair of stripes) running down a gecko’s dorsal/back.

An aberrant leopard gecko has irregular patterning along the body OR tail, but not both (Fig. 4. Laurel ). The circle back is an irregular banding pattern that is fairly common, especially in juveniles, and a Jungle leopard gecko (Fig. . 5Coriander) has a pattern that is irregular on the body and tail, and is a morph first developed in 1991 by Ron Tremper.

Bold is a polygenic trait where markings are much darker than on a normal leo (Fig. 6. Teddy).

Fig. 6. Teddy - Bold Bandit het Tremper

Fig. 5. Coriander - Bold Jungle Bandit het Tremper with eye spots & circle back pattern

Fig. 7. Nacho - Bold Tangerine Rainwater albino (Firewater x Firebold lines)

Fig. 8. Gillian - Dark Tremper Albino Bandit

Fig. 9. Borage - Hypo Lavender Tangerine Cross (Clown, Lavender, Electric & PH lines)

Fig. 10. Sprocket - Super Hypo Tangerine Carrot Tail Baldy (SHTCTB) from 2009!

Fig. 11. Gravy - White & Yellow Tangerine Hyper Xanthic cross het Tremper

Fig. 12. Ellora - White & Yellow Emerine G-Project Cross

Firebold is a line of tangerine bolds started by Carlo Maia and taken over by Geckoboa and begun in 2013 (Fig. 7 Nacho).

Bandit is a polygenic line of bold leopard geckos established by Ron Tremper where geckos have a distinctive band across the nose (Fig. 8. Gillian). Bold Bandits are Bandits that do not have the band across the nose (See Fig. 7. Teddy again).

Hypo describes the lack of pattern along a gecko’s body (Fig. 9. Borage), while a super hypo lacks pattern along the body and head (note that the word “super” used here does not refer to a homozygous incomplete dominant trait). My first leo was a SHTCTB named Sprocket that I got in 2009 (See Fig. 10. Sprocket!).

Hyper Xanthic (HX) is a yellow color line established by JMG Reptile in 2002 that greatly increases yellow pigment and marking contrast (Fig. 11. Gravy). Some of the prettiest Snows are also Hyper Xanthic.

Emerine geckos have areas on the head, tail and/or body that take on a greenish color, and G-Project (Fig. 12. Ellora), started by Matt Baronak of SaSobek Reptiles in 2006, is one of several established emerine lines.

Fig. 13. Melody - Electric x Hot Geckos tangerine cross with a carrot tail.

Fig. 14. Cardamom - Purple Head x Clown cross

Fig. 15. Sparrow - White and Yellow Red Stripe het Tremper

Fig. 16. Tatiana - 100% pure clown with no known hets (old photo before she got dark!)

Fig. 17. Pacha - Purple Head with no known traits

Fig. 18. Oberon - Blood Joker x Atomic Clown no known hets

Fig. 19. Luca - Giant White & Yellow Mack Snow Tangerine from Tangelo & Blood lineage

Fig. 20. Dante - Lavender Stripe from Blood x Lavender Stripe het Bell

Fig. 21. Skadi - Gecko Gallery Line Bold Lavender Stripe

Fig. 22. Ophelia - Dragoon Gecko line Dark Lavender Stripe

Fig. 23. Allistar - Dragoon line Ghost Lavender Jungle

Fig. 24. Barley - Tangerine Tremper Albino

Fig. 26. Tulip - Tangerine Typhon (Rainwater Eclipse) from RedHot lineage

Fig. 25. Ebi - Tangerine Lavender Stripe Bell Albino

Fig. 27. Heather - Dragoon Gecko Ghost Eclipse

Fig. 28. Atom - Paradox White and Yellow Rainbow Stripe Cross

Fig. 29. Paris - Lavender Gem Snow Bell Albino

Fig. 30. Lorelei - Giant Mack Snow Eclipse Fasciolatus cross (Godzilla line)

Fig. 4. Laurel - White and Yellow aberrant Mack Snow het RAPTOR

Fig. 3. Maya - White and Yellow Red Stripe Reverse Striped Tremper Albino

Carrot tail describes where at least 30% of the tail is tangerine (Fig. 13. Melody). Cardamom (Fig. 14.) has an exceptional carrot tail coming in, the color is nearly red. She is one of my best tangerines and is a Clown x Purple Head cross from 2025. This particular cross from Tatiana x Pacha has produced incredible tangerines!

Red Stripe is another polygenic morph that is one of my favorites. Red stripes are usually yellow or orange in body coloration with a pair of rusty orange/red stripes along their dorsal or upper laterals (Fig. 15. Sparrow).

Tangerines

Clown/Joker line tangerines began at SaSobek’s by crossing G-Project animals to high contrast Electric tangerines (Fig. 15. Tatiana). Clowns are a beautiful tangerine that are incredibly variable. Many have rusty red markings and stripes with emerine; they are one of my favorites.

Hot Geckos line of glowing tangerines were developed by Dan Lubinsky from a pair he obtained in 1995. The Electric (aka HISS) line of bright neon tangerines was developed by Kelli Hammack of HISS (See. Fig. 13. Melody again).

Purple Head tangerines are a deep red-orange on a lavender body and so naturally are one of my absolute favorite tangerines. They were started in 2010 and established over the years by Geckoboa (Fig. 16. Pacha).

Blood tangerines are JMG’s line of tangerines that were started in 2002, and Atomic line tangerines were started by Texas Lizard Connection and later popularized by Matt Baronak (Fig. 17. Oberon). Oberon came from a Blood Joker x Atomic Clown cross, combining several high end tangerine lines into one.

Tangelos are another one of my favorites, and are a combination morph between tangerine and Tremper albino that was developed and refined by Ron Tremper (Fig. 19. Luca ).

Fascio (aka Fasciolatus) - Many breeders will outcross to various subspecies to improve genetic diversity within a line. E.m.m. x E.m.f. crosses tend to have brighter whites, pastel yellows, soft lavenders and a speckled pattern (See Fig. 30 Lorelei below).

Lavender (aka lavender bold, lavender stripe)

Like tangerine, Hyper Xanthic and Emerine, Lavender is a color morph that has been line bred over generations to intensify pirple tones throughout the body and is incredibly difficult to breed for, as most juveniles tend to lose their lavender underneath yellow, emerine and tangerine pigments as they develop.

JMG was one of the first to set out to create lavenders back in 2003. The best lavenders retain their color throughout their lives. Our Dante (Fig. 20.) is an exceptional lavender stripe and one of the foundational males of our lavender project. He has strong lavender sides and bold spots.

Other lavender lines we work with include the Gecko Gallery line (Fig. 21. Skadi) and Dragoon dark and ghost lavenders (Fig. 22. Ophelia and Fig. 23. Allistar).

Recessive Traits

Albinos

Ron Tremper was the first to hatch an albino leopard gecko back in (Fig. 24. Barley).

Bell Albinos

Rainwater (Las Vegas) Albinos (Fig. 26. Tulip)

Eclipse (Fig. 27. Heather)

Dominant Traits

White and Yellow (Fig. 28. Atom)

Ghost (See Fig. 27. Heather and Fig. 22. Allistar)

Gem Snow (Fig. 29. Paris)

Incomplete Dominant Traits

Giant

Fig. 31. Steven - Super Mack Snow Eclipse het Tremper Albino

Fig. 32. Django

Fig. 33. Cowboy

Fig. 34. Toby

Mack Snows came from Reptiles by Mack and are the only morph we know (so far) that can not be reliably temperature sexed. The super form creates the Super Snow (Fig. 31. Steven).

Desert Bold

Fig. 35. Sequoia

Fig. 36. Boots

Desert Bold Project

Notes, thoughts, and observations - updated 3/17/26

Just from the single pairing we made last year (Django x Sparrow), we can already rule out DB as being a simple recessive trait (dd x DD = Dd), as Sparrow was not het for DB, and thus there would not be any DB kiddos.

Three Punnett Squares: Fig. A. Tremper (proven recessive), Fig. B. Desert Bold (hypothesis = simple recessive) & dihybrid cross with both (Fig. C.)

Fig. A. Tremper albino Punnett square. Expected phenotypic results would be 25% Tremper (tt) & 75% Normal/nonvisual hets (TT + Tt)

Fig. B. Desert Bold Punnett square if DB were a simple recessive trait. Expected phenotypic results would be 100% nonvisual hets (Dd)

Fig. C. Dihybrid cross DDTt x ddTt if DB is recessive (dd) like Tremper. Expected phenotypic results would be 25% Tremper and 75% nonvisual