Leopard geckos are very popular reptile pets and breeders have made it more interesting by breeding and producing new extraordinary morphs. Selective breeding has enabled various breeders to create new traits and morphs of leopard geckos.
Various traits, genes and even incubation temperatures help develop specific morphs or determine the gender of leopard geckos. And the good news is, breeders have not stopped discovering and experimenting, and new morphs are on their way.
In this post, we will look at different leopard gecko morphs. We will discuss pattern, color, eye color and physical variations in leopard gecko morphs.
Let’s look at different pattern variations in leopard geckos
Please note: you might need to put your phone to landscape mode (horizontally) to see pictures in full size.
| Striped leopard gecko | Striped leopard geckos have altered stripes on their bodies. Leopard geckos with altered stripes have a bright line going along their body, with darker lines going around the bright line. Reverse stripe morphs are opposite – they have dark lines running across the body. The tail is also of different color – dark in striped geckos and mostly white in reversed stripe morphs. There are various striped leopard geckos, for example a Red Stripe. On the picture, you can see a red stripe and reverse stripe morphs. |   |
| Jungle leopard gecko | Jungle leopard geckos have irregular blotches, stripes and dots on their body and legs. On this picture you can see a Mack Snow Jungle Bell morph. |  |
| Patternless | Patternless leopard geckos lack any dark spots on their bodies. Their body color develops and changes with age. They are born with brown spots on their bodies, but most of them disappear by maturity, leaving a lightly colored body without any dark spots. Patternless leopard geckos look like Leucistic geckos, but the difference is with presence of light reflecting cells in leucistic geckos. True leucistic leopard geckos don’t have any spots on their bodies. There are also Murphy Patternless leopard geckos, which have normal spots on their bodies, but they disappear after a year or so after birth. On this picture you can see a bronze colored patternless leopard gecko. |  |
| Snow | Snow leopard geckos don’t have a yellow pigment on their skin. This makes other pigments, such as white and black, stand out. True patternless snows are fully white, while half snows (only one dominant super snow gene), are Mack Snows. Mack Super Snows have a dark pattern and black eyes. They are usually crossed with other morphs to create unique colors. On the picture you can see a Mack Snow and Mack Snow Blizzard leopard geckos. |   |
| Blizzard | Blizzard leopard geckos look like snows and also lack any dark background pigment. |  |
| Enigma | Enigma leopard geckos have different patterns on their bodies. Their patterns develop fully only with age. Enigma crossed with RAPTOR, for example, results in a morph called NOVA (light colored geckos with ruby red eyes). On this picture you can see Enigma Tangerine leopard gecko, and NOVA, and their amazing patterns. |   |
| Hypomelanistic | Hypomelanistic leopard geckos, or hypos, have a limited number of dark spots on their bodies because of an inherited gene . |  |
| Paradox | Paradox leopard geckos have random spots on their bodies, that have not been predicted by breeders. These spots can be anywhere on the body. On this picture, you can see a white and yellow Paradox leopard gecko. It has a random dark spot on its back. |  |
| A.P.T.O.R | APTOR are Albino Patternless Tremper Orange leopard geckos. These geckos are patternless and are brightly colored (yellow). |  |
| Creamsicle | Creamsicle leopard geckos are pale and have orange and yellow markings on their bodies. They are Super Hypo Tangerine Carrot Tail Mack Snows. |  |
| Dreamsicle | Dreamsicle leopard geckos are white and have yellow spots on their bodies. They also have red eyes. Dreamsicle is a mix of RAPTOR, Mack Snow and Enigma. |  |
| Albino, or amelanistic gecko | Albino leopard geckos can’t produce melanin, which is a black pigment. There are different types of Albinos, for example Tremper Albino and Bell Albino. |  |
Leopard geckos with color variations
| Tangerine, or Orange, Tangerine Tornado,Tangelo | Tangerine, or orange leopard geckos have a high number of tangerine-orange pigmentation on their bodies. There are also Tangerine Tornado leopard geckos, who are very orangy in color. Tangelo leopard gecko is a result of crossing an orange morph with Tremper albino, resulting in orange stripes or blotches on a white body. On this picture you can see a normal tangerine leopard gecko and Tangelo morph. |   |
| Lavender | Lavender leopard geckos have a slightly purple coloring on their skin. This is mostly caused by genetics, but many Lavenders tend to lose their purple coloring with age. |  |
| High Yellow (Super Yellow) | High yellow leopard geckos have extremely bright yellow coloring on their skin. |  |
| Carrot tail or carrot head | Carrot tail/head leopard geckos have extra orange pigmentation on their tails or heads. On this picture, you can see a Carrot tail leopard gecko. |  |
| Melanistic, Black Velvet, Black Pearl, Black Hole | Black leopard geckos are very similar to melanistic leopards, which have increased black pigment on their skins. Melanistic leopard geckos are mostly black, but breeders are working on completely black morphs. There is also a Black Hole leopard gecko, which is a result of crossing Enigma, Mack Snow and Eclipse leopard geckos. Black Holes have black stripes on their bodies on a light background. On this picture, you can see a Black Pearl leopard gecko. |  |
| Emerald, Emerine | Emerald, or Emerine leopard geckos have differently shaped greenish patterns on their bodies. |  |
| Ghost | Ghost geckos have normal black coloring on their bodies, but with age, they become pale. Stripes, blotches and patterns remains the same. By 12 months, they usually have a pale skin. On this picture, you can see a Mack Snow Hypo Jungle Ghost leopard gecko. |  |
| Ember | Ember leopard gecko is a result of crossing a Murphy Patternless with RAPTOR, resulting in a light leopard gecko with red eyes. |  |
| Eclipse | Eclipse leopard geckos have fully covered black or red eyes. The solid color can be black or red and is often seen in Blizzards and Mack Super Snows. |  |
| Hybino, and Sunglow | Hybino leopard geckos are developed by crossing Hypo gecko albinos or other morphs. |  |
| Diablo Blanco | Diablo Blanco leopard geckos have a white body and red eyes. It is developed by crossing Blizzards, Tremper Albinos, Tremper Eclipse, and Patternless geckos. |  |
Eye color variations in leopard geckos
| RAPTOR, or R.A.P.T.O.R | RAPTOR leopard geckos have red eyes. Red eyes are caused by recessive gene, so a leopard gecko must have both genes to have red eyes. RADAR leopard geckos, for example, also have red eyes. |   |
| Eclipse | Eclipse leopard geckos have dark eyes. This is also caused by a recessive gene. |  |
| Mack Super Snow eyes | Mack Super Snows have dark eyes, caused by a co-dominant gene. |  |
| Snake Eyes | Snake eyes in leopard geckos look like mix of colors or faded black color. The eye is often black but has a fade on the sides. This can happen in Blizzards and Tremper Eclipse morphs. |  |
Physical variations in leopard geckos
| Genetic Giant | Genetic giant leopard gecko is caused by an incompletely dominant gene. These leopard geckos are much larger than normal geckos and usually weigh up to 100 grams. Super giants, who have both giant parents, grow even larger, weighing 110-130 grams. On this picture, you can see a Super Giant leopard gecko. |  |
We hoped you enjoyed reading this article! Make sure to read our next article on choosing a terrarium and correct substrate for your leopard gecko!