The Sykes Rainbow… ahhh such a beautiful morph yet so elusive as I scavenge for any source of information on this morph. They’re a beautiful morph full of different browns and tans- the occasional green (in some specimens). This post is partly to share the knowledge I know about this morph, partly to create a place to gain more information on this morph, and partly a place for anyone to comment their understandings on this morph so we can all learn from each other!
From my google searches here is what I’ve found:
- Any line of rainbow is a General Line Bred/Polygenic trait.
- The Sykes Rainbows Origin: Steven Sykes (Geckos ETC Herpteculture).
- I believed this trait was developed from Rainbow Stripes (A&M Origin)- characterized by their orange/green coloring. This morph is the foundation for other rainbow projects such as the G Project and hint hint the Sykes Rainbow.
- Type of line-bred Stripe morph
That’s all I found on Google- seriously I’m struggling to find any good information on them.
HOWEVER! Since welcoming home a beautiful Reverse Stripe, Tremper Albino, Sykes Rainbow, pos het Eclipse from Geckos ETC, I decided to ask them for more details about this morph. Especially since they are the creators of this awesome morph. Here’s what they shared:
- Line-bred morph developed by Steve Sykes.
- Characterizations:
- Rows of color runs down their backs. Usually
in the form of bold tangerine, yellow, and
sometimes even green stripes. - Clean Reverse Stripe down the back, and
often with a row of black spots down the
length of that Reverse Stripe pattern. - The bold lines down their back gives off their
appearance of a “rainbow”, hence the origin
of their name.
- Rows of color runs down their backs. Usually
So, what’s the goal if you want to work with this morph? Thanks to the Geckos ETC team, they gave me (and everyone else now) a really great place to start with this morph. So here it is:
~ Goal: Increase the tangerine color in the gecko’s pattern to increase the overall contrast of various clean stripes.
What’s next?
I hope I’ve shared some fun and informative info for anyone curious about this morph. I think they are AWESOME, and I wish I saw them around more. Nevertheless, keeping a few Sykes Rainbows around to enjoy the morph has been fun. They really are a neat gecko to observe.
I’ll include some examples of my two Sykes Rainbows below so you can see them, especially if you’ve never heard of the morph before.
Kona || Female || Sykes Rainbow Het Tremper Pos Het Eclipse || Bred By: Geckos ETC ||
- Kona is a pretty representation of a Sykes Rainbow without Tremper Albino. Personally, I like this form slightly more than the Tremper form- though they are both beautiful! I struggle to find that Reverse Stripe along her back, and I don’t see too much green on her. But her stripes are definitely different colors nevertheless.
Corsair || Male || Sykes Rainbow Reverse Stripe Tremper Albino Pos Het Eclipse || Bred By: Geckos ETC ||
- I just welcomed Corsair home a few days ago, giving him time to settle in before I mess with him. The PICTURE CREDIT belongs to Steve Sykes’ team at Gecko ETC. Nevertheless, he’s a really interesting looking Sykes Rainbow since he’s Albino unlike my female Kona.
So, what are your thoughts about the Sykes Rainbow morph now? Have you learned anything new? Did you know about this morph until now? And now for my FAVORITE question: If you were to make a project with these geckos, what would you do? Would you keep a classic pure? Would you add new traits? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, thanks for reading! I hope I taught you some new facts as I summarized this morph up for myself as well. 
