For now I am around 3 years into the crested gecko breeding world.
But the morphs do stay a pain in the a*s.
As I want to learn as much as I can about genetics could you help me with the following.
I know that Tiger morph is a morph that is likely present in a lot of other morphs.
But I am having a hard time identifying the Tiger morph in high patterned animals. I would say that they are Extreme harlequins. Or do Extreme harleys ALWAYS have the tiger morph visible ? Are there any experienced breeders that could explain how you can see the difference or is it just something we see due to parents morphs etc ?
I already read the article on morphs from Lil Monsters but this is something I find hard.
I have some animals myself that I would say extreme harlequin and others will call dark base tigers. Or maybe we are both right ?
Ok, so atm there are a few different theories on cresties genetics around. Personally, Im more a fan of then Lil’ Reptiles one, since that one seems to be the most well-researched and most accurate one, based on my own observations as well.
If we look at that one, then, like you mentioned, the tiger trait is present in all animals. The tiger trait and tiger morph are two different things. Like how the dalmatian trait and the dalmatian morph are also two different things. Tigering as a trait presents as dark stripes on the animal, and aligns the pattern more vertically. For a gecko to be a tiger morph, they need to have the tiger look, with vertical stripes. This can be achieved when a phantom has strong tigering, or when a harlequin has strong tigering. They also both need to have little to no pinstriping, as where the tigering trait aligns pattern more vertically, the pinstriping aligns it horizontally. So a gecko doesn’t necessarily have to be one or the other, as there are both phantom tigers and harlequin tigers (usually extreme harlequins, but not always).
As for your geckos, both appear to be halloweens (harlequins with mostly or only orange pattern), and while the first one has visual tigering, I wouldn’t necessarily consider the striping strong enough in either to be tigers, but i bet that they could make tigers in the right pairings.
I don’t work with these at all so have nothing useful to add, but I had to say that these two are really bewitching! They’re both gorgeous. I especially like the first one, but they’re both quite lovely.
Its making me really want to get back into Cresties…
This and the oversaturated market are the big reasons why I got out of breeding them, it was quite a bit of confusion for me being new at breeding them being only familiar with basic genetics at the time.
Someone in the past on this forum had mentioned that Crested Geckos may produce polymorphic offspring and I think that is what I struggled with the most as far as IDing them because mine popped out kiddos that had traits niether parent presented with.
(I had an orange Harlequin 0.1 and cream colored Pinstripe 1.0 that popped out Halloweens, Lavender Extreme Harlequins, Harlequins and Pins that had Tangerine coloration with some being pretty extreme… just a few as an example.)
I loved it but it was a mess to figure out pricing and IDing them when I didn’t have any real guide or forum like this one to offer help.
Yes, that is a challenge indeed.
That is the reason I want to learn as much about the morphs as I can before we start to breed. We had a trial year and I have learned a lot from that.
I have a goal and a vision of what I want to archieve in the future. But I need to learn and as you say sometimes you get a very different outcome with the offspring then you thought. And I think that can be fun
So I want to select specific animals for Breeding and don’t participate with the mass low quality breeding … but only breed what I need to archieve that goal.
It is a very rewarding and fun hobby !
But a big learning process too, but i don’t mind that.
Price wise I do what I want … I do not ask crazy high prices and probably will never.
My goal is to breed gorgeous animals that are healthy and not make a lot of money.
I want to breed towards an animal that I think is beautifull … not what is wanted or popular. And morphs are a guideline for yourself in helping with genetics. But when I buy an animal I do not pay attention to the morph that is advertised to be honest. Just the parents, other offspring from these parents and the fenotype of the gecko.
Just do what you love and make room for a lot of animals
Hear, hear! I breed corn snakes rather than cresties, but that post is an excellent summary of what Is say is a sound breeding philosophy. Especially the last part!
Wishing you the best of luck!
I think we’re at one of the most exciting points in the crestie breeding journey right now tbh, it’s so worth it, even if the market is a bit slow. New discoveries are popping up all the time, and the understanding of their genetics in general have changed so much in the past 5 years or so. Cresties aren’t just able to produce polymorphic offspring, they’re polymorphic by nature, both in the sense that there are multiple distinct phenotypes present in the wild, but also in the sense that there’s no such thing as a singular “normal” trait, that’s one reason they’re so much fun to work with imo!
A pairing that might look pretty simple or “poor quality” can produce some insane things, if you just know what to look for. Most of the time when you produce “oddballs” you’ll find that the traits are actually present in the parents if you look closely.
Lots of people are still struggling with the genetics stuff, and there’s a lot of myths and downright bullying when it comes to pairings, so we still have a long way to go, and it’s important to breed what you’re excited about, and not just what everyone else wants. But if you do, it’s so worth it, just make sure to make babies that you wouldn’t mind keeping anyway
Holy moly those guys are simply stunning! I have no knowledge of crestie morphs but I do know they make great animals to keep. My little one is such a love!
I breed corn snakes rather than cresties, but that post is an excellent summary of what Is say is a sound breeding philosophy. Especially the last part! 
