A black Mack Snow?

[piranah]

:main_robin: Hi all,

I was just wondering if anyone working with the Mack Snows had any plans on trying to produce a solid black morph? Personally, I would rather see a recessive solid black morph with solid black eyes than a co-dom with solid black eyes. Here is a picture of one out of three very dark melanistic Mack Snows that we produced this year. This one pictured is a little over six months old, was incubated for male at around 90 degrees, and in spite that he has a 85-90 degree hot spot he still is very dark. Even their iris's, not the cornea, is very dark. Has anyone else produced these as of yet?

Thanks!

 

[RoseT]

Wow thats pretty nice looking... keep up the good work Maybe we will see a all black gecko soon

 

[brandy101010]

He is very cool!

 

[Sally Salamander]

WOw - that one even has a lot of black/dark blotching in between the spots.

Are you going to line breed them?

Wow - very interesting.

 

[eyelids]

Sweet!

 

[Intense Herpetoculture]

If you notice though he is more "compact" then most leos, which is what I've noticed in alot of melanistic specimens. What remains to be seen is if this is caused by environment or genetics. I've bred such specimens and just get normal looking babies. Even bred to the F2 with no results. I've also found that they do not reproduce well, small numbers of infertile clutches. Wish you the best.

 

[Franks_Geckos]

If you notice though he is more "compact" then most leos, which is what I've noticed in alot of melanistic specimens. What remains to be seen is if this is caused by environment or genetics. I've bred such specimens and just get normal looking babies. Even bred to the F2 with no results. I've also found that they do not reproduce well, small numbers of infertile clutches. Wish you the best.

That is a very interesting and astute observation. Food for thought.

 

[piranah]

Thanks everyone!

It will be interesting to see what his and the others offspring will look like. Hopefully I will hear from some that have produced some like mine so I can compare notes. RT wrote me to tell me:

"Well, this gecko is getting better with the black.
It has nice black toes which are a way to gauge ones with promise.
Keep the pics coming. Just a tip, which I will prove out next season,......... I feel the path to an all black gecko is via the mack
super snow"

It's real nice that RT wrote me and gave me a breeders tip like that! Hmmm, maybe Ron is planning to surprise us next year with a solid black morph? It would be interesting that his Diablo Blanco with solid ruby eyes is a solid white and he also premiers at the same time a solid black morph with solid black eyes!

I plan on breeding most of these heavily pigmented guys to other morphs, especially to the albinos. Hopefully this will take me deep down the path of a solid black morph. As far as the size goes on this one pictured he's pretty typical for his age except that he has an unusual amount of dark pigmenting. Color, or the lack there of, can at times, play tricks to the eyes, especially if it has to be viewed one dimensionally.

Thanks again to everyone!

I have added another picture of one of these darker than normal Mack Snows.

 

[wsmitty]

.........I feel the path to an all black gecko is via the mack
super snow".

Interesting. That thought has crossed my mind also. Super macks have the benefit of having no yellow pigment (not to mention the black eyes).

Good luck. An all black leo would be cool.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Personally and professionally, I would LOVE to see a beautiful, velvety-black, black-eyed gecko more than anything else. Very cool.

 

[Sally Salamander]

Personally and professionally, I would LOVE to see a beautiful, velvety-black, black-eyed gecko more than anything else. Very cool.

Not to mention, economically. Seeing that makes be breath heavy - seeing all the sales. :bucktooth:

 

[robin]

ron tremper and his advice *rolls eyes*

 

[Sally Salamander]

845 posts Robin? Good heavens, can anyone have that much to say?

I hope you kept it clean, you naughty, naughty girl....