Black Pearl

[justindh1]

Ohh believe me I don't hate the morph just ain't worth throwing down 3 grand to me. If it was completly black then i would. A hyper-melanistic animal isn't all black, it is a gecko with excessive amounts of black. Melanistic would be all 100% black. The black panther is a melanistic panther.

 

[Whitey]

Well, heres a question... and this is me simply not knowing the answer.

ok, I am not a breeder so I dont understand the whole business side of things nor the genetic side of things... but me as a regular old pet owner, wants one of these, why would I pay 3k for it? I guess my question is, is that why is the price so high? I know its the breeders choice, but me as a pet owner would never pay that much... I hope someone can understand where Im coming from and what Im trying to ask.

And yes, I realize its a brand new morph, supply and demand... yadda yadda yadda, but 3k? Maybe a grand (pet owners standpoint, even without the genetics proven out). Again, I hope Im not offending anyone, just trying to understand.

 

[acpart]

I'm glad it's being developed and that people are excited about them. I prefer light geckos with black speckles, which is fortunate since we're now a 1-income family and it isn't the bigger income.

Aliza

 

[Halley]

Well, heres a question... and this is me simply not knowing the answer.

ok, I am not a breeder so I dont understand the whole business side of things nor the genetic side of things... but me as a regular old pet owner, wants one of these, why would I pay 3k for it? I guess my question is, is that why is the price so high? I know its the breeders choice, but me as a pet owner would never pay that much... I hope someone can understand where Im coming from and what Im trying to ask.

And yes, I realize its a brand new morph, supply and demand... yadda yadda yadda, but 3k? Maybe a grand (pet owners standpoint, even without the genetics proven out). Again, I hope Im not offending anyone, just trying to understand.

Well if you breed them you have a chance at making that money back. So instead of just paying for a display animal you're basically making an investment.

 

[PacHerp]

Hey guys... relax, wait just a minute.

First off, I'm thrilled that Craig is now the exclusive breeder/owner of the Black Pearls, we can all finally see them from someone who, in my opinion, takes some of the best photos in the business. I'm glad to see him releasing the Black Pearl morph. Being an optimist, I hope this new release will help bring much needed excitement back into our hobby after the all enigma mess... who created the rule of needing to 'prove out' a morph before releasing it anyways? :main_huh:

Alright... lets talk price. $3k, yeah, that's a hunk a' change... that's a down payment on a car, a vacation to Disneyland, a newly landscaped backyard, a new bedroom set... I could go on and on... regardless of what the price compares to, to some... this morph is priceless. To me, this morph is WELL worth the asking price. I'll go ahead and say... if this morph was 100% proven, I could see folks throwing down a full 5K for it.

What I'm also gathering from the reaction on this thread, it seem people think that breeders who release new morphs are just simply passing along the 'work' of proving the morph out to their customers, and the breeder then walks away with all the cash and the reputation. I don't see it this way at all, but maybe I'm too much of an optimist. I feel that working with rare new mutations and morphs such as the Black Pearl is a PRIVILEGE... and nothing less.

If you don't want to work with the mutation, then simply, don't. But don't sit around putting down those who are interested in this project and are extremely excited to have the PRIVILEGE of working with this new morph.

signing out...

 

[Haligren]

I have to agree with some people here. I can see paying 3k for a solid black one, but not for a sorta black one. lol Although those are beautiful and I am very excited for this morph myself, I think I'll wait patiently for the morph to develop a bit further before I start throwing down my life's savings for it.

Then again, I'm not a breeder, and I can see how something like this would be priceless in their eyes. I'd just love to have one for my collection and not so much for breeding. So...I'll probably be waiting for a while before these guys are more affordable.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

No way am I faulting anyone for getting in to this awesome morph! I have always dreamed of a solid black, velvety leopard gecko. I would think that since melanism is a 'default' gene for these guys, that creating a black leo would be easier than creating a solid yellow or orange one. But then again, xanthism is also a 'default' gene...

I all honestly, I cannot share how I really feel about the introduction of the Black Pearl without violating the TOS of this website. What I can say is, that after 14 years of working with leopard geckos we have done our damnedest to breed the dark markings OUT of these geckos, and quite frankly I am happy to see many people that are enthusiastic about the reverse of that. A long time ago, I produced many geckos that were hyper-melanistic, and nobody wanted them because the newest trend was 'hypo'-melanistic.

What concerns me is there is yet another 'new' morph that really isn't new being marketed without fully understanding the genetics behind it. The key word here is 'marketed'.

I have no problem in the world with anyone making money at breeding and producing leopard geckos! Myself, I am a terrible marketeer and sales person, LOL! But stop and think for a minute... if any of you want to get in to working with this morph thinking that you will make a lot of money, you will be sorely disappointed. If you want to work with this morph because it's exciting, then go for it!

Yet there is a huge part of me that is disappointed and discouraged once again another gecko is being put up on the market without being proven out first, and lots of money being made up front for some, and another dead-end project for so many others. This gecko is NOT an investment... it is something that should be exciting to work with!

Some of you are talking about crossing them with hypos and pattys. This is WRONG!!! A Blizzard would be the BEST morph to cross with this morph. Why? Because it does not have any 'natural' yellow or orange coloration. The blizzard is white, gray, or charcoal-colored, and many have black eyes. I would LOVE to see a solid black gecko with black eyes!!!

Sooo... for those of you who have dollar signs in your eyes... good luck! For those of you who want the joy and challenge of working with a gecko that might have have incredible potential, you have my heartfelt blessing. I will wait for the 'perfect' gecko before I can justify spending $3K at this point in my life.

 

[spykerherps]

Power to the people that WILL be working with them. Perhaps a few years down the road after some SELECTIVE/LINE BREEDING they will be even darker. or "black" with carrot tails, Good Luck:main_thumbsup:

 

[Baoh]

Meh.

 

[PacHerp]

As far as them being black, I know they are not. I do feel they will by a true hyper melanistic gecko. Craig explained it as how they look like a black panther, as black panthers are super dark but you can see the original pattern underneath and this is the same for the black pearls.

I forgot to mention this in my previous post...

I've also spoken to Craig about this description, and it really seems to be in line with the look the black pearls have... here are a few pics of some 'black panthers' just in case anyone is interested.

 

[ElapidSVT]

black gecko with blazing red eyes...
that would do it for me.. or maybe glowing yellow eyes...
my .02

 

[SFgeckos]

wow

I think that this "new morph" has unlimited potential, however I feel that perhaps they should have been made available say 3-4 months from now...when those 15-20 gram babies are 40-50 grams and "adult" size/coloration? There is no guarantee that if you purchase the "darkest" black pearl, that she will be the "darkest" as an adult and vice versa!

However, also looking at it from a marketing/advertising point of view, it is very smart to release them NOW before everyone's eggs have hatched.

Jon

 

[Malibu Barbie]

Unfortunately I am not able to buy one right now.....
I have no real interest in breeding them, but I would LOVE to own one.... just looking at that thing:love:

 

[DarthGekko]

I think they are pretty awesome looking. 3k is a lot of $$ especially for a female but they are super rare and command the price. I can't wait to see who has enough $$ and enthusiasm to work with this new morph! I support them 100% because it's that type of motivation that keeps this passion alive

 

[boutiquegecko]

First off, I'm thrilled that Craig is now the exclusive breeder/owner of the Black Pearls
.

But LA still says they are breeding them and will have them available this year? So there is no "exclusive" breeder/owner. Is this a wrong fact?

I think it would be neat to have one. Like a lot of other morphs, just remember, what we think about the genetics could change, so I hope no one gets all mad because they think it's one thing, but ends up being something else. People just have to work together and try diff pairings to figure out what's going on.

Just looks like it hypos out the albino to me.

 

[Malibu Barbie]

Correct me if im wrong, but didn´t Konrad release some a few month ago ?
On TUG´s site it says that non of the offspring have been sold - I don´t get it - What am i missing ???

 

[skmcwilliams]

I forgot to mention this in my previous post...

I've also spoken to Craig about this description, and it really seems to be in line with the look the black pearls have... here are a few pics of some 'black panthers' just in case anyone is interested.

Thank you for showing that. I do believe the black panther really captures what the black pearl is doing with it's pattern also. This is definately going to be a heck of a couple seasons either way:main_thumbsup:

 

[boutiquegecko]

Exactly Anne. From old threads Tug bought them last September, but LA still has them, and says they sold them in Feb to the public. Big circle of confusion to me.

 

[hybrid]

I was always taught that the Black Panthers was a "black version" of the Leopard as well. If you look at the both side by side, u can actually see the came cat, just diff color of coat.

 

[eyelids]

That is where I'm confused too Marlo...