I've gotten a few questions pertaining to photos of carrottails I've posted- so instead of repeating myself in emails, I figured I'ld just post photos/information here. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll try my best to answer them!
As far as I know, the "classic" carrottail bloodline originated from Ray Hine in the UK in the late 1990s. A small handful of breeders in the US obtained carrottails from his line and began introducing tangerine lines in the hopes of improving overall body coloration and carrottail percentage. "Carrottails" a decade ago were nothing like you see now, the majority of the animals were only 20-40% carrottails, with a few VERY expensive individuals having 50-75%. I started humbly working with the "Hine" carrottails in 2001, below is a photo of the best one I produced in 2002 (if you can't see the picture, please see this old link
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/photo.php?id=26834
In my experience, the "Hine" carrottail bloodlines hatch out as bright yellow banded animals and as they age their bands/spots fade away to produce an almost patternless yellow body (or head if they have the baldy trait) and they "gain" bright orange/almost red carrottail until they are 30-40gram subadults (some animals may take longer to achieve their final carrottail). Some animals from this bloodline in my care, particularly females after breeding, can "lose" carrottail and most adults as they age will have their carrottail coloration "fade" to a duller orange. Generally speaking, pure "Hine" carrottails have bright yellow body colorations and a brighter orange carrottail than the carrottails I've currently been working on. (see photo below, not truly pure Hines carrottails, but closest animals I have!)
I should also mention that when I first started with the "Hine" carrottails, I noticed they had some minor phenotypic traits (example-scales on limbs) and behaviors (example-being more vocal) than the other "normal/high yellow/jungle" and Murphy patternless leopard geckos I was working with at the time. I can't be certain, but some breeders suspected they were possibly a subspecies or had major locality population differences from the leopard geckos in the industry at that time.
My carrottails generally hatch out with banded or jungle/striped patterns and within the first two sheds their "final" carrottail is already evident. Their body coloration can really vary, but they are NOT yellow- the majority of them have varying shades of orange body colorations, dorsal stripes or jungle pattern, and some head spots (I wouldn't call them tangerines, still working on that!)
Below are some examples of my carrottails.
2010
2011
5 gram 2011 carrottail
Comparisons of "classic look" vs my carrottails:
Anyways, I hope this helps to clear up some confusion. Please comment, I'ld like to hear your opinions!
Jon
As far as I know, the "classic" carrottail bloodline originated from Ray Hine in the UK in the late 1990s. A small handful of breeders in the US obtained carrottails from his line and began introducing tangerine lines in the hopes of improving overall body coloration and carrottail percentage. "Carrottails" a decade ago were nothing like you see now, the majority of the animals were only 20-40% carrottails, with a few VERY expensive individuals having 50-75%. I started humbly working with the "Hine" carrottails in 2001, below is a photo of the best one I produced in 2002 (if you can't see the picture, please see this old link
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/photo.php?id=26834
In my experience, the "Hine" carrottail bloodlines hatch out as bright yellow banded animals and as they age their bands/spots fade away to produce an almost patternless yellow body (or head if they have the baldy trait) and they "gain" bright orange/almost red carrottail until they are 30-40gram subadults (some animals may take longer to achieve their final carrottail). Some animals from this bloodline in my care, particularly females after breeding, can "lose" carrottail and most adults as they age will have their carrottail coloration "fade" to a duller orange. Generally speaking, pure "Hine" carrottails have bright yellow body colorations and a brighter orange carrottail than the carrottails I've currently been working on. (see photo below, not truly pure Hines carrottails, but closest animals I have!)
I should also mention that when I first started with the "Hine" carrottails, I noticed they had some minor phenotypic traits (example-scales on limbs) and behaviors (example-being more vocal) than the other "normal/high yellow/jungle" and Murphy patternless leopard geckos I was working with at the time. I can't be certain, but some breeders suspected they were possibly a subspecies or had major locality population differences from the leopard geckos in the industry at that time.
My carrottails generally hatch out with banded or jungle/striped patterns and within the first two sheds their "final" carrottail is already evident. Their body coloration can really vary, but they are NOT yellow- the majority of them have varying shades of orange body colorations, dorsal stripes or jungle pattern, and some head spots (I wouldn't call them tangerines, still working on that!)
Below are some examples of my carrottails.
2010
2011
5 gram 2011 carrottail
Comparisons of "classic look" vs my carrottails:
Anyways, I hope this helps to clear up some confusion. Please comment, I'ld like to hear your opinions!
Jon
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