Snows???

[KDesautels08]

Hey Guys,

So last season I bred a female mack Snow Eclipse with a male Mack Snow (het eclipse).. Recently I went to sell some of the babies, but ran into a slight issue.. When these babies hatched, they hatched black and white (looking like snows), but as they matured they (ALL) turned BRIGHT yellow, and I wasn't sure if they would still be considered snows (I am aware that snow is a co dom trait - but I have never seen such a dramatic color change in a leopard gecko before.)

 

[Neon Aurora]

As long as they hatched black and white, they are genetic snows. Having hatchling photos to provide potential buyers if they ask is probably a good idea. That gecko is pretty bright yellow (I like it's pattern BTW), but black and white adults is a line-bred thing so I think it's pretty normal to have snows that yellow up as they age if the parents aren't super black and white.

Just be very sure that the babies are all snows before you sell them as such since you still have a chance of producing wild-types with that pair.

EDIT: Made a genetics boo-boo. I deleted the incorrect part.

 

[KDesautels08]

As long as they hatched black and white, they are genetic snows. Having hatchling photos to provide potential buyers if they ask is probably a good idea. That gecko is pretty bright yellow (I like it's pattern BTW), but black and white adults is a line-bred thing so I think it's pretty normal to have snows that yellow up as they age if the parents aren't super black and white.

Just be very sure that the babies are all snows before you sell them as such since you still have a chance of producing wild-types with that pair.

EDIT: Made a genetics boo-boo. I deleted the incorrect part.

Thank you,

I really appreciate the response, the mother of this gecko was fairly yellow too.. Not anywhere near this yellow, but a good amount. The father was white and black.. I have seen Mack Snows with some traces of yellow, but this picture doesn't even do it justice, and ALL of the babies out of this pairing were like this. Unfortunately I only have baby pictures on one of them. Maybe it would be best to do some test breeding this upcoming season?

 

[Neon Aurora]

There are a couple options. If it were me, I would look at them each individually. If there are some that I was dead sure were snows at hatching, I would label them as snows. Since you don't have photos, buyers would just have to take your word for it (which is why I would want to be REALLY sure they are snows). If there are some you're not really sure about or don't remember them as babies well enough, I would label them "possible snow". You could test breed them if you wanted to, but the other option is also just fine and is the way I would do it.

Did you get any super snows from this pairing? That would guarantee that both parents are definitely snows. If not and you are super confident in the parents' genetics, than don't worry about it.

It's always good practice to take photos of each baby when it hatches. Sometimes buyers want to see hatchling photos and it's just good record keeping. I admit I didn't take pics of all of my hatchlings from 2016, though, so it happens. In my case I just got bored because a lot of them looked the same and weren't super cool looking, haha. Next season, though, I plan to take pics of everyone regardless of how interesting they look.

 

[acpart]

Here's what I did with hatchling pictures this season: I took a picture of each hatchling (around 60 of them) on my phone within a day of hatching. When someone buys a gecko, I bring the hatchling picture up on my phone, have them type in their email and hit "send" so they get emailed a "baby picture" at time of purchase.

Aliza

 

[KDesautels08]

Thank you guys,

I did not get any super snows from this pairing, but i have baby pictures on a couple of them, I appreciate all of the advice, and will be sure to take baby pictures in the future to avoid this confusion. Thanks again!