P
PacHerp
Guest
I'm very intrigued with some of the head patterns I've seen on various leopard geckos - most notably within the R2 Bold Stripes, Halloween Masks, and pure Afghanicus.
During the 2009-2010 breeding seasons I will be focusing very heavily on working with the above morphs/subspecies. My intention is to breed them to see how predictable their head patterns are when bred pure, and how these traits are passed onto their offspring when bred together and outcrossed with completely new bloodlines.
I know there is a major debate on whether stripes and bold stripes are recessive, dominant or line bred. Personally, I feel there are different lines out there, some that have been line bred over time and now appear to be dominant. I strongly feel there are other 'lines' that are actually genetically dominant.
That said, here are some photos of some animals from my projects... some are breeders, others are offspring. I'd like to hear other peoples experience with such projects and their opinion on genetic head patterns.
Feel free to ask questions...
To start things off... a pure Halloween Mask -
Now a pure R2 Bold Stripe (typical nose band and bold head spots) -
And a recent HM x R2 hatchling after 1 shed... you can clearly see the inheritable nose band as well as the halloween mask head pattern beginning to show on the head.
For comparison, this is an outcrossed R2 X GGG bold stripe animal -
And now for some afghan head patterns - I've noticed at least 3-4 different head patterns with these guys... but most common, the 'four eyes' type of patterning. I'm leaning towards this just being a natural variation among this subspecies - that's why we're seeing it show up in our captive bred animals... they could have some sort of afghan influence down the line.
Typical afghan head patterning - notice the tubercles -
Afghan 'four eyes' type of head pattern -
And my favorite - the 'center spot' type of head pattern, also seen in some Halloween Masks.
I guess what I'm getting at here is that the Halloween Mask 'morph' is very unique, and different from the bold stripes and afghanicus - BUT... I suspect that they do have some afghan influences.
What intrigues me the most about the HM's is that they lighten and darken with age... I have some photos of my male when he looks almost black, his tail bands look like a week old hatchlings tail bands when he is in his 'dark stage' - other times, he is a lighter, more olive tone. I have not noticed this with the afghans or any bold stripe line. I'll try and document this further and post here when I have some photos.
And for Paul, I would love to see some photos that you have and hear more about your studies with these animals, as you've been working with them for several years now.
Thanks for taking the time to read this...
During the 2009-2010 breeding seasons I will be focusing very heavily on working with the above morphs/subspecies. My intention is to breed them to see how predictable their head patterns are when bred pure, and how these traits are passed onto their offspring when bred together and outcrossed with completely new bloodlines.
I know there is a major debate on whether stripes and bold stripes are recessive, dominant or line bred. Personally, I feel there are different lines out there, some that have been line bred over time and now appear to be dominant. I strongly feel there are other 'lines' that are actually genetically dominant.
That said, here are some photos of some animals from my projects... some are breeders, others are offspring. I'd like to hear other peoples experience with such projects and their opinion on genetic head patterns.
Feel free to ask questions...
To start things off... a pure Halloween Mask -
Now a pure R2 Bold Stripe (typical nose band and bold head spots) -
And a recent HM x R2 hatchling after 1 shed... you can clearly see the inheritable nose band as well as the halloween mask head pattern beginning to show on the head.
For comparison, this is an outcrossed R2 X GGG bold stripe animal -
And now for some afghan head patterns - I've noticed at least 3-4 different head patterns with these guys... but most common, the 'four eyes' type of patterning. I'm leaning towards this just being a natural variation among this subspecies - that's why we're seeing it show up in our captive bred animals... they could have some sort of afghan influence down the line.
Typical afghan head patterning - notice the tubercles -
Afghan 'four eyes' type of head pattern -
And my favorite - the 'center spot' type of head pattern, also seen in some Halloween Masks.
I guess what I'm getting at here is that the Halloween Mask 'morph' is very unique, and different from the bold stripes and afghanicus - BUT... I suspect that they do have some afghan influences.
What intrigues me the most about the HM's is that they lighten and darken with age... I have some photos of my male when he looks almost black, his tail bands look like a week old hatchlings tail bands when he is in his 'dark stage' - other times, he is a lighter, more olive tone. I have not noticed this with the afghans or any bold stripe line. I'll try and document this further and post here when I have some photos.
And for Paul, I would love to see some photos that you have and hear more about your studies with these animals, as you've been working with them for several years now.
Thanks for taking the time to read this...
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