Weird Gecko on Pangea forums!

[inkling13]

   ok so I dunno who else has seen this or not but you should check it out.  This crestie is half white, I'm not talking greyish moonglow I mean half his body has no color pigment the other half is yellow tiger.  There is even a video.
http://www.pangeareptile.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54958
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rksWVwSiy_g
 I definitely agree with the statements where he looks like a burn victim, that was the first thing to pop into my mind.  If it can me passed on I don't know if I would ever want one, its interesting, just not for me.

[zuk450]

ive been following the thread about this guy on the repashy forums lately. from what i understand none of his offspring have shown the trait, and neither one of the parents showed the trait either.  truly an oddball 

[samanthajane13]

Yeah-I have no idea what's going on with him, but I'd be worried about passing it on to the next generation.

I suspect a gecko-version of vitiligo or some kind of injury due to exposure to something caustic.

[inkling13]

Well I can understand neither the parents or offspring showing it.  If the trait is recessive then both of his parents could have had recessive copies of the gene and be "carriers" without showing.  He was bred to unrelated females so its highly unlikely that any of them would be a recessive "carrier" so while the babies might have inherited the recessive trait from daddy none of them would show it because the genetics from mom would trump it.  Now if these babies were bred back to dad or were bred to each other then its possible the next generation might have some that get a recessive white gene from each parent and thus show it.

The easiest example I can think of is red hair in people.  you get two sets of hair color from your parents, one from mom and one from dad, and they have to both be red for you to have red hair.  Red hair is really recessive and a "weak" gene so if you had say red from mom and brown from dad the brown would "win" every time.  This makes it possible to have red hair passed through families for generations without it showing because each person had a second more dominant color.  Eventually though the genetics match up and boom you get the first red head baby for 6 generations either side.

But then again this gecko's coloring might just be a random fluke that occurred during incubation (there are some on the Pangea post that understand and explain that way better than I could) and thus not be heritable.  Only time, and more babies, will tell.

I don't know the more time I look at the pictures the less creepy he looks, maybe the look would grow on me in time.  Its just the initial shock of "What the *beep*?!?"

[samanthajane13]

Yeah-that about sums it up!

I think of it more as a curiosity and a poor deformed animal, but the owner is trying to rake in the big bucks by selling it as a new morph.   

[crazytanak]

I think its pretty cute. Matt from Pangea bought it. The guy only does BPs, so i think its good he sold it to someone who will take care of the project and breed correctly. I think the price was outrageous for a nonproven morph, but you never know. no need to doubt it that much yet.

[samanthajane13]

Yeah-I saw that.  I'm glad it's Matt, and not someone who would just hide it and it's progeny away as collectables.

I figured Anthony would be another good person to own it.

[inkling13]

I did wonder if Anthony had gone for it when I saw the project had been sold.

[samanthajane13]

Anthony probably wasn't even aware of it, since the original owner was posting on Pangea and the Repashy forum, but not here.

I have no idea why, but there's an almost rabid attitude toward Anthony at Pangea.

I've never met either Matt or Anthony, but I can't think of two nicer guys, just from doing business with them.

As I said over on Pangea, I can only think of a small handful of very experienced breeders who can do this project the justice it deserves.  Matt is one of them, Anthony and Allen Repashy are two others.

Maybe Philip De Vasjoli and Frank Fast.  I know that Philip specializes in Leachies, so I don't know if he'd even be interested in this one.
 
Frank Fast??  Who knows.

I'm just glad ONE of them got him, and he isn't being stashed away into some guy's private collection-never to be heard from or seen by the general herp public again.

[zuk450]

agreed, matt at pangea will be able to fully explore all the genetic posiblities with this guy.

 maybe in a few years we will know if is a passable trait or a just a freak mutation. either way the crested market needs a fresh shot of adrenaline like this, things seem to have stagnated for the past few years (besides "tri colors", those seem to be the newest thing  )

[samanthajane13]

For sure!!

This may be just what the hobby needs!

[altitudeexotics]

Anthony probably wasn't even aware of it, since the original owner was posting on Pangea and the Repashy forum, but not here.

I have no idea why, but there's an almost rabid attitude toward Anthony at Pangea.

I've never met either Matt or Anthony, but I can't think of two nicer guys, just from doing business with them.

As I said over on Pangea, I can only think of a small handful of very experienced breeders who can do this project the justice it deserves.  Matt is one of them, Anthony and Allen Repashy are two others.

Maybe Philip De Vasjoli and Frank Fast.  I know that Philip specializes in Leachies, so I don't know if he'd even be interested in this one.
 
Frank Fast??  Who knows.

I'm just glad ONE of them got him, and he isn't being stashed away into some guy's private collection-never to be heard from or seen by the general herp public again.

Anthony was well aware of it, he's actually known about that animal for over a year, he is friends with Winston, the seller.

Matt is a great person to have this project, probably the second best person I can think of, A close second to myself

[samanthajane13]

I didn't realize that Anthony was friends with Winston, but there had to be a reason why he didn't jump at the chance to work with the gecko.  Maybe he had reservations on whether the piebald trait is genetic.  And even if it is, how would you find a female with the trait?

Who know??

As I said-I'm very happy for Matt-who is nuttier than squirrel-crap to pay that kind of money for a gecko that's questionable, if you ask me-but that's beside the point.  (If I were his wife, I'd string him up by the cajones and use him for a pinata... )

You have to spend money to make money.

Even if the piebald doesn't prove out, he will have a good home with someone who truly knows how to care for him and will give him the quality of life that ALL animals deserve.

[crazytanak]

I would have paid it if i had a spare million dollars laying around. I would have talked him down in price just because the color is so up in the air right now. BTW matt said he is gonna post pics of the guy tomorrow!