History of the Carrot Leopard Tail Gecko

Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at 4:32 pm

The carrot leopard tail gecko was first introduced into the U.S. by the pet trade towards the late 70’s. During the process of importing these geckos many new species were created due to lack of knowledge and care. At the time the varying species where not kept separated as they should have been resulting in further subspecies on top of the many species that already existed when in the wild.

Learn the 10 Secrets to Save Your Leopard Gecko

The breeding of geckos is a very popular practice. More specifically, when geckos are breed it is to create a specific change in their size, color, pattern, and or genetics. Professionally speaking, when this process has been successfully carried out the new breed is called a “morph”. Breeding in this was is quite effective and the resulting changes are carried on from generation to generation because it is done on a genetic level.

Back when geckos where in the wild a morphed species would result in being easily noticed by predators simply because they lacked the ability to fit in with all the others in their environment.

The carrot leopard tail gecko trait is not particularly unique to this breed It has been witnessed in morphs such as R.A.P.T.O.R.s, Albey’s Tangerine, and even in the Murphy Patternless geckos. It is most prevalent however in the Tangerine breeds as well as the Blizzard breeds.

The distinction that gives the carrot tail leopard gecko its name is simply because of the orange color they posses on their tails. Typically the coloration is confined to the tip of the tail, but in some cases the tail can be up to ninety percent covered. In order to be classified as a carrot tail there has to be at least fifteen percent coloration.

The carroting was brought about by breeding and has just carried on from generation to generation. For example you would do this by taking a gecko that has a high percentage of orange already on their tail and mixing it will another gecko of an equally great percentage of carroting. This will further enhance that color and even in some cases spread to other parts of the body such as in the Tremper Albino gecko which has orangish specs on top of its head.

If you feel you are ready to do some breeding of your own take note. Make sure you have plenty of resources and space for both your breeders and their soon to arrive babies. They may not sell straight away and you may be taking care of them for a while so plan ahead and keep this in mind.

Learn the 10 Secrets to Save Your Leopard Gecko

Much more in involved in breeding so continue to do research and find out if it is right for you before you launch into it. We will have more information on our site to assist you in this endeavor. We’ll keep you posted.