Leopard gecko morphs are leopard geckos that have been selectively bred for color, pattern, size or eye color.
Some of the most popular variations include the giant, black night, mack snow, diablo blanco and RAPTOR.
They have beautifully vivid colors and incredibly unique patterns.
There are now over 100 morphs in captivity that range from $50 to $3,500.
Continue reading to learn what morphs are, how they are bred, the different types of morphs, and what the 50 most popular ones are…
What Are Leopard Gecko Morphs?
Morphs are selectively bred leopard geckos that have different colors, sizes and patterns.
Morphs are bred by professional reptile breeders who use genetic mutations in the wild to try and create a specific color or pattern.
They do this by using codominant, dominant or recessive gene inheritance to selectively include or exclude a color or pattern.
Below is a list of key terms that you will need to understand the genetics behind morph breeding:
- Codominant – a type of gene inheritance where both genes are simultaneously dominant.
- Dominant – a genetic trait that “dominates” other traits and is the primary allele.
- Heterozygous – the opposite of Homozygous.
- Homozygous – means both the genes are either dominant or recessive.
- Recessive – a type of gene inheritance that only influences physical features when it is paired with another recessive allele.
- Wild Type – a species found naturally in the wild.
Top 50 Leopard Gecko Morphs
Morph | Type | Price | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
Giant | Giant | $110 – $275 | 1 |
Black Night | Melanistic | $1,000 – $3,500 | 2 |
Mack Snow | Albino | $85 – $150 | 3 |
Fancy | Other | $30 – $40 | 4 |
Tangerine | Other | $80 – $395 | 5 |
Super Giant | Giant | $200 – $700 | 6 |
Black Pearl | Melanistic | $3,000 | 7 |
Diablo Blanco | Other | $175 – $350 | 8 |
RAPTOR | Eye | $80 – $150 | 9 |
Lavender | Other | $75 – $280 | 10 |
Enigma | Other | $250 – $275 | 11 |
Lemon Frost | Other | $375 | 12 |
Eclipse | Eye | $75 – $150 | 13 |
High Yellow | Other | $75 – $125 | 14 |
Bell Albino | Albino | $300 – $700 | 15 |
Blazing Blizzard | Blizzard | $125 – $150 | 16 |
Tremper Albino | Albino | $225 – $350 | 17 |
Aberrant | Other | $50 – $200 | 18 |
Patternless | Blizzard | $75 – $230 | 19 |
Jungle | Other | $40 – $125 | 20 |
Sunglow | Melanistic | $90 – $450 | 21 |
Halloween Mask | Other | $200 – $350 | 22 |
Super Mack Snow | Albino | $325 – $350 | 23 |
Carrot Tailed | Other | $125 – $200 | 24 |
APTOR | Other | $125 – $225 | 25 |
Dreamsicle | Other | $80 – $190 | 26 |
Rainwater Albino | Albino | $400 – $450 | 27 |
Chocolate Albino | Albino | $30 – $250 | 28 |
Gem Snow | Albino | $200 – $500 | 29 |
Bandit | Other | $225 – $350 | 30 |
Bold Stripe | Striped | $75 – $200 | 31 |
Super Hypo | Melanistic | $75 – $325 | 32 |
Reverse Stripe | Striped | $150 | 33 |
Red Stripe | Striped | $150 – $300 | 34 |
Blood | Other | $200 – $400 | 35 |
Hyper Melanistic | Melanistic | $150 – $325 | 36 |
Hybino | Melanistic | $60 – $200 | 37 |
Marble Eye | Eye | $75 – $100 | 38 |
Nova | Other | $160 – $225 | 39 |
Banana Blizzard | Blizzard | $75 – $150 | 40 |
Baldy | Melanistic | $50 – $100 | 41 |
Raining Red Stripe | Striped | $150 – $400 | 42 |
Hyper Xanthic | Other | $165 – $345 | 43 |
Hypo Ghost | Melanistic | $200 | 44 |
Rainbow Stripe | Striped | $250 – $750 | 45 |
Carrot Head | Other | $200 – $425 | 46 |
Blue Amber Eye | Eye | $450 – $750 | 47 |
Snake Eyes | Eye | $75 – $100 | 48 |
Lavender Stripe | Striped | $100 | 49 |
Godzilla Super Giant | Giant | $550 – $1250 | 50 |
Types of Leopard Gecko Morphs
There are six different types of gecko morphs that are classified by either their size, color, pattern or a combination:
- Giants are bred to be larger in size.
- Eye Morphs affect the shape or color of the lizard’s eyes.
- Albinos are typically lighter in color and typically lack an enzyme called tyrosinase.
- Blizzards are completely patternless and display solid colors.
- Melanistics have either can have less (i.e. hypo) or more melanin (i.e. hyper).
- Striped morphs have different types of stripes running the length of their back.
Leopard Gecko Morph Color List
1. Giant Leopard Gecko
The giant morph gecko is larger than a typical-sized species by two inches.
They measure 10 inches in length and can weigh 100 grams.
These gentle giants are bred specifically from the heterozygous form of the gene.
They have a naturally calm and docile nature.
Because they are bred for size, this morph can come in any pattern or color and costs $110 – $275.
2. Black Night
A completely black leopard gecko is melanistic.
This morph is one of the rarest morphs in captivity.
They come in a solid black color with white bellies. They can be spotted, but many also are solid black. They differ from Black Pearls because they have more of a warm, brown tint, whereas Black Pearls have a blue-black color.
Like most Geckos they are calm and relaxed lizards
Black Nights are very expensive ranging from $1,150 – $3,400.
3. Mack Snow Leopard Gecko
Mack snows are the third most popular morph and were first bred by herpetologists John and Amy Mack.
The Mack Snow gene is the heterozygous form of the gene.
They are either white or pale yellow in color with black bands or spots.
Their color tends to darken as they age.
4. Fancy
Fancy is another word used for a common gecko. It usually means that the gecko comes from a pet store and is not a wild type morph.
The fancy morph can be any type. Therefore, they can display any pattern or color mentioned in this list.
The only cost $30 because they are found in pet stores.
5. Tangerine Leopard Gecko
The Tangerine morph has a strong orange color and is very similar to the blood leopard – also on our list. They differ from the blood morph because they are lighter in color and are more orange than red.
Most tangerine morphs have dark and light orange patches, brown spots and unique tail patterns. Tails can be orange or even white with spots (as above).
They range in price from $80 to $395.
Typically the more intense the color of morph, the more expensive they are.
6. Super Giant Leopard Gecko
Super giants are one of the largest morphs and cost $200 – $700.
They have the same genes as the giant, but the homozygous genotype.
Giants have one dominant allele, and super giants have two.
This results in the gecko increasing in size with each dominant allele in the gene.
Interestingly they are the same size as the giants at birth, but grow to be 12 inches long – that’s two more than giants!
7. Black Pearl
This species is sometimes known as a black velvet morph – it is nearly all black in coloration.
They are a result of generations of selective breeding.
It is highly melanistic, like the black night, but has a different color pattern with white “pearl-like” markings.
This leopard gecko morph is increasing in demand but is very rare to find.
Only females are sold and they cost around $3,000.
8. Diablo Blanco Leopard Gecko
The Diablo blanco morph is a combination of the RAPTOR and blizzard Geckos.
It produces a gecko that is solid white in color with the RAPTOR’s red eyes.
They usually do not come with any patterns and have a patternless white body.
9. RAPTOR Leopard Gecko
RAPTOR is an acronym for Red-eye Albino Patternless Tremper Orange.
The RAPTOR morph is unique because of their plain orange bodies and solid red eyes.
This eye morph is the combination of breeding five generation of orange morphs and cost $80 – $150.
10. Lavender Leopard Gecko
Lavender leopard geckos have a lavender or light purple base color.
They are also be found in patches or stripes of lavender (pictured above). It often comes simultaneously with other patterns such as stripes or spots.
Be careful when adopting this morph as some lose this color as they age.
This is not an easy color to produce and it usually comes with second of third generation morphs.
11. Enigma
The Enigma morph is completely unique in their coloring.
Their backs are also speckled with a non-uniform pattern that is not as clear as many other morphs.
The tail on an enigma is mostly white, if not completely white.
12. Lemon Frost
The lemon frost is a new morph that is still in a captive breeding program.
First bred by Gourmet Rodent in 2012 the first lemon frost sold at auction in 2015.
They have a white base color that is enhanced and brightened to yellow.
Their eyes are also whitened and are sometimes bright blue.
Lemon frosts cost about $375.
13. Eclipse
Eclipsed species have solid black eyes.
This morph variation is commonly found in snow and blizzard morphs.
Black eyes are a recessive trait and were discovered through random breeding.
Many other eye colors and morphs stem from this gene such as red eyes, high white colors, RAPTORs, diablo blancos, and the reverse stripe.
Eclipsed geckos cost $75-$150.
14. High Yellow
The high yellow morph is very close in pattern and color to a standard variant.
They are not a wild-type, but are very common.
This morph display higher levels of yellow and fewer spots.
It is common for their tails to be white with black spots, but generally the rest of this morph should display a strong yellow color. They are bred selectively by species with deep yellow hues and fewer spots.
They cost $75-$125.
15. Bell Albino
The bell albino morph is yellow or lavender in base color with dark brown spots.
Sometimes their body is yellow and tail lavender. The yellow and lavender will alternate in bands.
Bell albino genes will be prominent in tangerine morphs as well.
Their eyes can have a blue color on the lids, but commonly pink eyes.
16. Blazing Blizzard
Blazing blizzards are produced by mating a blizzard morph with an albino.
They have a blend of blizzard and albino phenotypes so they are sometimes called a “tremper blazing blizzard”.
Tremper refers to the last name of the herpetologist Ron Tremper that first bred the tremper albinos.
They generally cost $125 – $150.
17. Tremper Albino
Tremper leopard gecko morphs are sometimes known as the Texas gecko.
They are a light yellow, orange, or pink in color and may have light orange or brown markings. They often have silver eyes and visible red veins. Their patterns can range from bands to spots or stripes.
This is the oldest albino morph and costs $225 – $350.
18. Aberrant
An aberrant morph is a species with a broken pattern on the tail or body – but not both.
These breaks are usually characterized by bands of color that wrap around the body.
Many morph species are aberrant with the most popular being the Jungle Leopard.
19. Patternless
Completely patternless morphs cost between $75 – $230 and are sometimes called Murphy Patternless.
As their name suggests, they are completely devoid of any spots or pattern (i.e. leucistic).
They are often lavender, gray, or white in color.
Black Pearls and Black Nights can also be patternless, but they are not considered blizzard morphs.
20. Jungle
Jungle morphs have broken patterns.
However, unlike aberrant morphs these patterns appear on both the body and the tail (not just one).
They range in price from $50 to $125, depending on the genes that are present (e.g. Godzilla giant or marble eyes). When combined with common morphs such as snows or blizzards they are less expensive.
21. Sunglow
Sunglow geckos are a type of hybino morph – they are a combination of albinos and hypomelanistics.
They are specifically bred from the Tremper albino and super hypo morphs. They often have eyes that reflect their albino parent and are solid yellow or yellow-orange in color.
Their tails may have a banded or spotted pattern.
They also have carrot-tail and tangerine genes which is why they sometimes cost up to $450.
22. Halloween Mask
A Halloween Mask morph is any breed that has bold, striking markings on their head and body.
These markings may be dark bands, lines, or circles on their head. They are distinguished from other morphs because the heads of most morphs usually don’t have spots.
The markings are commonly dark brown or black spots or bands against a light yellow or white base color.
They rank 22nd on our list and sell for $200 – $350.
23. Super Mack Snow
Super Mack snows are the homozygous form of the snow gene. The alleles in Super Snows are either both recessive or both dominant.
They have more speckling than mack snows and are a lighter color.
They often come with eclipsed eyes and cost $325 – $350.
24. Carrot Tailed
A carrot tail refers to any breed that has an orange tail.
This tail color is commonly seen and was made famous by the Sunglow and Tangerine Leopard Gecko.
They generally cost $125 – $200.
25. Aptor
APTOR (Albino Patternless Tremper Orange) morphs are very similar in appearance to RAPTORs with plain orange bodies.
They contain the same mix of morphs (e.g. Eclipse, Patternless Stripe, Tremper Albino).
Unlike RAPTORs they do not have red eyes.
However they are more expensive than RAPTORs and cost $125 – $225.
26. Dreamsicle
Dreamsicle morphs have a base color of orange and white – just like the frozen treat they were named after.
This color is produced by breeding enigmas, RAPTORs, and mack snows together.
They are mainly white in color and have orange or orange-yellow spots or bands.
Despite the difficulty in breeding this leopard gecko morph they only cost $80 – $190.
27. Rainwater Albino
Rainwater albinos are smaller in size and lighter in color than many geckos.
They normally have light yellow or white bodies with yellow or pink markings. Some have yellow bands and legs with pink spots.
Their tails will often have pink spots and bands.
They have darker eyes than other albinos and cost $400 – $450.
28. Chocolate Albino
Chocolate morphs are a type of albino.
They share the same genetics as other albinos, however, their eggs are incubated at lower temperatures to produce a darker color when they hatch. As a general rule, the higher the incubation temperature, the brighter and lighter the color.
They cost $30 – $250.
29. Gem Snow
Gem snows are bred from a unique dominant snow gene.
They can have white, light yellow, or lavender bodies.
Their pattern can either be white, yellow, or pink with black spots. Some even have a blue tint around their eyes.
30. Bandit
Any morph that has a solid black band across the nose area is known as a Bandit. Common examples are tangerine, stripe and halloween mask morphs.
Bandit pattern morphs also have dark markings, rather than spots, on their head.
The most common bandit is a bold stripe morph (below).
31. Bold Stripe
Bold stripes have stripes running down the sides of their bodies – rather than on their backs like common geckos.
They have stripes that run down the length of their body.
They usually cost $75 – $200.
32. Super Hypo
The Super Hypo is a melanistic-type morph. They are usually yellow or orange with white tails.
Hypo melanistic leopard geckos have a lack of melanin when compared to other geckos.
They have fewer spots on their bodies, but this excludes their head and tail.
A gecko is considered to be super hypo when they have no spots on their body and will cost $75 – $325.
33. Reverse Stripe
A reverse stripe is any striped morph that has a single dorsal stripe.
This gene is commonly linked to the eye-eclipse gene.
They sell for about $150.
34. Red Stripe
A Red Stripe morph will cost $150-$300.
They have two red or orange stripes that run down the middle of their back.
These stripes are not visible at birth and appear around six months of age.
35. Blood
Blood leopard gecko morphs are very similar to the tangerine morph.
The main difference is their vibrant red pigment – instead of an orange pigment.
Unlike tangerine morphs, this species maintains their bright color into adulthood.
They cost $200-$400, and like tangerines, increase in price with brighter colors
36. Hyper Melanistic
The Hyper Melanistic is the opposite of the hypo morph.
Hypo morphs have less melanin and hypers have more. This gives them a much darker appearance and overall darker color, without being completely black.
They have the same spots and pattern variations as hypos.
Hypers are not as common as hypo variations.
37. Hybino
A hybino is the combination of a hypo and albino morph.
They normally have the eyes of the albino morph but are solid yellow or orange in their base color.
This variation costs $60 – $200 depending on other morphs present. They are more expensive if they have blue amber eye or carrot head morphs.
38. Marble Eye
The marble is a very rare trait.
Marble Eye morphs are named after the three dimensional appearance of their eyes.
This is a very new trait that was first noticed in 2006.
Marble Eyes are sold for $75 – $100.
39. Nova
A Nova morph is the result of mating an enigma and RAPTOR.
This Gecko can have colors and patterns from both of their parents with a white tail, orange body, and red eyes.
They cost $160 – $225.
40. Banana Blizzard
Banana leopard gecko morphs are very similar to the Murphy Patternless.
It is a patternless species with a yellow base color.
The Murphy Patternless is normally lavender, gray, or white in color.
41. Baldy
Baldy leopard gecko morphs are super hypo melanistic except they don’t have any spots on their heads – baldies lack these head spots. They are otherwise orange or yellow in color.
They can be found for $50 – $100 but are more expensive in darker colors.
42. Raining Red Stripe
Raining reds are bred by mating a rainwater albino with a bold or red striped morph.
Because of the specialized breeding required they cost $150 – $400.
They often have white or yellow bodies with red or orange stripes.
This morph is very close in appearance to a rainwater albino with stripes.
43. Hyper Xanthic
The hyper xanthic gecko has high-yellow genes and dark markings on their body.
They do not have any dark markings on their head or tail.
Due to the high yellow genes, their base body color is a strong yellow and their body markings can be bands or spots.
They are normally $165 – $345.
44. Hypo Ghost
Hypo Ghosts are a rare melanistic morph that cost $200.
The hypo gecko is very light in body-color and it will fade in color as they age. If they are born with a yellow or lavender tint, this will become whiter as they mature.
Sometimes this morph is confused for a mack snow.
45. Rainbow Stripe
Rainbow stripe leopard gecko morphs have an orange and green body.
46. Carrot Head
Like the carrot tail morph, the carrot head refers to any morph that has an orange head.
The orange head coloring occurs in many morphs – including the carrot tail! Tangerines, super hypos, jungles, aberrants, and novas commonly have carrot heads.
They cost $200-$425.
47. Blue Amber Eye
The blue amber eye Gecko is a new and rare species of eye morph that sell for $450 – $750.
Geckos with this unique trait have eyes that are slightly blue or tinted gray.
Their blue amber eye color is caused by a recessive gene.
48. Snake Eyes
Snake eye morphs are bred to have an incompletely filled-in eye. Their pupils appear as a slit, resembling a snake’s eye.
49. Lavender Stripe
The lavender stripe was first bred by mating a red stripe and lavender morph in 2003.
They are yellow in base body color with lavender stripes running down the sides of their body
This morph maintains their color into adulthood.
50. Godzilla Super Giant
The Godzilla is the largest leopard gecko morph.
A member of the giant family these geckos are all descendants of a super-giant named “Godzilla”.
Godzilla weighs a whopping 170 grams and currently holds the world record for the heaviest leopard gecko! Most of his offspring are over 120 grams, though the range for Giants is 90- 150 grams.
They aren’t easy to find and are very expensive at $550 – $1250.
Summary
There are over one hundred different types of leopard gecko morphs.
Wild type, “fancy” and high yellow morphs are the most common and cheapest.
Melanistic black morphs, giant and snow variations are very popular but expensive too. As their color intensifies their price will too. These morphs are only available from specialized breeders.
It is always best to choose a good breeder who understands and knows the genetics of the morphs.
What is your favorite? Comment below with your favorites!
These all are amazing-looking animals! I especially love the tangerine morph. The mixing of orange, white and yellow is really nice to look at!
Hello Mr.David I noticed you stated a “World Record” for a Super Giant Godzilla, well sir tell me how I can get the world record keeper because my Fella Named “HOSS” is right at 3yo and weighes in at 186gr. Let me know how to send you a foto. His Harem of (6) Tremper S.G.Females has.produced some stunning morphs. Don’t forget I am proud of him and deserves some recognition being a direct descendent of R.T personal Gecko named “MOOSE”
Instead of sharing your information in a way that shows you are proud, you post in a confrontational manner. The person writing this article does not have access to every person that raises leopard geckos. If yours does weigh what you claim here, contact someone that can help have its size documented. This will allow researchers to accurately list yours as being the largest. 🙂