Top 12 Crested Gecko Morphs 2024, Part 2

This is the second half of my countdown, numbers 6 to 1. Numbers 12 to 7 are in part 1.

6. Lilly White

A staple behind some of the best combinations in crested geckos. The name comes from Lilly Exotics, the European breeder that first identified and reproduced it. The gene paints white and cream all over the gecko, varying in amount and coverage, as if it had been living in a snow globe.

5. Empty back

The opposite of Lilly White: the dorsal is empty. In its most refined form it is a pinstripe where the only color is the tips of the pinstripe scales, with a completely empty dorsal and empty sides: the cleanest, highest-contrast gecko possible. It has been my project for about a decade. In a vacuum, it might be the single most stunning crested gecko on the market.

4. Phantom

Phantom was the first recessive gene discovered in crested geckos. It is subtle and most often seen with pinstripe. It acts like an eraser on the harlequin gene's cream and white. The pattern is still there, uncolored, as a subtle undertone. Mixed with Lilly White and axanthic it gets really fun: Lilly White phantoms bring out the base color, with just a little Lilly White pattern.

3. Highlighter

Only identified and bred with purpose in the last few years. The gene adds a layer of neon yellow over the lightest, whitest cream parts of a gecko. It shows most on Lilly Whites, but not only on them. One famous example is the highlighter axanthic: axanthics aren't supposed to make yellow, but this gene gives them some. On an axanthic Lilly White, that neon yellow really pops. I have built a few of my favorite breeding projects around it.

2. Hypo and leucistic

These trace back to one breeder's line. Some people don't like the look, but I think it is unique in a way no other morph is.

• Hypo (one copy): a hypomelanistic gecko that looks almost like it is going into shed. Not spectacular alone, but unique in the right combinations.
• Leucistic (two copies): pure white, and some get a yellow pattern on top. Breeding two Lilly Whites also gives leucistic geckos, but those are not healthy: they almost never hatch alive, and when they do, they live no more than a couple of days. These leucistics are healthy, grow well and thrive.

I think people are unsure mostly because crested geckos have never looked like this before. I want to know what a leucistic Dalmatian, leucistic empty back or leucistic Lilly White looks like, and I plan to breed them to find out.

1. Axanthic

No surprise to anyone who knows me. I loved axanthic reptiles long before I had axanthic crested geckos, and this is the morph that built my company's name. Axanthic limits the production of yellow and red pigment, so the gecko looks monochrome, like holding a photoshopped picture in your hand.

My favorite combinations so far:

• Axanthic pinstripes, like a better version of an empty back.
• Axanthic Lilly Whites.
• Phantom axanthic Lilly Whites, and adding highlighter to them.
• Axanthic super Dalmatians, which I am working on now.

It has been about 10 years since I got my first axanthics, and there is still a lot to breed and discover. I love that so many other breeders work with them now.