Top 30 Leopard Gecko Morphs By Color - More Reptiles

Leopard geckos are one of the most popular reptile pets in the United States.

They are hardy, docile and very easy to care for. Most people buy leopard geckos in their normal shades of brown and tan with spots, but there are now over 50 types of leopard geckos!

There is a large variety of leopard gecko morphs to choose from. From dark orange to light pink, or from a combination of bands and spots to no pattern at all!

Have you ever seen a pink gecko? How about a white one?

Continue reading as we share 30 of the best leopard gecko morphs sorted by color. We also discuss the basics behind Leo genetics.

Article Contents

• Leopard Gecko Morphs Explained
• All Leopard Gecko Morphs Chart
• Leopard Gecko Morphs By Color
  • Snow Leopard Geckos
  • Brown Leopard Geckos
  • Fancy Leopard Geckos
  • Orange Leopard Geckos
  • White Leopard Geckos
  • Striped Leopard Geckos
  • Yellow Leopard Geckos
  • Black Leopard Geckos
  • Red Leopard Geckos
  • Purple Leopard Geckos
  • Pink Leopard Geckos
  • Blue Leopard Geckos
  • Green Leopard Geckos
• Summary

Leopard Gecko Morphs Explained

Leopard Gecko morphs started appearing in the mid 1990s when breeders became a more prominent part of the pet trade. Today there are over 50 different morphs.

The most common type of leopard gecko is known as a “wild type”. Despite its name “wild type” just refers to their appearance being normal shades of brown and tan with spots.

Morphs are normally selectively bred for a specific trait such as color, pattern, or size.

They are often not found in the wild and are selectively bred variations. For example a morph like the Red Stripe may have a certain pattern. Other morphs like the Lemon Frost may have a specific color.

It is important to understand which morph your gecko is. The morph often tells a story about its history, genetics, origin and who the breeder was. These important details may tell you something about the health of your leopard gecko, how to best care for it and what it will look like.

Mack snows, albinos, carrot tails, blizzards, and hypomelanistic morphs are among the most popular morphs.

High yellows, carrots tails and heads, bloods, tangerines, and black nights are the morphs with the most color intensity.

Leopard Gecko morphs are more expensive than “wild types”. Their price increases the rarer or more difficult they are to breed. One example is the black night morph which may cost as much as $3,000! This high price is due to the difficulty of breeding a pure black leopard gecko.

A morph is said to be line-bred when more than one gene contributes to its appearance. Genes can be dominant, recessive or codominant:

• Recessive is a trait that only shows itself when inherited from both parents.
• Dominant means a trait that takes over if inherited from either parent.
• Codominant refers to when the two versions of a gene are expressed equally and are dominant together.

Two versions of a gene are called the gene’s alleles.

In a homozygous gene both alleles are either recessive or dominant. A recessive trait shines through when the gene is homozygous recessive. Otherwise, the dominant trait will take over.

In a heterozygous gene one allele is dominant and the other is recessive.

All Leopard Gecko Morphs Chart

Morph	Color	Pattern	Price	Rank
Baldy	High Yellow	Plain	$50-$100	#19
Banana Blizzard	Dull yellow or pink	Plain	$75-$150	#30
Bell Albino	Yellow with lavender	Spotting with pink eyes	$85-$125	#14
Black Night	Black	Plain	$3,000	#2
Blazing Blizzard	Dull white or pink	Plain	$60-$125	#25
Blood	Bright red or dark orange	Banding or spotting	$200-$400	#18
Bold Stripe	Pale white or yellow with black	Spots along the side and two solid stripes surrounding a light stripe down the spine	$200-$350	#27
Carrot Head	Orange head	Orange pattern from the tip of the nose to at least behind the eyes	$100-$400	#29
Carrot Tail	Any	The tail must be at least 15% orange	$50-$100	#12
Chocolate Albino	Pale brown and tan	Pale bellies with broken bands of tan and brown	$50-$250	#15
Eclipse	White, yellow, or orange	Any	$75-$125	#17
Emerine	Green and orange	Orange dorsal stripe with green side coloring	$350-$650	#26
Fancy	Any	Any	$40-$100	#1
Ghost	White or light green	Bands, spotting, or plain	$80-$200	#28
Giant	Normally wild-type brown	Any	$150-$400	#5
High Yellow	Deep yellow	May have some black spots	$50-$100	#8
Lavender	Lavender, with some pink or yellow	Bands, stripes, and/or spotting	$75-$280	#7
Lemon Frost	Yellow and pale lavender head	Black spots and bands	$2,000	#13
Mack Snow	White and black	Black Spots	$100-$175	#3
Marble Eye	Blue or Purple	Marble or broken glass-look	$250-$1,000	#20
Patternless	Pale yellow or pink	Plain	$75-$250	#16
Rainwater Albino	Yellow and pink	Pink bands or plain	$200-$400	#11
RAPTOR	Pale orange with red eyes	Can be plain, banded, or speckled	$100-$150	#6
Red Stripe	Orange, yellow or red	Light dorsal striped lined by two darker orange or red stripes	$75-$500	#24
Reverse Stripe	Yellow or white	One single dorsal stripe that may be yellow, lavender or white	$125-$200	#21
Sunglow	Yellow-orange	Plain, white bands, speckles, carrot tail	$170-$450	#22
Super Hypo	Dull or bright yellow	Plain with very few spots	$65-$175	#10
Super Mack Snow	White and Black	Small black Spots	$150-$350	#23
Tangerine	Orange	Plain body with broken tail pattern and can have black spots on the head	$275-$400	#4
Tremper Albino	Soft yellow	Brown spots and patches	$50-$125	#9

Leopard Gecko Morphs By Color

Snow Leopard Geckos

Mack Snow

The Mack snow leopard gecko is one of the most popular leopard gecko morphs. Most of them are white with many dark black spots. Some of these morphs get darker in color as they age so they will occasionally show pale colors like yellow or lavender. Many mack snows have light pink legs or blue eyelids. This morph first was first bred by John and Amy Mack in the early 1990s. Wild type geckos do not have this gene so Mack snows can only be found as pets. They are sold for between $100 and $175 depending on other morphs that may be present or the breeder. Many other morphs are a result of a Mack snow crossed with another morph. A good example of this is the dreamsicle.

Super Mack Snow

Super mack snow morphs have nearly the same genetics as mack snows. They are part of the same line of mack snow geckos bred by John and Amy Mack. Super snows are normally bred from two mack snow morphs. Both are very similar in appearance, except the dark black spots on their backs are smaller and much more numerous and they also have eclipse eyes. The difference between a mack snow and a super mack snow is that the mack snow gene is an incomplete dominant heterozygous form. This means one allele is dominant and the other is recessive. A super snow is the homozygous form of a Mack Snow which means both alleles in the gene are dominant. They tend to be more expensive than mack snows at $150 to $350.

Brown Leopard Geckos

Chocolate Albino

Chocolate albino leopard geckos have pale white bellies with broken bands of tan and brown. These pale brown and tan colors alternate in bands down the chocolate albino’s back. Their brown color is very pale due to albinism in their genes. A darker brown color is normally present in small blotches on their head. These morphs have the same genetics as other albinos but the eggs are incubated at a lower temperature to produce their chocolate brown color. Their price can range anywhere from $50 to $250 depending on other albino morphs that may be present in their bloodline.

Giant

Giant leopard geckos are known for their large size. A wild type can grow up to 11 inches, but the giant can grow as big as 12.5 inches. Most of them are the same brown color as wild types which is why they are in the brown morph category. The first giant was bred by a random mutation in 1999 by Ron Tremper. All giant leopard geckos are descended from this mutated morph. There are also super giants which are bred from two giants. Giants are a heterozygous form of the gene which means one allele is dominant and the other is recessive. Super giant alleles are either both recessive or dominant. The average weight of a super giant is only slightly heavier than a normal giant and they are otherwise the same in appearance. They are priced between $150 to $400 depending on if it is a giant or super giant.

Fancy Leopard Geckos

Fancy

If you travel to a pet shop you may see a tank full of what are called fancy leopard geckos. This is very common in large chain pet stores such as PetCo and PetSmart. Fancy is not a true morph. It is only a label to say that the geckos in that tank are not wild type. They may be any type of leopard gecko morph. Mack snows, high yellows, and super hypos are commonly sold as “fancy” at pet stores. Some professional Leopard Gecko breeders call any morphs that are more rare to find in the pet trade, such as infernos, super giants, bloods, or sunglows, fancy leopard geckos. These rare morphs can be thousands of dollars and are not common for a beginner just starting out.

Orange Leopard Geckos

Tangerine

Tangerine morphs are often the brightest thing in the room and are named for their bright orange color. Any leopard gecko with an orange body could be considered a tangerine. They have an orange color ranging from a brightly-colored carrot to the lighter orange seen on the inside of a mango. Sometimes they can have black spots on their heads. Their tails often have a darker broken pattern, sometimes containing white, darker orange or dark brown colors. This morph is often line-bred to create more notable morphs like bandits, sunglows or carrot tails. They are priced between $275 to $400 and tend to be more expensive the brighter they are.

Carrot Tail

A carrot tail is a type of gecko pattern morph. It is a leopard gecko that has a bright orange tail with a body that is a different color or shade. In order to be considered an official carrot tail the tail must be at least 15% orange. Oftentimes the rest of the body is a much lighter orange or yellow. In rare morphs their body may even be a different color like white. The carrot tail is a common morph used to breed more complicated morphs like RAPTORs. Their price is highly dependent on what other morphs are present but they are often $50 to $100.

Carrot Head

The carrot head morph happens when the leopard gecko’s head is orange. This orange color is usually from the tip of the nose to at least behind the eyes. The rest of the body is a different shade or color, most often just a slightly lighter shade of orange. Carrot heads are often not found by themselves, but are combined with other morphs. Some common examples are bloods, tangerines and sunglows.

RAPTOR

RAPTOR is an acronym that stands for Red-Eyed Albino Patternless Tremper Or Range. This leopard gecko morph is a combination that includes all of these traits. Morphs that contribute to the RAPTOR include the eclipse, patternless stripe and the Tremper albino. These geckos have red eyes and pale orange skin. As they are albino all of their colors are much less intense. This morph was bred by Ron Tremper in 2004 and is normally only for sale from private breeders for $100-$150.

Sunglow

Sunglow leopard geckos range from a dark burnt-orange to a lighter yellow. Their color is much like the color of the sky during a sunset. They also have some albino genetics allowing them to have lightly colored banding patterns on their bodies. These albino genes also mean they are not as intense in their color as other orange morphs, such as tangerines. Their bodies are often the color of a light sunset with dark carrot tails. They were first bred and introduced to the public in 2004 by Craig and Lori Stewart and can be bought for $170 to $450.

Super Hypo

Super hypo leopard gecko morphs are often a dull or bright yellow and completely lack any spots, except for possibly a couple on their tail. Super hypo melanistic means that the gecko has less pigmentation in their skin so has very few spots. Super hypos can look like regular hypos at birth so they can have up to ten body spots. However super hypos lose these spots as they reach about a year old.

White Leopard Geckos

Banana Blizzard

A banana blizzard leopard gecko is the name for a leopard gecko that is the combination of a blizzard and a patternless morph. A true banana blizzard must be a cross between blizzard and patternless. Blizzard and patternless traits are both recessive so the offspring must receive both of them. They often have a faint yellow coloring or a pale, patternless yellow-pink. They are not a popular morph so can be found for $75 to $150.

Blazing Blizzard

A blazing blizzard leopard gecko is a cross between a blizzard morph and any one of three albino strains: Tremper, Bell and Rainwater. The Tremper albino strain is the most common, but no matter which albino strain is used it is a very plain morph. They are famous for their plain white-pink bodies with no pattern. Albino and blizzard traits are both recessive. This means that one parent must be albino or carry an albino allele, while the other must be a blizzard. They are a cheap morph at $60 to $125.

Patternless

The patternless leopard gecko was originally bred in 1991 by Pat Murphy. Because of this they are also known as Murphy patternless Geckos. Patternless morphs lack any pattern, even on the head and tail. They may hatch with some gray or brown markings, but these will fade by the time they are adults. They are often a pale yellow or pink color. The patternless trait is controlled by a recessive gene and was the first recessive gene to be identified in leopard geckos. They are normally $75 to $250 depending on what other morphs it may be crossed with. Banana blizzards often have the patternless trait.

Striped Leopard Geckos

Bold Stripe

The bold stripe is a type of leopard gecko that has a pattern on its side and not along its spine. The spine stripe is often a pale yellow lined with two dark black stripes. Sometimes there is some lavender coloring that coincides with these stripes. The sides, head and tail have black spots and no stripes. These leopard gecko morphs are more expensive than wild types and are often $200 to $350.

Red Stripe

A red stripe leopard gecko looks like a bold stripe but the color is different. They normally have a light yellow stripe down the spine lined by two orange or red stripes, rather than black stripes. These stripes are not as bold when they hatch but they develop by the time they are one year old. The head often has dark spots and the carrot tail trait is usually present. This morph was first discovered by a Canadian leopard gecko breeder and is sold for between $75 and $500.

Reverse Stripe

The reverse stripe gecko is unique from the other two striped morphs because the single dorsal stripe does not need to be lined by two darker stripes. Their back has a single dorsal stripe that runs from the back of the neck to the hind legs. This stripe is often a yellow, lavender or white, while the rest of the body is white with dark patterns. Some morphs can also have a bright yellow body if they have been crossed with a high yellow.

Yellow Leopard Geckos

High Yellow

The high yellow leopard gecko was one of the first morphs to be selectively bred. They have a much deeper yellow body when compared with wild types and often have fewer black spots too. They are a popular morph and are sold for $50 to $100 if not presenting other traits.

Baldy

A baldy leopard gecko is a high yellow morph with no spotting on the head. It was first bred by Bill and Marcia Brant in 1986. The baldy is believed to be a line bred morph, meaning multiple genes and generations contribute to its color. A baldy can be found for $50-$100.

Lemon Frost

Lemon frost leopard geckos have a very unique appearance! They have a light yellow body and a pale lavender on their head, legs and tail. They are also banded and spotted with black spots. The Lemon frost morph resulted from a natural random mutation in 2015 and is codominant. This means that it is bred from more than one gene and both of these genes must be dominant. One trait associated with the lemon frost morph is the appearance of small, abnormal bumps under their skin. A single gene gives this gecko both its lemon frost color and these tumors. You should always make sure your lemon frost does not have these lumps! Lemon frosts are a very rare morph and can cost upwards of $2,000.

Tremper Albino

The tremper albino is the most popular albino leopard gecko morph. They have a lack of pigment which makes them appear much lighter than a wild type. Tremper albinos are usually a soft yellow color with brown spots or patches. The Tremper was the first albino to be discovered in 1996 by Ron Tremper. This albino strain contributes to many other morphs, such as the RAPTOR and diablo blanco.

Black Leopard Geckos

Black Night

The black night leopard gecko is a unique and extremely rare morph. They have a solid black body and a white belly with no patterns. This morph is the complete opposite of a super hypo! They have more pigmentation than any other leopard gecko morph. The black night is an incredibly difficult morph to breed and takes many generations to display the trait. Because of this they are rare to find and can be as pricey as $3,000.

Eclipse

An eclipse leopard gecko is any morph that has an eye which is completely covered with a solid black color. This is a recessive eye trait that is commonly seen in mack super snows, tremper eclipses and blizzards.

Red Leopard Geckos

Blood

The blood leopard gecko has a bright, dark red or orange color that appears on its body. They often have banding or spotting on their bodies and may have a carrot tail. They sell for $200 to $400.

Purple Leopard Geckos

Lavender

The lavender leopard gecko is well-known for its beautiful purple and pink body. Most morphs have pink bodies with lavender bands or stripes. They also often have black spotting or banding. Many of these leopard gecko morphs lose their color as they age which makes them particularly difficult to breed.

Bell Albino

The Bell albino is the most recently discovered type of albino morph. The other two known albino morphs are the Tremper and Rainwater. Bell albinos are often yellow in color and sometimes have lavender bands with brown spots. The spotting on this morph is typically a darker brown, but their light pink eyes really set them apart from other albino morphs. The Bell albino was discovered by Mark Bell and they often go for $85 to $125.

Pink Leopard Geckos

Rainwater Albino

Rainwaters are the third type of albino leopard gecko. They were discovered by Tim Rainwater in 1998 and are also known as Las Vegas geckos. They are often lighter in color and are pinker overall when compared to the other two albino strains. Rainwaters tend to have yellow bodies with pink bands. These bands are less obvious on this strain, but they do have darker eyes than other albinos.

Blue Leopard Geckos

Marble Eye

The marble eye is a new morph of leopard gecko. It is a recessive eye trait that creates dark blue or even purplish eyes. The color makes their eyes look three dimensional, much like broken glass or a marble. So far this morph has only been seen through private breeding programs and not in the wild. This morph is in high demand, but is not very common, so it can fetch prices upwards of $250.

Green Leopard Geckos

Emerine

Emerine is any leopard gecko that has some green on its body. This green is often stripes on a tangerine gecko. The deeper the orange, the more the green stands out. There is a bloodline of emerines called rainbows that are bred by Steve Sykes. These uncommon geckos often have prices of $350 to $650.

Ghost

Ghost leopard gecko morphs are unique and difficult to recognize. As hatchlings they may be confused with other hypomelanistic morphs, but they almost never show any kind of yellow color. Some have different shades of green and have the ability to change their color depending on their mood. Ghost leopards can be $80 to $200 depending on their color.

Summary

Leopard gecko morphs can vary widely in color, pattern and size.

Some morphs are very common like the mack snow, blizzard, albino and carrot tail. Others such as the black night, marble eye and ghost are very rare and difficult to find.

Understanding morphs and genetics is very important. It can help you to make better decisions about the type of leopard gecko to adopt and how to care for them.

It is very common for beginners to start with wild type leopard geckos before adopting a morph. It is recommended that a beginner starts with one of the more simple morphs like a Mack snows or carrot tail. Rare morphs like the lemon frost and black night are often only found in the homes of breeders or herpetologists.

Do you have a favorite leopard gecko morph? Let us know!

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