Leopard geckos are considered to be among the most popular and beloved types of reptiles that you can keep as a pet. This is because they are docile and easy to care for. Furthermore, they are available in a wide range of morphs that you can choose from.
A morph can be defined as the variation in shape, size, pattern, and color that helps make leopard geckos unique from one another. However, several defined morphs of leopard geckos are created through selective breeding.
Although you will certainly find leopard gecko morphs that suits your taste, some leopard gecko morphs are very rare to get. In this article, we will highlight some of the rarest leopard gecko morphs out there and their price.
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What Is The Most Expensive Gecko?
Most standard leopard geckos are reasonably priced, but there are some rare morphs that are quite expensive. Furthermore, one of the most expensive leopard geckos is the black night leopard gecko because it is an ultra-rare breed.
You can get a black night leopard gecko between $1000 to $3500.
What Is A Super Hypo Leopard Gecko?
The super hypo leopard gecko is among the type of melanistic morph. Super hypo leopard geckos usually have a yellow or orange body with whitetails. The major difference between hypo melanistic leopard geckos and other geckos is that they do not have melanin.
Furthermore, super hypo leopard geckos have fewer spots on their bodies except for their head and tail. This is why many consider any leopard gecko without spots on their body as a super hypo gecko.
What Are Rarest Leopard Gecko Morphs?
There is a wide range of leopard gecko morphs from those that are common and cheap to rare and expensive morphs. In this section, we are going to highlight some of the rarest leopard gecko morphs that you can get.
Truly WILD Type Leopard Geckos
These are the types of leopard geckos that you can find in the wild. Wild-type leopard geckos usually have yellow bodies with several black spots. Furthermore, their ventral surface is cream in color.
Although wild-type leopard geckos are among the least expensive and most readily available leopard geckos, it is hard to get a truly wild-type leopard gecko. This is because most of the wild-type leopard geckos that are available have designer genetics in their bloodline.
Black Night Leopard Gecko
Black night leopard geckos are considered to be among the rarest morphs of leopard geckos found in captivity. This morph usually has a solid black color with white bellies. You can also find some species that are spotted but most are in solid black color.
Black night leopard morphs will also produce hatchlings that are in numerous shades of black. Furthermore, the black night leopard gecko is different from black pearls. This is because black pearls have a brown tint, while black pearl leopard gecko has a blue-black color.
You can get black night leopard gecko for around $1,000 – $3,500 from specialized breeders.
Black Pearls Leopard Gecko
The black pearl leopard gecko can also be called a black velvet morph as it is quite black in coloration. Black pearl leopard geckos were created as a result of generations of selective breeding.
Like black night, black pearl is highly melanistic but has a different color pattern with white pearl-like markings.
It is very rare to find a black pearls leopard gecko. However, there is an increase in demand for black pearl leopard geckos. In case you later find one, it is only female black pearl leopard geckos that are sold by most breeders and cost around $3000.
Piebald Leopard Geckos
Piebald leopard gecko morphs do not have pigment in part of its body. Piebald leopard geckos are like super snow eclipse leopard geckos but have a white pattern such as shocks on their feet, the nose, and the end of the tail.
However, if you breed piebald pairs selectively, their offspring will have a whiter pattern that makes the super snow black pattern disappear. The cost of piebald leopard geckos is between $350-500.
Melanistic Leopard Gecko
A melanistic leopard gecko can either be hypo melanistic or hyper melanistic. This means a melanistic leopard gecko morph usually has less melanin or more melanin than the other geckos.
A hyper melanistic leopard gecko usually has more melanin. This gives them a much darker appearance but they are not completely black. Furthermore, hyper melanistic will have spots and patterns on the body but will be darker than the normal or wild types.
On the other hand, the hypo melanistic leopard gecko has less melanin than the others. They usually have the same spots and pattern variations as the hyper melanistic. However, hyper melanistic leopard geckos are rarer than hypo melanistic leopard geckos.
You can get melanistic leopard geckos for around $150-$325.
Another rare leopard gecko in this group is the hypo ghost leopard gecko. The body color of hypo ghost leos is very light but they usually fade in color as they age. For instance, if a hypo ghost is born with lavender or yellow tint, the color will become whiter as they mature.
However, many do confuse hypo ghost leopard gecko with mack snow leos.
Albino Leopard Gecko
The term albinism in leopard geckos is quite different from the albinism found in other animals. Albinism occurs in animals because of the lack of enzyme tyrosinase. This will then prevent the animal from producing melanin.
However, albino leopard geckos usually produce a small amount of melanin and this shows they do not have tyrosinase deficiency. This makes albino leopard gecko amelanistic as they display some light coloration.
Some of the albino leopard gecko morphs that are out there are super snow, Texas albino, mack snow, chocolate albino, bell albino, rainwater albino, gem snow, and so on.
Albino leopard geckos costs around $85-$700.
Rare? Rarest – Will It be Rare Forever?
Morphs are formed by the selective breeding of different leopard gecko morphs to form different sizes, colors, and patterns. Furthermore, professional reptile breeders can use genetic mutations in the wild to try and create a specific morph.
This is why what is considered to be a rare morph now may not be rare in the next seasons. You can be sure that a new morph that will be rare would be discovered by a breeder.
We Got Rarest – What About Most Common Leopard Gecko Morphs?
Rare leopard geckos are usually expensive and very hard to find them. If you are not ready to go through the stress of getting rare leopard geckos, there are numerous common leopard geckos morphs in the market.
The best thing about common leopard gecko morphs is that they are not expensive and they are readily available. Some of the most common leopard gecko morphs are stated below.
Fancy Leopard Gecko
This is among the most common leopard geckos and you can easily find them in most pet stores. Fancy leopard geckos are not a wild leopard gecko morph and are available in any type. Furthermore, you can find them in many patterns or colors.
You can buy fancy leopard gecko for around $30 – $40.
High Yellow Leopard Gecko
This morph is similar in pattern and color to the wild leopard gecko morph. However, they are not wild-type and they display higher levels of yellow color with fewer spots. Their tail is usually white with black spots while the rest of the body has a strong yellow color.
High yellow morphs are bred selectively by breeders using species with deep yellow hues and fewer spots. High yellow leopard gecko costs around $75 – $125.
Giant Leopard Gecko
The giant leopard gecko morph is usually bigger than the normal-sized leopard gecko by two inches. Giant leopard geckos can grow to around 10 inches in length and weigh about 100g. Furthermore, they are bred by breeders using the heterozygous form of the gene.
Giant leopard geckos are usually bred for size and you can find them in any pattern or color. The best thing is that they are naturally calm and docile in nature.
You can buy a giant leopard gecko for around $110 – $275.
Wrapping Up
There are more than a hundred morphs of leopard geckos available in the market. However, breeders are working on creating more morphs by the combination of different morphs together.
This is why the prices of leopard gecko usually vary from morph to morph based on how difficult it is to create.
Rare leopard gecko morphs are usually expensive and are only available from a specialized breeder. When choosing leopard gecko morphs, it is best to go to a good breeder that understands and has knowledge about the genetics of the morphs.