Leatherback Bearded Dragons
A Leatherback bearded dragon has smaller, flatter scales across its back, so it feels smooth in the hand and its colour reads cleaner. Before you breed one, know that pairing two Leatherbacks makes Silkbacks, which have no scales at all.
- Super Leatherback (aka Silkback) — scaleless, so it needs more care than a scaled animal - higher humidity, softer surroundings, and closer attention to shedding, skin and hydration
- Leatherback (aka Het Silkback) — do not pair with another Leatherback. Offspring of that pairing carry a hereditary defect.
About the Leatherback gene
The Leatherback gene is a scale-reduction gene found in the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps). Having one copy makes the scales along the back smaller and removes the spikes in that area. The animal feels smooth in the hand and looks sleeker, with its colour showing with less texture in the way. This gene goes onto any colour line, and Hypo Leatherback is a familiar pairing.
Appearance
A Leatherback has smaller and flatter scales on its back than a normal one. This reduction also affects the rear legs. While the spikes on the head and beard stay, the spikes along the back are gone or reduced. This means the animal still looks like an ordinary dragon from the neck forward. Because there is less scale texture to break up the surface, blues, yellows and reds tend to read brighter. Every Leatherback is different in terms of how smooth the animal comes out.
The Silkback is the two-copy form and has no scales at all. Its belly, back and lateral spines are bare skin, even though most develop soft pseudoscales as they grow. Its colour looks more vivid still because nothing sits over the pigment.
Genetics
The Leatherback is an incomplete dominant gene, but it is still called "co-dom" by many listings and keepers. A single copy produces the Leatherback, meaning every Leatherback is a visual het for the super form, Silkback, which is also sold as Super Leatherback, scaleless or silkie. This gene belongs to no allelic complex. It first appeared in Italy, and the trade still labels lines as Italian or American Leatherback.
Phantom Dragons first produced a separate, recessive gene in 2004 known as Recessive Leatherback, also called Phantom Leather. This gene leaves near-normal scales elsewhere and smooths the flanks and back. A dragon carrying both genes is sold as a Microscale or Microleather. This is smoother than a Leatherback, but not bare like a Silkback.
Known issues
The concern sits with the Silkback, not the single-copy Leatherback. The Silkback is scaleless, so it needs more care than a scaled animal - higher humidity, softer surroundings, and closer attention to shedding, skin and hydration. Skin without scales loses water more quickly, and shed that dries on the toes or the tail tip can cut off circulation there.
Silkbacks cannot be listed on bask. Pairing two Leatherbacks is how Silkbacks are made, so our breeding guidance is not to put a Leatherback with another Leatherback.