Black Base Crested Geckos

Black Base is the most common base colour in crested geckos, and the one you will see most often on listings. Lavender and Charcoal are both built on it, so a breeder chasing either look starts here.

Appearance

The name covers a broad range, from animals with brown tones to pitch black. Brown holds on longest in the head stamp and takes breeders many generations to select out, so check the head first when you compare two animals. The base tells you nothing about pattern: a black base gecko can carry white patterning, orange patterning, both or neither, because the base sits underneath whatever pattern the animal shows.

Genetics

Black Base is a fixed dominant trait and one of three primary base colours, with Yellow Base and Red Base. It is not allelic with either of them. Add Hypo and the base turns sky blue, purple or lavender, which is the Lavender combo. Add Phantom and the dark result is called Charcoal. The proven line is Pangea Reptile's Black Project, and Pangea's OG Black line is black base phantoms. Listings carry both Black Base and Super Black Base, so ask the seller what the super label rests on before you pay more for it. The colour comes from wild-type variation: early animals were loosely called buckskin, and selective breeding separated black base from yellow base, phantom and hypo.