Lilly White Crested Geckos
The Lilly White morph adds white or cream over the base colour of a crested gecko. A tail that is solid white from above, paired with white flanks and a silvery eye, is the surest sign. It passes to a gecko without the gene but never to another Lilly White, as the all-white young from that pairing do not live.
- Super Lilly White — linked to structural defects such as kinking
- Lilly White — do not pair with another Lilly White. Offspring of that pairing carry a hereditary defect and cannot be sold here.
About the Lilly White gene
Because the leucistic gene Lilly White lays white or cream over a crested gecko's own base colour, it appears on dark animals as well as yellows, lavenders and reds. It only takes one copy to show it. This means it is easy to bring into almost any line.
Appearance
Look at the tail to tell if it is a Lilly White. From an overhead view, the tail of a Lilly White is solid white from base to tip with no break. Even if colour and pattern show underneath, they do not cross onto the top. The belly is white or cream and there are raised white or cream scales along the lower flanks. The eyes are a silvery grey. A non-Lilly gecko's skin is not as soft or velvety as the skin of a Lilly White. Because the white spreads as they grow, judge a baby on its tail as hatchlings often look washed yellow or orange and are less white along the back and sides. The amount of white an adult carries varies from animal to animal, and the white itself runs from bright white to cream. The Super, Super Lilly White, is a uniform all-white gecko.
Genetics
The Lilly White is incomplete dominant, but many listings still call it co-dom, and a single copy gives the look. This family includes Lilly White and Super Lilly White. You can find named combinations like the Frappuccino which is Lilly White with Cappuccino, the Sorak which is Lilly White with Super Cappuccino, and the Phantom Lilly where Phantom holds back the white across the back. The UK breeder Nick Lumb at Lilly Exotics hatched the first one in late 2010.
Known issues
The problem sits with the Super Lilly White, not with a single-copy Lilly White. The Super Lilly White is linked to structural defects such as kinking, and in practice it does not survive: the all-white young fail to hatch, or struggle to breathe, move and feed and die within about a week. BaskMarket withdraws and refuses any listing with Super Lilly White under REPTA's Deleterious Gene Policy. For the same reason, pair a Lilly White with a gecko that does not carry the gene, never with another Lilly White. Severity varies between individuals - please research the morph and ask the seller about this specific animal before buying.