Pinstripe Crested Geckos

The trait of pinstripe in a crested gecko is a raised, pale-edged scale line that runs from the neck to the tail along both sides of the back. Because that grade determines if an animal is a full pin, a partial, or a pin-dash, breeders grade the trait by how complete the line is. Most buyers shop by that grade.

Appearance

The raised scales go from the head and neck along each side of the dorsal ridge. These are often white or cream against the base colour, but the stripe can also be pink, tangerine, yellow or orange. A full pin, which is also written 100% pinstripe, runs from the crests to the tail base on both sides without breaking. The grade changes where the line breaks. A common cut-off calls a gecko partial if the pinning covers no more than 90% of the dorsal edge and reads 90 to 99% as a high-percentage pin. If there are large, scattered gaps, it is a pin-dash instead of a partial. A reverse pinstripe has a darker line instead of the pale highlight. There are two ways breeders place that line: as a shadow along their outer edge or as a dark stripe under the raised scales reaching toward the eyes. Rather than a separate structural trait, some breeders read it as the tiger gene pushing through a pinstripe. On a phantom pinstripe, the raised scales are still there but the colouring looks darker or muted because it lacks the cream or pale highlight.

Genetics

The status of Pinstripe inheritance is unsettled. One source types it as dominant while another states it is dominant to incomplete dominant. Other breeders view pinstripe and other crested gecko pattern traits as polygenic. This means they are built from several genes that each weaken or strengthen the stripe instead of one single switch. There is no documented visually distinct two-copy form, and pinstripe belongs to no known allelic complex. To cover the darker-edged variant and the percentage grades, the names in use include Partial Pinstripe, Pos Partial Pinstripe, Reverse Pinstripe, Pos Reverse Pinstripe and Super Pinstripe. Pinstripe can be traced to animals kept by Allen Repashy and was later written up in Rhacodactylus: The Complete Guide. Rather than keeping it as a look of its own, breeders have worked it into most other crested gecko patterns since then.