Black Pearl Leopard Geckos
The Black Pearl is a dark leopard gecko line selected for a body that is black all over, with no other colour showing. It is often crossed with Charcoal and Black Night, so judge each gecko on its own darkness rather than the name.
About the Black Pearl gene
One of the dark leopard gecko lines is Black Pearl. This line is selectively bred for melanin instead of for any single gene. This, along with Black Velvet, is about as close as the hobby gets to a melanistic leopard gecko.
Appearance
This line seeks an animal with a body that is entirely black and contains no other colour. It is judged on the darkness of the individual gecko, just like the other named melanistic lines, Black Night and Charcoal.
Genetics
Because Black Pearl is a selectively bred line and is polygenic, there is no super form and no het. You will see two names used for it in listings, which are Black Pearl and Pos Black Pearl. This line is regularly crossed into Black Night to outcross that line in part. Geckos with Charcoal, Black Pearl and Black Night ancestry are sold as Akoya. The line began with wild-caught stock held at a Dutch zoo. Living Art Geckos and Asko Kampinga received the animals in 2006 and bred and proved them, and The Urban Gecko bought the first ones offered for sale.