One of the varieties of the leopard gecko ancestry is the Albino leopard gecko. Every kind of these species has its own genetics producing different behaviors.
Albinos were divided into three strains such as Tremper, Rainwater, and Bell. All these were named after the person who first produced the particular strain. Rainwater is also called Las Vegas Albino. All the strains possess the recessive traits meaning this trait is not expressed when combined with a dominant trait. However, if the gecko is carrying two copies of that trait in order to expressed its recessive trait.
The albino strains are sensitive to bright light and will easily close their eyes tightly when lights are directly exposed to them. Just like most geckos they also do not feed during the day but are more active at night.
The strains are genetically incompatible with each other which means, they are not good for breeding. To elaborate, a Tremper Albino when breed with a Rainwater or Bell Albino their babies would be normal in appearance and are considered as heterozygous for both the strains.
What are the differences between the three strains of Albino leopard gecko?
Tremper strain:
This particular species is the first one to come out in the market and so far the most common among the three. Unfortunately Tremper’s possess the stereotype of being dark brown. Most likely this is the result of the incubation temperature rather than genetics issues. There are even very darker tremper’s that may undoubtedly still be a tremper, some breeders call them the “Mocha Strain” in the market. On the contrary, there are bright white or pink which is totally the opposite of what is described as a tremper albino.
The color of the eyes of tremper albinos varies among each other, some may have a slightly lighter than what is “normal” with a non-albino leopard gecko to bright, or bright red in young animals. The bright red-eye color is usually the result of the incubated animal under a high temperature of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. However the bright red-eye color often changes as they mature and turns into a beige color which is the typical color of a tremper albino.
Rainwater Strain:
Rainwater comes in second to the tremper albino when it comes to popularity. They are oftentimes considered as pinkier than the other strains. But this is not always true as there are tremper albinos that are bright pink or white if incubated also at a high temperature. There is only a slight change of baby rainwater incubated at 80 – 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bell Strain:
This species is the rarest among the three and most often have a high contrast of its pink color among the three which are often darker in shade. Furthermore, the color of the eye is the reddest among the three strains and remains reddish or pinkish even as they mature.
There are more types of the Albino leopard gecko like the pattern-less albino. Find out more of these species they are great for pet keeping as well.
