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A few years ago on the Pangea Forums, there was a discussion about what traits made a gecko fall into one of the different "white" categories, and it's one I think is worth revisiting and sharing here. I think some of the definitions have changed a bit, mostly at the "high white" end of the spectrum because over the last decade, a number of geckos have been produced that are "super high white" - "highest white" - "whiteout"? I joke.
Anyway, these are only my thoughts and I'd love to have you guys share photos below that I can include in this original post. Feel free to challenge the definitions I've laid out below... these are accumulations of things I've seen and read, and certainly are up for debate.
"Super High White" - an animal that has a majority of it's body covered in white markings, covering most of the neck, back, base of the tail, hips and portions of the head and sides.
"High White" - an animal that has a significant amount of white markings, covering the neck, base of the tail, and other portions of the body, including hips and sides. I think it's hard to qualify where on the neck and tail "high white" geckos have white markings because so many of the collars are so different.
"White Collar or White Wings/Shoulders with Side White" - an animal with the white collar or white wings/shoulders noted below, in combination with at least one section of small to medium sized white on each side of the torso.
"White Collar" - an animal that has a solid band of white going from one side of it's neck to the other with no breaks or inconsistencies.
"White Wings/Shoulders" - an animal that has splotches of white around the neck and shoulders, likely in fragmented sections or separate areas that are not consistently white across the entire neck and/or shoulders.
"...not white/normal" - very minimal amounts of white or none at all:
Curveball: "Green Collar" - This is a term I've seen pop up a few times over the years and I personally think there are two ways to look at it.
One: A gecko that has a collar, but that collar has a greenish tint to it. There is some gray area here, because as animals age and between firing up and firing down, or even being somewhat fired, the tint or appearance of a collar can change a lot. But I have previously owned and seen some animals who, even when totally fired up, have green collars.
Two: A gecko with no collar whatsoever that happens to have green color around the neck area. Translation: these geckos do not have collars of any type.
"High White" vs. "Higher White" vs. "Highest White"?
While it's the category that most chahoua keepers strive for, I also think it might be the most ambiguous and with the largest margin for variance. ~5 years ago, many folks considered "high white" geckos to be what I described above: white on the collar, tail and body. But when you take that definition, there is a real discrepancy between geckos like these:
and
The second geckos both have long streaks and blotches of white pattern, in addition to white running down their hips and tails. The top gecko, while nice, has much smaller white markings on his sides and I'm not sure I personally would call her "high white" though some have. I'd be more inclined to call him a very nice white collar... but... going back to the "definition" of high white... he would fit it.
Anyway, these are only my thoughts and I'd love to have you guys share photos below that I can include in this original post. Feel free to challenge the definitions I've laid out below... these are accumulations of things I've seen and read, and certainly are up for debate.
"Super High White" - an animal that has a majority of it's body covered in white markings, covering most of the neck, back, base of the tail, hips and portions of the head and sides.
"High White" - an animal that has a significant amount of white markings, covering the neck, base of the tail, and other portions of the body, including hips and sides. I think it's hard to qualify where on the neck and tail "high white" geckos have white markings because so many of the collars are so different.
"White Collar or White Wings/Shoulders with Side White" - an animal with the white collar or white wings/shoulders noted below, in combination with at least one section of small to medium sized white on each side of the torso.
"White Collar" - an animal that has a solid band of white going from one side of it's neck to the other with no breaks or inconsistencies.
"White Wings/Shoulders" - an animal that has splotches of white around the neck and shoulders, likely in fragmented sections or separate areas that are not consistently white across the entire neck and/or shoulders.
"...not white/normal" - very minimal amounts of white or none at all:
Curveball: "Green Collar" - This is a term I've seen pop up a few times over the years and I personally think there are two ways to look at it.
One: A gecko that has a collar, but that collar has a greenish tint to it. There is some gray area here, because as animals age and between firing up and firing down, or even being somewhat fired, the tint or appearance of a collar can change a lot. But I have previously owned and seen some animals who, even when totally fired up, have green collars.
Two: A gecko with no collar whatsoever that happens to have green color around the neck area. Translation: these geckos do not have collars of any type.
"High White" vs. "Higher White" vs. "Highest White"?
While it's the category that most chahoua keepers strive for, I also think it might be the most ambiguous and with the largest margin for variance. ~5 years ago, many folks considered "high white" geckos to be what I described above: white on the collar, tail and body. But when you take that definition, there is a real discrepancy between geckos like these:
and
The second geckos both have long streaks and blotches of white pattern, in addition to white running down their hips and tails. The top gecko, while nice, has much smaller white markings on his sides and I'm not sure I personally would call her "high white" though some have. I'd be more inclined to call him a very nice white collar... but... going back to the "definition" of high white... he would fit it.
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