My opinon of the blue morph.....

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Posted by falconer44 on February 13, 2003 at 16:02:12:

In Reply to: blue crested posted by kurma on February 13, 2003 at 07:48:35:

I personally do not think that it is possible to have a blue crested. Yes ive seen all the pictures and all of that stuff, but with how much cresteds change color, it would be impossible for a crested to be considered blue. Most of the pictures i have seen that were supposed to be blue, looked like they were grey to me. I think that blue cresteds are impossible to come by as of yet. Also, the blue color also depends on the individuals' eye. What looks blue to you, may look gray to me.

Someone also posted a while ago that it is impossible to have a blue gecko. here is what they wrote.

"The blue coloration expressed by some cresteds is not actually blue. It can't be. There are three main pigments that control the pigments of most reptiles (undeniably there are sea snakes with true blue coloration). Melanin controls levels of black and other dark coloration, xanthin controls levels of yellow pigment expression and erythrin controls red coloration. There are two different paths to obtain a "blue" animal.
The first path is to increase the melanistic expression of a "green" animal which, I may note, is not actually green at all. The green in crested geckos is a delicate combination of beige controlled by xanthin (yellow) and melanin (black). At times when the melanin is lighter (during color change-perhaps between nocturnal and daytime coloration), the green becomes evident. Color change is a separate category all together. Color change is regulated by chromatophores in the skin that contain cytoplasmic pigment granules. Most geckos only have melanophores to change coloration (correct me if I'm wrong, they could also have xanthophores or erythrophores). Chameleons, on the other hand, have xanthophores and guanophores in a level beneath their melanophores. The guanophores control the blue coloration that chameleons can express. When the yellow xanthophore cells are enlarged overtop of the guanophores, the animal appears green.
BUT THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COLOR CHANGE AND NATURAL COLOR...i just want to emphasize that. Melanin, xanthin, and erythrin control natural coloration, whereas levels of melanophores, xanthophores, erythrophores, and guanophores control color changing.
The other road to blue coloration takes a light colored animal and gives it a purplish hue that appears blue due to the amelanism of the animal. An example of this is the blue gecko pictured at www.crestedgecko.com (follow the link below). This otherwise white animal has a combination of melanin and erythrin, lightened by xanthin that has given it a bluish/purple tint. This is about as close to true blue as one can get. The picture I posted earlier of the blue female and the picture above are geckos which use the first route, where they are only blue during the daytime due to decreased levels of melanin. Follow the link to the other type of Blue crested."

here is the link so you can read all of it, and teh replys

:anyone else working with this morph other than crestedgecko.com?

Blue crested discussion

Follow Ups:

If geckos can't be blue........ kissametoukas 02/14/03 (3)
- Re: If geckos can't be blue........ falconer44 02/15/03 (2)
  - thanks for clearing that up.... kissametoukas 02/16/03 (1)
    - sounds right, but i honestly have no clue n/p falconer44 02/17/03 (0)
Re: My opinon of the blue morph..... meretseger 02/14/03 (9)
- Re: My opinon of the blue morph..... CrestedGecko.com 02/14/03 (8)
  - Sorry one more>>> leprachaun13 02/14/03 (3)
    - Another example... Gunther 02/14/03 (2)
      - Bluestar collared lizards also, np Rosy 02/14/03 (0)
      - Re: Another example... leprachaun13 02/14/03 (0)
  - Re: My opinon of the blue morph..... leprachaun13 02/14/03 (3)
    - Re: My opinon of the blue morph..... falconer44 02/14/03 (2)
      - Re: My opinon of the blue morph..... leprachaun13 02/15/03 (1)
        
        Re: My opinon of the blue morph..... falconer44 02/16/03 (0)