Entry 16Pattern
Flame
Pattern along the back, little on the sides.
FLAME
What it looks like
Flame is one of the oldest crested gecko looks: a lighter, contrasting pattern along the back, with little or no pattern on the sides and legs. The back pattern ranges from white to orange, with shades in between.
Tiger banding often breaks it up, and an old name for a Flame with V shapes down the back is Chevron. Foundation Genetics notes that if a 'normal' crested gecko were ever defined, it would be a Flame on a black base. As pattern spreads further onto the sides and limbs, Flame shades into Harlequin, so the line between them is a matter of degree.
The series
Same animal, same seed. Only this gene changes. Open any one in the builder.
With another gene
The same gecko before and after.
Harlequin climbs higher
Where flame stays low on the side, harlequin climbs through the middle and upper side.
Notes
How it is inheritedFlame is a look breeders select for rather than something traced to one gene, and no simple copy rule has been shown for it. Foundation Genetics describes breeders selecting Flame lines over generations for more pattern on the sides and legs, which is how Harlequin and Extreme Harlequin came about.
Where it came fromNo single founder is on record for this name. It is shared hobby vocabulary. Foundation Genetics calls it one of the first looks that set crested geckos apart from the original wild-collected animals, and an early book called it 'fire'. That older use isn't the same as today's Fire project.
In Gecktopia
Flame is a strength in the game rather than copies: offspring inherit a value near their parents', and a higher value draws taller zig-zags. A pairing preview lists it as a possibility rather than giving odds.
- Passed on in the game as a strength rather than copies.
Sources
Crested Gecko Morph / Trait Guide
Michelle / FoxReptiles, with contributed photographs, 11 July 2021
Harlequin collection description
Pangea Reptile, date not established
Anthony and Jessica Vasquez, Tom Favazza and breeder collaborators, date not established
Entry 16 of 33. Every gecko on this page was drawn from its own genes just now, by the renderer that draws them in the game.