So my dragon Gavrilo was shedding today, so I gave him a warm soak and took some pictures of his bright colors to see if anyone could identify a specific morph. I'm not sure if he is normal or not, but there is a LOT of orange and yellow on his face. He seems to dull out very quickly between sheds.
Thanks in advance!
He has a little bit of purple-ish coloring on his back.
It's impossible to know which "morph" he is because each breeder makes up their own name for their own colors, and most dragons now are a mix of different morphs and colors. Unless they specifically told you, there's no real way of knowing. He looks like he could have some citrus in him or just be a colorful normal. He's very cute, good luck with him
The only type "morphs" that you can identify by looking at the dragon are:
Normal phase - Dark nails and dark markings, may have red, orange or yellow.
Hypomelanistic - Clear nails, lighter coloration of the dark markings, back and shoulder patterns. May have red, orange or yellow. Less melanin in the skin.
Translucent - Usually black eyes, not always and almost a translucent appearance to the skin.
Leatherback, Smoothie - decreased amount of scaling, smoother skin.
You can have also Hypo/Translucent or different combinations of the genetic phenotypes (how an animal looks). You can have regular phase dragons who have genotypes (what is hidden in their genes) that have mixes of normal phase and all of the above genetic variants. That is why people label some animals as 100% Het for Hypo...that means the animal is 100% sure to be Heterozygous (has a gene for normal and hypomelanism) for the gene that causes Hyposmelanism, but the animal may look just like a normal phase dragon with pretty colors. It will breed Hypomelanistic babies if bred with a dragon that is genetically similar to it or to another Hypomelanistic dragon. The Hypomelanistic trait is recessive, so it only pops up when you have two dragons with that gene, pass that gene to the eggs.
Hope I haven't confused you. What you have is probably a normal phase dragon with some very nice red/orange color. Very nice and will probably just get prettier with age! Unless you are breeding dragons, all the stuff I explained above doesn't really matter.
The only type "morphs" that you can identify by looking at the dragon are:
Normal phase - Dark nails and dark markings, may have red, orange or yellow.
Hypomelanistic - Clear nails, lighter coloration of the dark markings, back and shoulder patterns. May have red, orange or yellow. Less melanin in the skin.
Translucent - Usually black eyes, not always and almost a translucent appearance to the skin.
Leatherback, Smoothie - decreased amount of scaling, smoother skin.
You can have also Hypo/Translucent or different combinations of the genetic phenotypes (how an animal looks). You can have regular phase dragons who have genotypes (what is hidden in their genes) that have mixes of normal phase and all of the above genetic variants. That is why people label some animals as 100% Het for Hypo...that means the animal is 100% sure to be Heterozygous (has a gene for normal and hypomelanism) for the gene that causes Hyposmelanism, but the animal may look just like a normal phase dragon with pretty colors. It will breed Hypomelanistic babies if bred with a dragon that is genetically similar to it or to another Hypomelanistic dragon. The Hypomelanistic trait is recessive, so it only pops up when you have two dragons with that gene, pass that gene to the eggs.
Hope I haven't confused you. What you have is probably a normal phase dragon with some very nice red/orange color. Very nice and will probably just get prettier with age! Unless you are breeding dragons, all the stuff I explained above doesn't really matter.
Actually, you haven't confused me at all! I just recently learned about basic genetics in my high school biology class, so what didn't make sense to me a few months ago is now crystal clear. I also plan to get into the veterinary practice, so this is all useful info to me.
It doesn't really matter much to me what morph my dragon is, I was just extremely curious, and who knows, maybe he is something different than the usual! He's still such a pretty creature, everyone can now just enjoy his colors.
Actually, you haven't confused me at all! I just recently learned about basic genetics in my high school biology class, so what didn't make sense to me a few months ago is now crystal clear. I also plan to get into the veterinary practice, so this is all useful info to me.
It doesn't really matter much to me what morph my dragon is, I was just extremely curious, and who knows, maybe he is something different than the usual! He's still such a pretty creature, everyone can now just enjoy his colors.
Excellent! I am nurse practitioner and I was a biology pre-vet major who ended up in nursing. So, I like genetics!
I think your dragon is gorgeous and will be a beautiful adult. The genetics are intriguing to me, because there are so many genetic variations of dragons and most seem to be healthy, despite the fact that they are recessives.
I have two hypos myself. One is a Hypomelanistic Orange male from Bloodbank Dragons, Diablo and I have what is called a 100% Marketed Leucistic from Georgia Bearded Dragons. His name is Ash, but he isn't a real leucistic. He is a hypomelanistic with such little pattern and color that he "appears" to be leucistic. He has normal eye color, so he is NOT genetically leucistic and I do not believe anyone has sucessfully produced genetic leucistics or albinos. So when you see leucistic, it really is just a very light hypo.