ABOVE: Mr. Frosty, one of two lemon frost leopard geckos that Steve Sykes bought for $10,000 in 2015
L. GUO ET AL./PLOS GENETICS 2021/STEVE SYKES
In 2012, a very unusual leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) was born at a Florida breeding firm called Gourmet Rodent. It looked as if it had been rolled in yellow dye; its usual black spots were much smaller, and its back and legs were a vibrant, golden hue. Rare color patterns are highly valued in the pet trade, so the animal was bred to create more, and when two of these so-called “lemon frost” geckos—a male and female named Mr. and Ms. Frosty—first went up for auction in 2015, Steve Sykes, the cofounder of reptile breeding company Geckos Etc, jumped at the chance to buy them.
“This was a very special opportunity to get in early on a new base morph in leopard geckos,” he says. He ...
