The color will fade if you stop feeding it to the, but before you shrug it off as artificial, keep reading.

Allen started playing with several natural pigments (in the form of certain algaes, etc.) after several WC Rhacodactylus geckos (auriculatus and ciliatus, if I remember correctly) started losing their color after they were brought into the United States from New Caledonia. Apparently, there are certain natural pigments found in the natural diet of Rhacodactylus that add to and enhance their color. These pigments build up in the skin cells over time, thus making the geckos get brighter and brighter with age. The closest thing I can use to compare the color enhancement to is the Pink Flamingo. Baby Pink Flamingos are white when they hatch, but as they grow older, they become pink, due to the pigments found in the shrimp (or whatever it is) that Flamingos eat. Anyway, back to Rhacs...In captivity, when given crickets and babyfood or whatever, they don't get these pigments, so they lose some of their color. Since feeding the CGD and GGD to those WC Rhacs, Allen said that they've gained back all of their original color that they had when they were collected in New Caledonia.

I'm sure I probably left something out, but I believe there may even be a section about this phenomenon in the back of the Rhac book by Repashy, Fast and de Vosjoli.

-Anthony


>>Exactly right Anthony. I wasn't directing my post at anyone specifically, it was one of those, "To whoever is reading this.." posts.
>>
>>I had no idea about the CGD bringing out the color? Is that a permanent thing, or will the color fade if you stop feeding them on the diet?
>>-----
>>Peace-
>>Kelli Hammack
>>H.I.S.S.
>>email me
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Anthony Caponetto
www.ACreptiles.com

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