Blizzard vs. Mack snow Blizzard

ehebert

New Member
Messages
189
Location
Mandeville, LA
Doing some research and can't seem to find much information. What are differences between the two? Or can you even tell the difference other than a frosted look as an adult? Are there any differences in the eyes?
I have a female that came from a pairing of Mack snow het blizzard and a blizzard, but can't tell if she is one or the other. Any information is welcomed.
 

Maxwell

New Member
Messages
131
Location
Jasper, IN, US
Most likely you will not be able to know, without test breeding. If it were a super snow, it would have black eyes, but, other than that, there's only a slight grey hue. That's it. I would consider it having a 50% of being Mack snow. If you test bred it, then you could determine whether or not it was.
 

ehebert

New Member
Messages
189
Location
Mandeville, LA
There is no slight gray hue. She is extremely dark. I'd hate to say midnight but from everything I've seen so far that's what some have been calling it.
 

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DrCarrotTail

Moderator
Messages
3,590
Location
Ridgewood, NJ
What temperatures did you incubate at and/or are you keeping her at? Sometimes the dark color can come from incubation and living at the lower end of the temperature spectrum for them (under 80 degrees) or possibly from improper supplementation. Were you soaking her in that picture? that paper towel looks wetter than I like to keep mine.
 

ehebert

New Member
Messages
189
Location
Mandeville, LA
She had a bad shed in that pick and was getting a bath. She stays at that color. My temps are 94 on my hot side and 73 on my cool and yes is all digital and infrared readings. As far as incubation temps, the breeder I got her from said between 82 and 87. Supplements are Vionate mixed 4 to 1 with calcium with d3 and a readily supply of calcium without d3 in her viv. She's fed mealies and dubia roaches.
 

Terrain_pull up

New Member
Messages
164
Location
St. Catharines, Ontario
The only way to confirm mack snows in my opinion is to see them when they first hatch. Mack snows always hatch with black and white markings and super snows hatch as a solid grey colour. If they hatch with any other colour they're not snows. Like Maxwell said, if yours were a super snow it would have solid black eyes so I would agree that your gecko is a blizzard. I'm not too familiar with blizzard genetics but I've heard "midnight" blizzards are usually made through lower incubation temps but midnight blizzards can also occur at higher temps as well.
 

ehebert

New Member
Messages
189
Location
Mandeville, LA
I understand what you're saying about the hatchlings but that's for regular mack snow and super snows. This is what LGWiki has to say about Mack Snow Blizzards.
A Mack Snow Blizzard is a Mack Snow crossed with a Blizzard. Mack Snow Blizzards hatch out looking like Blizzards, but have a frost tint to them. As they grow older, they seem to hold the frost tint. Mack Snow Blizzards have also been bred together to create a Super Snow Blizzard.
--MK Geckos 14:52, 7 September 2007 (EDT)

Her coloring looks frosted and she's not a juvenile anymore. So my questions are still the same. Is the only way to tell the difference is by the coloration or do they have other differences like eye pigment or is it in fact no way of telling them apart and if that is the case wouldn't it be redundant to even say Mack Snow Blizzard?
 

Ozy

New Member
Messages
732
Location
Kansas City, Missouri
A blizzard's color can vary greatly from 1 gecko to the next. She looks like a midnight blizzard. She does not appear to be a super snow. My leo is a blizzard and has the the exact same eyes, but as you can see, is a completely different color.
 

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ehebert

New Member
Messages
189
Location
Mandeville, LA
That's what I'm trying to point out, Ozy. Are there any other indicators to distinguish the two other than test breeding? Sure if I had a true MS Blizzard male and paired the two, and I so happened to hit the lottery to produce a SS Blizzard, then I'd know she was a MS Blizzard. But if not, I'd still have a 50/50 on a MS Blizzard and regular Blizzard but would never really know cuz I'd have to test breed the offspring. Just seems like it's vicious cycle of not knowing.
 

Maxwell

New Member
Messages
131
Location
Jasper, IN, US
Basically, there is no way to successfully know the trait without test breeding. Often Murphy's Patternless is called leucistic, but it is not. The true form of leucistism was found after the Murphy's Patternless, but the MP was still regarded as leucistic. Blizzard is the true leucistic gene. It causes complete masking of all traits, other than eye traits, which is something it does occasionally by coming out with black eyes. Mack Snow gene can be seen as a slight grey, but low temperatures through its life can cause the same exact thing. It's basically impossible to tell without test breeding, it's the reason that many of the primarily white genes need to be kept with good record keeping, or percentages on what it could be. To test breed this, the best thing would be to breed to a normal. You would get normals het blizzard if it was just a blizzard, but a Mack snow, if you're lucky.
 
Messages
73
Location
Tallahassee, Fl
You could breed with another normal or anything other than snow/blizzard.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't a SS Blizzard paired to say a Normal produce all Mack Snows het Blizzard? And if a MS Blizzard paired to a Normal produce half Normal het Blizz and half Mack Snow het Blizz. From my understanding of genetics that is what you could do to know for sure.

And of course a Blizzard x Normal would give you all Normals het Blizzard. It may take a couple clutches to determine for 100% sure but I imagine that would be the way to tell.
 

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