What is Project Porthole?
Portholes on a gecko refer to white spots in the lateral region of a gecko. They mimic the look of portholes on the side of a ship or submarine.
Generally when pairing a Red Harlequin crested gecko to another Red Harlequin some of the offspring come out as what is called a Bicolor. Bicolors usually have very minimal pattern if any, they also occasionally have portholes. For a long time other members of the gecko community seemed disappointed when they would hatch “just another Bicolor”. I don’t blame them, why would you want a solid colored gecko with maybe a couple white spots verses one with lots of Pattern? I get it, but I myself found something beautiful about bicolors and I decided to run with it.
I wanted to see if I could get the portholes to go where no porthole had ever gone before. I set my sights on producing a deep red gecko covered in white spots. I wanted the Portholes everywhere not just on the lateral regions.
I started the project with the orange female above. She had a few portholes, but when paired to a red harlequin she produced babies with a little more portholes. I held back her best offspring and the following season I bred her again, this time to an orange male who also had portholes. Generation after generation they just kept getting more and more portholes. The white spots spread to other areas of the gecko‘s body including the legs, tail, throat, head, and occasionally the dorsal area. I eventually noticed portholes popping up in some of my other pairs. Sometimes on geckos with different color bases.
This project is near and dear to my heart and is one of my favorites in my collection. The possibilities to this project seem to be endless, and now I’m off to a great start with my productions getting better and better with each season! I have accomplished many of the goals I set out for this project, but I also have many more I have yet to achieve! I know this is just the beginning. Even greater things are still to come with this line.
PROJECT PORTHOLE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
These are some of the questions I get asked on a regular basis in reference to this project. If you have more unanswered questions after reading this, please message me and I will do my best to answer them for you.
*DO YOU HAVE ANY FROM THIS PROJECT AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW?
Check this website for my most current availability and watch my Facebook news feed for announcements as to when geckos will be released. I currently have many eggs from this project incubating, as well as more eggs being laid every month, as things hatch and I grow them up, more will be released.
*WHEN WILL THEY BE READY?
- I can’t give an exact date as it depends on when they hatch and how long it takes them to grow up. Being that this is one of my main projects, I am very selective in what I keep. I like to raise babies to a substantial size so that I know the sex and if it is going to develop into something I need to holdback and keep for future project needs.
*HOW MUCH WILL THEY COST WHEN YOU RELEASE THEM?
- I won’t know until I see what hatches. Different pricing factors include how the color and portholes develop, the sex, the lineage, as well as the size I raise it too. All of which can’t be determined ahead of time.
*WILL YOU NOTIFY ME WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE?
- I do not keep wait lists. The best way to be notified is to make sure you are receiving notifications from my Facebook page when I make updates.
*HOW AND WHERE WILL THEY BE POSTED ONCE THEY ARE AVAILABLE?
- I want it to be fair to both my USA customers and my overseas customers. Being that we are in different time zones I will post an update post here on my Facebook page 24 hrs ahead of time. I will give a time frame to come back and see project releases, so there will be a heads up for everyone! Once the announcement is made and the official post is made, it will then be a first come first serve basis as to who gets the geckos. Please make sure you are following my page and select “see notifications first” so you get notified when I make updates!