# Red Base

_Permalink: https://geckinspect.com/MorphGuide/red-base_

**Also called:** Red  
**Rarity:** Uncommon  
**Inheritance:** Polygenic  
**Category:** Base color  
**Typical adult price:** $180 to $450

**Definition.** A Red Base crested gecko has red-dominant ground coloration, whose saturation varies with firing state, age and lighting.

Polygenic base color showing true red tones, distinct from red dalmatian or rose-brown animals.

Red, orange-red and rust tones form a visual range. Describe the base separately from cream pattern and red Dalmatian spots. Compare neutral-light images in more than one natural firing state.

**Genetics models.** Base color is traditionally described as polygenic: reds deepen across generations of selective pairing. Foundation Genetics instead treats Red Base as a suspected recessive gene: two copies produce strong red tones, and single-copy carriers often show a pink cheek blush as a het marker. If the recessive model holds, two non-red animals with blushed cheeks can produce visual reds, which the purely polygenic model would not predict.

**Key features:**
- Red-dominant ground color
- Firing state affects saturation
- Separate base color from pattern color

**Lookalikes and how to tell them apart:**
- Orange Base (https://geckinspect.com/MorphGuide/orange-base): Red and orange descriptions overlap at intermediate hues; lighting and firing state matter.

**Often combined with:** Harlequin, Extreme Harlequin, Dalmatian, Pinstripe, Tricolor

**Current asking prices (Geck Inspect Price Index, 2026-10-06).** Asking prices on public crested gecko listings, converted to USD, not sale prices. Full dataset: https://geckinspect.com/data/price-index.json

| Market | Listings | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 509 | $150 | $250 | $400 |
| United States | 403 | $175 | $300 | $467 |
| South Korea | 61 | $112 | $149 | $261 |
| Japan | 7 | $177 | $202 | $246 |

_Source: Geck Inspect Morph Guide. Updated 2026-10-13. Cite https://geckinspect.com/MorphGuide/red-base_