I just got my first Boa this weekend. I keep mostly colubrids and lizards and have been wanting one for a while. I purchased a male hypomelanistic colombian red tail. Please bare with the long post and questions, as I'm a little confused.

After a bit more reading I realize this is a co-dominant trait. Please correct me if I'm wrong here. This means the hypo form will display itself visually in both the het and homo form. I'm assuming the only way to prove if an animal is homozygous for this trait is from breeding.

I believe what I have to be a "het" for hypo which means it is visbly noticeable but not as much as a super or homozygous hypo would be. Is there anyway to visially differentiate a "super" from a normal hypo.

I was told that when young the way to differentiate the hypo from a normal is a reduced (ALMOST NON EXISTENT) black borders on the tail, and more of a pinkish hue as opposed to a gray color. The pinkish color will become more and more visual as the animal ages??

One other question. Are supers sold under a different name to differentiate them from a hypo. Anyone have any pics or can lead me in the direction of some pictures of color differences in adults and/or juvies (hypos-supers).

Thanks for bearing with this long post and I hope it makes sense. I'm a bit tired at the moment. I'll post a pic once I get a chance.

Rick

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• question about hypomelanistic BCI - molonowski2, Tue Jun 12 20:24:12 2007
• RE: question about hypomelanistic BCI - Randall_Turner, Tue Jun 12 21:46:20 2007
• RE: question about hypomelanistic BCI - Paul Hollander, Wed Jun 13 09:31:55 2007