No doubt that there is confusion for many regarding the coral trait. We attempted to clarify what we could about it via the writeup on our website - and thanks for the review and kind feedback on that. I think that you are correct in thinking that there are albinos out there that have been labeled corals solely based on appearance, and that are probably not truly corals genetically (whatever that means, as we don't have the genetics behind this trait dialed in yet....). It appears that the broad variation in the expression of the coral trait results in considerable overlap between nice looking regular albinos and low-expression coral albinos. At BoaMorph, we have adopted the approach of letting our customers decide what they think - we use the term "possible coral" for any we are not 100% certain of, and price them based on our opinion as to the likelihood that they are coral. That way, our customers can choose the boa with the right balance of appearance and price for them. Ultimately, it's always up to the customer to decide, regardless of how the seller has labeled it.



It may be that the Suriname blood in our Groovy-line coral albinos and hets contributes to the overall color of the animals - in fact, the objective that breeders had in mind in crossing Suriname blood into the albinos was to prodcuce better looking albinos. However, it is highly unlikely that the Suriname blood is solely responsible for the color in these boas. A few of the reasons include:



1. Our Groovy-line coral albinos produced to date have all been only 25% Suriname.



2. Some of our offspring from this line produce boas that clearly appear to be coral albinos, and some definitely do not.



3. Albinos from other bloodlines with as much as 50% Suriname blood do not show the color and pattern tendancies of coral albinos.



If all coral albinos looked like the most extreme high-expression examples, it would be much simpler to deal with. As it is, there is not a set of visual characteristics by which we can clearly define what is coral and what is not. It's a puzzle we are stuck with for the moment, but we think it's a fun one to contemplate and discuss! Best regards,



Steve Reiners


www.BoaMorph.com

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