>>>>How come Hypo Hondos eyes have the red tint to them? Is it just the lack of black pigment due to the hypo gene? And what other types of hypo snakes have the red tint eyes? Is that a way of telling a true hypo?



For a hypomelanistic Honduran to exhibit the deep "ruby-red" eyes you mentioned, the hypo gene has to be greatly exaggerated as in the "extreme" hypo gene. The extremes are the only ones to display the red eyes, with the exception of certain "ultra-light" hypos that might not quite be "extreme", but still exhibit
a drastic reduction of melanin in the pigment cells. There are MANY genuine hypos that don't display red eyes, but still have reduced melanin.

By the same token, there are several types of other snakes in the hobby that are tyrosinase positive(lavender albinos) that also exhibit deep red eyes, but this is another genetic mutation altogether.

hope this helped some.


~Doug




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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

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