Everything mentioned so far is true. Basically at this point there are a number of "albino" (amelanistic) variants. Amelanistic means lacking melanin, which is a basically a group of compounds that most forms of life have. If a species would naturally have melanin and a mutation causes it to not have melanin it is by default "amelanistic" with the a qualifier noting that is is not, or does not.



So basically all albino retics are technically "amelanistic". The Baldogo/Kahl strain which has been named the "amel" strain is a traditional albino by herpetocultural standards, and is essentially a yellow and white animal. There are other forms of yellow and white albinos, the Clark strain can be expressed in this form, the Brian Sharp Strain is a white and yellow albino, Bob Clark's Type II Albino is a yellow and white albino, and for some reason I feel like I'm forgetting one... but regardless, they each have their attributes.



What was said earlier about the "amel" strain being a different white and yellow than a Clark strain, is completely true. Although I have to mention that we have a number of white phase clark strain animals, and a very limited number of amel animals (easily disproportionate by more than 20 to 1). I also want to note that the Clark strain is extremely variable, as are normal retics for that matter. An animal which would be a basically silver headed, silver boded normal with a well defined black pattern and a light amount of yellow will in turn be a high white Clark strain albino, which may look relatively similar (*Or in some cases almost non-distinguishable from an amel strain) luckily this is not common. The "amel" strain tends to have a much more "bone" colored white, with a much more mustard yellow. The "amel" strain also tends to have a white head as an adult, and generally is characterized by an open braided pattern down the dorsal pattern. It is also note-worthy that the "amel" strain goes through what is seemingly an ontogenetic color change. This means that as the animal matures it will literally change colors. The only other retic morph I have seen this in is the Caramel (Blonde) Albinos.



All in all, I really like both morphs and I think both can be used for designer projects with great results... and time will tell if one line proves better for certain combos than the other, and the other line proves better for a different combination. I must concede I LOVE purples, and I don't see us throwing in the towel on trying to make every designer morph in purple! The Amel Strain Sunfire, and Super Dwarf Amel Sunfire are both projects which have not been started to my knowledge and are well worth venturing into. I expect that to be an exceptionally beautiful animal and well worth the dedication of an interested Retic enthusiast.



Enjoy your snakes folks!

Jordan
Prehistoric Pets

[ Hide Replies ]

• Diff Between Amel and White Phase Albino - rottenweiler9, Fri Feb 27 21:04:16 2009
• RE: Diff Between Amel and White Phase Albino - 13joshsilva, Fri Feb 27 22:44:29 2009
• RE: Diff Between Amel and White Phase Albino - tatmeup, Sat Feb 28 00:42:03 2009
• RE: Diff Between Amel and White Phase Albino - prehistoricpets, Sat Feb 28 01:15:37 2009
• RE: Diff Between Amel and White Phase Albino - rottenweiler9, Sat Feb 28 07:30:30 2009