That's right. The yellow pigment(erythrin) that develops later on as they mature has absolutely nothing to do with them carrying the hypo gene(or not). There is absolutely NO WAY to tell if an individual is a carrier of, or is also displaying hypomelanism at the same along with amelanism(hybino).

The yellow pigment is only due to the other underlying pigment(s) that remain once the black pigment(melanin) is stripped away because of the amel gene. Some can also tend to get much yellower as they mature due to the individual snakes(or bloodlines) predisposition to store carotenoids within their pigment cells from the diet they consume. This is very similar to how Flamingo's and other animals can intensify with their colors depending on the diet intake, and how much is taken in.

The bottom line is hybinos can have a yellowish cast like many amels can, or be pure white where the dark rings would normally be. The ONLY way to know what they actually are genotypically is to know with certaintly what the genetics of BOTH parents are, and see what combinations they produce, or with an unknown albino phenotype do test breeding with a hypo or ghost. Then if all hypos are produced,.....bingo!, the amel in question is actually a double homozygous hybino. It's really just that simple.

This just happens to be a 100% known hybino that is 100% het anery from a breeding Rusty Green did last year, and I now own. The snake is quite a bit bigger though as this photo was taken several months ago.


~Doug


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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"


serpentinespecialties.webs.com

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