Albinos (and by that, I assume you mean amelanistic animals) in the corn world are not inbred at all. In fact, of all of the simple recessive traits found in corn husbandry, I would suggest that it is the most widely distributed gene available (although anery may actually win that count due to wild populations). Amels come from all sorts of breedings from the closest of sibling connections to the most diverse family lines being crossed.

There are inbred amels, but they are not inbred in any way simply because they are amels. There are also snakes that are extremely inbred and have normal coloration as well.

In other species of snakes, because the amelanistic genes are newly discovered, they are strongly inbred at first to capture as many mutant specimens in any breeding program. Also, because other species often have fewer offspring per clutch, they are inbred for more generations, to produce more and more of the mutants in order to cash in on the craze while the market is hot.

In corns, the possibility of getting 30-35 hatchlings in a clutch is not at all out fo the question. Therefore, whenever a new gene is uncovered, the inbreeding does occur at first. But, the genetics are spread more rapidly within a given population of animals due to the increased breeding productivity. That being the case, fewer generations of inbreeding need to occur to get the reward for one's hard work.

Additionally, because corns reproduce so very quickly in comparisson to other species, there is little opportunity of being inbred for more than a few years anyway. Each mutant hatchling a breeder sells is going to a future competitor, for the most part. That little hypo lavender bloodred male sold today will be bred with several females in the new collection in a few years, and each of them are outcrosses from the line in which the male was originally established. The offspring of those breedings are then bred back and forth to produce the second and third year's efforts, and what you have done is created mutants like the original male, but they are all sufficiently outcrossed with other lines from the females' side of the charts. This process takes place in dozens, if not hundreds of household every year, so that inbreeding is very limited in the big picture.

When you then take all of that into account, and combine it with the fact that amelanism has been recognized as simple recessive gene in cornsnake genetics for decades, the fact is that any two amels may be more likely to be related to an odd bloodred than they are to each other.

There is no danger of amels being too inbred in the cornsnake world today. And they certainly are not clones of one another.
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Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

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