Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what's the deal with this morph...??
I've heard mention of them, but have never actually seen them..

Is this a legit line..????

thanks much.

byron.d

Some people refer to this phase as "hypo" or amel lavender. It varies quite a bit, but this is basically what they look like. I have other pics if you want to see them. I can email them to ya.

Dewey

The late but great Lloyd Lemke was selling this has hypos back in the 90's ..after a long debate with Dwight I realized that they are amel lavender and not hypos ..other have asked are rusties hypos I don't thinks so because there just too dark!!

>>what's the deal with this morph...??
>>I've heard mention of them, but have never actually seen them..

Byron,
I've yet to see a hypo black rat myself. I've seen plenty of animals called hypos over the years like Dewey mentioned in his thread.

Based on my research, I believe Bechtel's original hypo line was lost in the mix over the years. His first breeding trials proved they were allelic with the tyrosinase positive amelanistics. Once some of these animals found their way into pet trade breeder's hands you can only guess the results. Bred to each other, both types (and possibly double recessives, ie hypo t positive amels) were most likely produced in the same clutches. Breeders then went on to sell the snakes as the same morph since they were most likely unfamiliar with the history of the animals. My opinion, nothing more. Anyone interested in more can consult The Journal of Heredity, 76:7-11,1985 for more info.

Sometimes you'll see the relict black x texas crosses called hypo as well.

dg

I was sort of figuring that it was most likely the Lavender that was being referred as 'hypo', but didn't know if I was maybe missing something...

thanks again.

byron.d

photo:locale specific, P. meahllmorum