Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here is my Price Orange he has not had caroteen in a few months and is a bit faded. I have two river road orange I will take pictures now since they are young adults. They will then get an enhanced diet and I will take after shots.

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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

because all of my oranges get more orange as they grow older and with each shed. Ask Mike or Dean and any credible person that breeds them and they will tell you the same thing.
You know why?

Because DIET DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!

It's a simple locality phase and is related to G-E-N-E-T-I-C-S.
Suboc.com

How do you know diet does not factor in.
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Bird hobbyists add carotenes to birdfood to enhance coloration in birds like canaries. This practice has been outlawed in some countries because of health issues, but it's effect is well known. Flamingos are a well known naturally occuring example of this phenomenon, as they get pink because of all the (carotene containing) brine schrimps they consume. So why should this phenomenon not work with snakes? Bird feathers or reptile scales are made from the same materials by the same tissues. Just like in birds, there are always genetic factors to consider, but it's only plausible that environmental factors such as food can, especially under artificial circumstances, play a significant role too.

One possibility doesn't exclude the other, IMHO.

There are numerous accounts of diet affecting coloration. I believe it has been documented in some omnivorous turtles and lizards.

It's completely plausible.

And like Herman said, genetics and environmental factors are not mutally exclusive and, in fact, often work together. Gene by environment interactions are a well studied mechanism in coloration, ironically.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

Here is a sister to the one above that was suplimented.

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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

OOPS I meant below looks like my Photobucket went blurry on me but you get the point.
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

This is the idea if a snake fades to an unnatural and washed out color in captivity then the idea is to give the snake vitamins to offset the lack there of in captivity. Here is an example this is a wild cribo shot notice the deep yellow.

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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Here is a specimin that was captive raised no beta carotene.

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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Clarification since my posts are out of order.
Top Pic (fuzzy) captive born with supliments sibling to faded snake.
Middle pic, wild import the day it arrived
Bottom pic sibling to top pic no supliments (faded)
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

This is the sibling to the faded snake. She was given rats injected with supliments. Notice she looks much like the wild counterpart. So does diet matter? You Bet!

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"Life without risk is to merely exist."