Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,

I am hearing rumors about Albino female BCI dropping slugs, and/or having other various issues through their pregnancy term. I always figured if slugs were produced, it was fault of the male.

Any feedback appreciated
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Chris Foley

I breed my female albino to a het male last year and produced 14 babies and two slugs... the break down was 8 albino and 6 het albino.. 1 albino was a premie but everyone else was great.. I would post pics but dont know how(still learning..LOL)

Thanks for the feedback. I have heard this concern from quite a few people. Jeff Carr from WestCoast Constrictors told me just that they have weak genes.

Has anyone else had any issues with this??

Thanks
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Chris Foley

thankfully most breeders have outbred their stock enough that Albinos are fairly strong. Although there are exceptions.

The problem with Albino females comes when they are gravid. Since they have NO melanin they have a much more difficult time holding their body temperature at a high enough level. They can not retain heat like other females can. Usually females darken when they are gravid to retain heat, and albinos do not have this ability.

Often the babies aren't really full term because of this. They can be born with bellies filled with yolk, and have trouble digesting (this usually affects albino babies). Babies that are born this way can die because of it, again a lot of breeders have learned how to care for the babies and they are fine and are later able to breed.

Both of my Albinos, a Sharp and a Kahl, are females ('06 and '04 so I haven't bred them, but am not worried). With the types of morphs available now, I think Albino females are very beneficial.

As long as you have a good set up and have completely controlled environments for your female you shouldn't have ANY problem with Albino females. One recommendation has been to keep them at slightly warmer temperatures when they are gravid.

Allow me to lay a little chemical engineering on you....

There are three mechanisms by which heat transfer can occur:

1. Conduction - heat can be conducted through solids, liquids and gases by the transfer of kinetic energy (energy of motion) between adjacent molecules,

2. Convection - the transfer of heat due to bulk transport and mixing of macroscopic elements of liquid or gas; in other words, heat transfer related to motion of a fluid and thus partially governed by the laws of fluid mechanics, and

3. Radiation - energy transfer by electromagnetic radiation, or photons, having a certain range of wavelengths largely within the infrared part of the spectrum; electromagnetic radiation produces heat when absorbed.

It is radiation which conventional wisdom suggests is more strongly absorbed by darker-colored objects, though it actually is much more strongly dependent upon how reflective the surface is. Radiation can be transmitted, absorbed, or reflected. Opaque objects (such as a boa) do not transmit radiation, and so all of the radiation incident on an opaque object is either reflected or absorbed. Thus, the more reflective the surface of the object, the less radiant energy it absorbs. A darker object may be more absorptive than a lighter-colored one, but it is interesting to note that the absorptivities published for black lacquer and white lacquer are identical over the same temperature range. It is also interesting to note that the same qualities that make a surface/object a good absorber also make it a good emitter. Is it possible that the conventional wisdom is incorrect, and that there is another evolutionary reason that gravid boas darken?

Also of note is the fact that a boa in a cage typically receives heat primarily by conduction; for example, from heat tape attached to the cage bottom through the cage bottom to the boa, heat tape in direct contact with cage bottom in direct contact with boa - and color has zero effect on conduction. The exception here would be the use of a radiant heat panel; nevertheless, such panels also heat the cage material and surroundings such that even if albino boas are "electromagnetic radiation absorption-challenged," the boa would easily be able to maintain the desired temperature.

Most relevant is a principle called Kirchhoff's law, which states (in part) that in a system at thermal equilibrium, all bodies will have the same temperature. This means that if you provide an area of the cage that is 90F, and your boa camps out in that spot, it's body temperature will reach 90F, regardless of color, albinism, planet of origin, or anything else.

Too much science - what's the point? The point is that an albino boa provided with an appropriate hot spot in the cage will have no more trouble maintaining it's desired body temperature than a normally colored boa, and so I don't buy the theory that because of lower heat retention baby albino boas are often born undercooked despite a full-length gestation term. Our friend Kirchhoff tells us boa breeders that as long as we provide appropriate temperatures in our enclosures, our albino or any other colored boas will be able to reach and maintain those temperatures.

My understanding of the historical problems with female albino boas as breeders is that many of them were producing deformed offspring, throwing slugs, and/or dropping litters early. Breeders appear to have attributed these problems largely to "inbreeding-related genetic weakness," though as far as I know this is based solely on conjecture. As with most such issues in our hobby there is not much real science behind it, and in the end, an informed guess is still only a guess.

I do agree that the reputable breeders have done a better job outcrossing albinos to diversify bloodlines - including crossing albino Bci with various locality Bcc, and even some argentines. Even so, I wouldn't figure on purchasing a pair of albino littermates and breeding them to each other....

Steve Reiners

www.BoaMorph.com

since many of the principles you described I just finished studying in AP Physics (Kirchhoff's law), and I will begin studying engineering in the fall (though not chemical).

Evolutionary adaptations have shown us that animals (reptiles in particular) that need to either conserve heat or need to absorb heat in a deficient environment tend to have more melanin, the darker pigments aiding their needs. However, I do believe this is based on observation and may or may not be proven.

One breeder in particular who has spoken about Albino females and their litters mentioned improved results with keeping the females at slightly higher temperatures. Using belly heat, raising the temperature about 2 degrees higher than normal, and reducing the heat gradient to prevent too cool of conditions resulted in litters with no problems.

On another note, as our hobby expands, and more questions arrise I believe more and more science will become involved. As I think it should, so that we can better understand what is at hand. In addition to my Engineering degree I will begin some research next year, that will hopefully answer some of the questions we have in regards to the varience of amelanism in boas, and the effects on the animal.

By the way, Steve, are you a chemical engineer? If so where did you go to school? I will be attending Cornell, myself, for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Ch.E. 1989 University of Colorado, Boulder. Congrats on your acceptance to Cornell - excellent school. Do they have much of a herp program? One of the advantages for me at CU (though I didn't know it when I started there) was that they had (and still do have) one of the better herp programs in the country. My reptilian interests led me to start breeding snakes, and to completing about 3 years of snake-related independent study work under David Chiszar while completing my engineering degree. Most of my work was related to locomotion of brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) in support of finding a solution to the Boiga infestation on Guam. Also did work on rattlesnake prey-tracking studies, and assisted with care of the collection - moccasins, cantils, red spitters, Russels vipers, death adders, lots of venomous stuff. I got to present a paper on the Boiga work that I authored and co-researched with David and Hobart Smith. Hobart is one of the original legends of the herpetology field and it was quite an honor to get to work with him. Talk about a guy with good stories to tell! Anyway, I hope you find some similar opportunities to expand your studies beyond engineering and expore your other interests as well.

My real job now is with an environmental consulting firm on a high-profile project for a major aerospace client. My work is all related to groundwater flow and contaminant transport in a fractured sandstone and shale environment. My other job is breeding and caring for a much greater number of boas than is reasonable -LOL, currently well over 100.

Interesting that the breeder's solution you mentioned implies to me not a problem with ability to absorb or retain heat, but that if offered too broad of a temperature gradient a gravid albino may "choose" to thermoregulate at too low a temperature. I personally have no idea if that may be true or not; I have a gravid coral albino female that is currently doing a fine job maintaining 88F. Since the male that bred her is a Motley 50% possible het albino, I've been paying just a bit of attention to her!

I dare say there is approximately zero university funding for research on boa breeding and genetics, so all we have to go on is our collective experience and observations. No neat clean studies with statistically significant populations and controls. What works for one often does not work for another. As difficult as successfully breeding boas can be, it is also interesting that they will reproduce under a remarkable variety of conditions. Just shows how little we really know, and is a part of what keeps it all interesting to me!

Steve Reiners

www.BoaMorph.com

and he was interested in helping me with my research. There are two professors there (husband and wife) who were the ones to reclassify Bushmasters. I don't know much about the project, partially because I never had an interest in venemous, and partially because I didn't get to meet him.

Cornell does have a fairly large herpetology club, but I don't know about academic programs. They have had some trouble after New York put their ban into effect last year. Many of the animals in the university's collection were collected in the field by professors, or donated, so there are some pretty interesting stories behind some. The professor I was talking to shared his capture of a Gila Monster.

Cornell's veterenary school is ranked very high, and I would expect they have some connections to herpetology. On of my High School friends who is going there as well is studying to be a vet, so I think that she will have some things to offer as well. Most of the work I want to do right now doesn't require the animals themselves, but just blood samples of enzyme testing. I can say one thing, it will be an incredible time!

I love Science and how it answers things so thoroughly.

Bob

No science, just observation. Isn't that where science begins though?
If you observe nature as a whole, and not just Boas, you find that Albinism is extremely rare. There is a reason for this. If a strong mutation occurs in any flora or fauna, that mutation will dominate. By strong I mean a mutation that will help the species survive, expand. Evolution basically. Albinism is a weak mutation, as evidenced by the scarcity in nature. It goes deeper than just camouflage.

jason
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sounddjinn@yahoo.com

Things always get cloudy, just before transformation.

Perhaps, but I'm just sure that the albino boas in my collection have a much better chance of surviving than an albino boa in nature where the lack of camouflage would certainly be a distinct disadvantage!

I don't know if Albinos have a more difficult pregnancy or not. I do know....

I purchased a pair of Albinos in 1999. In 2003, 2004, and 2005 I tried to breed the female. I purchased a Het male to do the job, since the male Albino I purchased was a brother to the female. I don't like to breed siblings when it comes to Albinos. Anyway I've had 4 different males breeding her in last 3 years. They courted and copulated for months. I saw sperm yuck on my female and all over the cage. Also, 3 of the males I used on her were "proven breeders". To date my female Albino has "NEVER OVULATED!!"
I've also never had a successful breeding using the male on other females. Of course, the last 2 seasons he was breeding a BCC of unknown origin. I suspect that both of my Albinos are sterile. I'll keep trying to pair them up and get babies, but basically I consider them "pets".

Now, I purchased a pair of "Het for Albino" in 2003. I purchased the male and female from different breeders.

This year my Het female gave birth to 8 66% Possible Hets and 4 Albinos.

I really like the Albinos, but hets may just be easier to breed. At least, for me they are. I'll never buy another Albino. I can breed what I want from my hets. I will try to get my Albinos that were born this year to breed when they grow up. When I want to add some new blood to my Albinos I'll just get another Het.