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OK IBrat, here is the promised full body pic of that snake. As you can see, there is not trace of melanin to be found and no obvious evidence of non-Everglades influence.

Hi

Is that what is known as a 'Belle' Glades?

Never heard the term "Belle" Glades.
Thanks Brat. I've been very pleased with him.

LOL Hahahaha

Um... Belle Glades is a town in south Florida

Here is one of my hypo everglades that looks very similar. I would like to see yours in person but it looks like a hypo.

Later Jason

So what feature are you using to draw the distinction? For me, lack of melanin is it - period. If I see a part of a stripe or anything with some melanin, then I say its Hypo. Anyone else want to weigh in here?

Look at the eyes Mark. They would be lighter in a albino. Same deal on the "albino Bairds" in my opinion. No offense bud

Later Jason

Amelanistic means lacking melanin - the dark pigment. In an Everglades rat Snake that is expressed in the striping of an adult and the underlying coloring of the body. That would not change the eye color.

Look at a hypo corn next to a amel. The eyes will be different. "Albino Glades" is more discriptive of what you see in a hypo and more like what you would think a albino would be. There are amel yellow rats out there and they are not that nice looking. I think the amel trait would look far different than the hypo in glades instead of looking close to the same. If I have time I will post a pic of a small 18 month old hypo I just got back from a guy whose wife wanted it gone. It is a female so I of course was glad to take it back. She is better looking than my original pair in my opinion and is very much like yours. If it works out next week maybe I can see your animal first hand and see if there is any difference that this pick is not showing.

Later Jason

I suspect its going to be as simple as difference of opinion. unless I am completely mistaken, the prefix hypo means "reduced" as in a reduced level of melanin. By that definition, a hypomelanistic Glades would show a brighter orange coloring than a normal because it would not have the underlying melanin wash to dampen the orange. It would also, undoubtedly, show some striping. Although I never put a Glades eye under a microscope, red eyes usually indicate no coloring of the eye itself and the red comes from the blood flowing through the capillaries. Therefore, the eye color would not change - even in a snake lacking melanin.
Just my take, maybe someone else will weigh in. See you down here soon.

LOL Ok I am gonna stop before I piss you off.

Later Jason

I'm not torqued. I just talked to my Dr buddy and confirmed my definitions of the prefixes. How you interpret the way those traits should express themselves is your call. I just disagree - like the concept of whether a pure Glades has red eyes. There's room for everyone here.

I know very little about everglades rats but,wouldn't a hypo have a black pupil where an amel have a red one?

Ah ha, but here is the issue with glades. They have a orange red eye to begin with, but in the hypo it is the same as in the normal glades. As for the albinos, well I still need to see one. LOL But if I was to suppose, I would think they would be reddish pink like most other albinos and far different than a normal.

Later Jason

and I've never seen an albino either- just amelanistic Everglades. An albino would be one lacking its normal pigmentation. That is one of the reasons the term's use has gotten so confusing in the reptile commuunity. Does that mean it lacks all of its normal pigment or just lacking one of its normal pigments? Amelanistic is more explicit. It refers to a lack of a specific pigment - melanin. Looking at Jason's earlier picture, i would say he actually owns at least one amelanistic Glades - not a hypo. A hypo would need to show evidence of melanin somewhere - a partial stripe or something. Jason just disagrees with the meaning of the term tha's all.

Well all of my animals come from the Love line and they were very certain that the trait expressed in them is hypo and not amel. I wrote albino because that is what the animal you are posting is usually called. LOL

Man we gotta do lunch or at least meet in person because my sarcasm doesn't go through to the web very well. I am leaving in about 4 hours so I won't be able to respond anymore so I hope to see you out there and I am almost certain that your animal and my animals are expressing the same trait.
I will be in your town in 8-9 hours

Later Jason

They're looking for 108 which would tie the record. Hey, its the desert southwest.

You guys are confusing your terms. Albino is a term for an amelanistic human and is best not used when talking about snake coloring. In the case of these snakes, they can be amelanistic (lacking black/brown pigment), anerythristic (lacking red/yellow pigment) or both.

The only amelanistic snakes that I keep are Elaphe guttata emoryi (Pantherophis guttatus emoryi) and they have the classic "pink" eyes that do not look anything like the eyes of my normal Yellows or Everglades.

...from the belle glade area in hendry county fl. florida (labelle)

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>>OK IBrat, here is the promised full body pic of that snake. As you can see, there is not trace of melanin to be found and no obvious evidence of non-Everglades influence.
>>

Mark, looks amel to me. Actually, I think hypo is just a form of amel, where the lack of melanin just isn't total. Yours looks like a total lack, but then I don't keep any obsoleta, so am no expert...LOL.

I'm in GV, btw, and I'd like to hook up with you guys, at least to meet snakes unlimited. Here's a post I made yesterday about my travels, so far....
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5659

Give me a call if you get the chance. Take care....Terry

I sent you mine in a response to your email. Call me or email me your number. Jason Hood has my number if you talk to him first.