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Hello. Are Hogg island Boas ACTUALLY Hypomelanistic? I've ready some sources that would say yes and others that say they LOOK hypomelanistic, rather than actually being.

Thanks

np

Compared to what? Compared to other Hogs, no. Because it is the natural color phase so they do not have less melanin than normal. Hypo is a prefix meaning less if you were not familiar.

Compared to other boas, or compared to the Hypo morph, they are naturally Hypomelanistic. However this isn't a mutation Hypo. For instance making a Hog Isle Albino wouldn't create a Sunglow.

If you haven't seen them, visit Vin Russo's site, cuttingedgeherp.com. He has pictures of Sonoran Hypos, those, especially the Supers, look like Hog Islands.

So in the end, compared to other Hogs the answer to your question is no, compared to other boas the answer to your question is yes. The same goes for Pearl Island Boas, B.c.sabogae (real ones, not Panamanians).

I'm used to corn snake genetics, so forgive me if I get this totally wrong. Would breeding a hogg island to a common boa, produce common looking boas, het for hypo? Not that I would want to do such a thing. I'm just trying to figure things out in my head.

no, a hogg X colombian would give you just that with the babies looking somewhere in between. what you are thinking is that since a hogg island is "naturally hypomelanistic" the babies will be het. and this is wronge for a couple reasons 1. hypo isnt recessive its dominant meaning half the litter would be visual hypo and half wuldnt so there would be no hets 2. normal hogg island boas arent hypomelanistic in the sense that we think of colombians as being they are just an extremely light colored example of bci. also anything advertised as a hypo hogg is a hogg crossed with a colombian hypo - hope this helps

taylor

Since you are familiar with Corn Snakes there is one big difference you have to consider. Unlike Corn Snakes the Hypo mutation in boas is Dominant, where it is recessive in Corn Snakes.

Some babies from a Hog Isle X say Colombian, may have Hog traits, but it will mainly be a blend of the two locales. So it will not work like a true mutation with predictable inheritance.