Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, what does a 'normal' western belly look like ?
here is a picture of one of my males, is this within the normal range?
thanks

Yes, yours is a pretty standard Western hognose belly. Some can be more yellow speckled and there are some that are solid black, but yours is probably the more common type for a normal colored hognose.
-----
Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

Thanks Troy , the reason i ask is most of my others have chequerd type markings on the belly, this one was sold to me a a 'green hypo ' the young he sired have the same belly as him to and quite green , is a green hog the same thing as a green hypo?
top shot of him.

>>Thanks Troy , the reason i ask is most of my others have chequerd type markings on the belly

The first hognose I got has a really full checkered belly and at the time I got him, I was not sure if that was a typical trait or not until I started building up my collection and came to the conclusion that there can be quite a variance. The topic of black bellied hogs was discussed here earlier.

>>is a green hog the same thing as a green hypo?

To be honest, I'm not really sure what exactly a "green hypo" is or how people are really defining these. Hypo, or Hypomelanistic, means a reduction of black but not a complete lack of it. My understanding is that if the animal has ventrals that contain a lot of black as yours does, then it would not qualify it as a hypo at all. I know Chad Fuchs sells "Green Hypos" although I am unaware of what type of coloration his animals exhibit and/or whether they have black ventrals or not. From this evidence on your animal however, I would say that it is just a very nice green colored hognose, but not a hypo of any sort.

-----
Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

Thanks for the info Troy much appriciated.

I think Chad has admitted, that he does not think his "green hypos" are necessarily true hypos, but there is a distinct difference between what he calls a "green hypo" and normal green morphs. I have produced greens for the last six years, or so, but they have a pretty standard ventral scale color, nothing that I would call hypo though. Chads "green hypos" are very cool animals, though. I do have blondes that I would probably label (for individual animals, but not all I produce)hypo, simply due to the absence of most or all black coloration anywhere on the snakes body. Of the blondes in my collection, (ten animals, or so)about 3 of them are like this. I suppose they are hypos (technically), interestingly it seems to only be present in my males, the females don't seem to exhibit this "hypomelanism". Looking at the picture you posted, the belly looks pretty standard.
Jeff