Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wanting the best of the best's opinion on this little guy. I've never seen any other Snows in person, as they arn't as common here in Scotland.

I know they usually have a bit of yellow in them, does this come later on? Or is it a bit to far fetched to say he could be Opal? I really have no idea, Snows may just produce yellow as they get older. He's only 1 year.

Thanks in advance,
Scott from Scotland

Yeah, Snow's are all variable just like you mentioned. Some have more pinkish hues, and yellows too, some can even have some greenish coloration to their scheme as well.

There is always a fair possibility it can be a "opal", or "pearl" as it is more commonly known as, but unless you paid a good deal more for it, it's more than likely a normal snow.

Yes, the coloration usually intensifies as they mature too. Adults usually look MUCH different than they did as hatchlings.

If you could get in touch with the person who bred that to see if the hypomelanism gene was involved, then you would stand a better cance of at least narrowing the possibility of it maybe being a "pearl" as well.

However, if these are "known" pearls, they will usually cost a great deal more than a regular snow too of course, because of the three traits being expressed in homozygous form, as opposed to just two(amel/anery).

hope this helps some. BTW,...nice animal!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Scott,

I've been produced snows for a few years and that one looks fairly typical. I think there's an opportunity to selectively breed white, pink and yellow snows (some have a combination of all three colors).

Often these snakes lose some pink as they mature. I think it's a similar scenario as leucistic Texas Ratsnakes which are often pinkish as hatchlings, but then turn solid white. I think what's happening is that the white takes awhile to turn solid and some of the pink is due to blood vessels that can be seen through the translucent white scales.

Tim

Third Eye

Thanks for your input guys. That clears things up for me. Stunning Snow there also. Hopefully he'll turn out less Yellow, As I prefer the White/Pink then the White on Yellow.

Kind Regards,
Scott