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Here is a photo of the paradox that I produced. Certainly not as nice as the one Steve posted, but a paradox none the less. I will try to take some shots of his ventral scales tomorrow. He has some dark spots ventrally. In this photo, you can see some specks of brown dorsally.

How many people have actually produced this in hognose? Is it a reproducible trait? Pretty cool.

That picture is nice. Do you use a light box? What kind of camera?
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Greg Bennett - Western Hognose Morphs | Boa Morphs
520.Hognose (520.464.6673) - www.bennettreptiles.com

I shot that with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro. Lighting is from two speedlites bounced off a diffuser screen and my on camera flash being diffused.

>>I shot that with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro. Lighting is from two speedlites bounced off a diffuser screen and my on camera flash being diffused.

I'm thinking of buying a macro lens. Right now I'm still trying to learn my Canon XSi. It drives me crazy trying to get good pictures that show the animal as I see it.
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Greg Bennett - Western Hognose Morphs | Boa Morphs
520.Hognose (520.464.6673) - www.bennettreptiles.com

I'm a Nikon shooter, but Greg you'll be more than happy with the Canon 100mm it's a fantastic lens, very sharp, and a must for any macro/reptile photography!

If you don't want to stick with a Canon lens, check out the Tamron 90mm macro, sharpest macro out there, and one of the cheapest, it's what I shoot with.

Bryan: That's a sweet Hog I am also interested in knowing if it's genetic or not.

Cheers,
Chad

That is a good question with no real answer until you try to prove it out... In my experience with paradox albinos in other species, it is not passed down in any genetic way and has not been reproducable... In almost all cases, it is a fluke...

There are a few theories as to what causes it... One of the more interesting is the chimera twin theory which is not at all far fetched because there have been cases where a paradox albino was bred to a non-paradox albino and the resulting offspring were 100% het albinos... Also, paradox albinos are ususally the result from het to het or het to albino... I do not believe it has ever been documented to happen in an albino to albino breeding...

With that being said it is apparent that hognose snakes have already bent that rule with the introduction of the Toffe belly... Not sure what difference it makes being that the Toffees
have tyrosinase which allows the production of melanin where the T neg albinos do not... In my opinion, it may very well be a factor...

Just my 2 cents on the subject...

Paradox albino and paradox snow is genetic in kenyan sand boas.

-Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

Which is why I said "in almost all cases it is a fluke"...

Also, if you notice in the sand boas, it is not the same type of paradoxing as we see in other species...

I know, I was just tossing it out there as an FYI.

I am not a geneticist (but I hang around some) and I believe the 'paradox' morphs can be caused by mistakes in hox genes during embryonic development. I think this is much more likely than the chimera twin theory.

Just my 2 cents,
Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

You may be correct my friend... I still think the twin theory is way cooler... LOL...

I am not certain that hox genes play a role in pigment or melanin production or lack there of... Arent they usually responsible for limb/apendage formation and cell migration???

I was under the impression that hox genes control lots of stuff (including the formation of epiderm, mesoderm, and endoderm), but I am not positive. As mentioned before, I am not a geneticist or a developmental biologist, but I did sleep at a holiday Inn Express last night... LOL.

The twin theory is a cool one. I will ask a geneticist friend of mine what he thinks about paradox albinos/snows.

-Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

Yeah Chris, keep me updated... This is a topic that really interests me... I am no Geneticist either but I can grasp most of what I read pretty well... Well if you put anything into reptile form I will pick it up rather easy... I can really care less about cow spot genetics or how they work... LOL

Excellent discussion guys. This is what I was wanting to hear! Keep it coming.

I was just thinking about how it may not be twins that produce a paradox, it may, but it is possible that when a paradox albion it produced it is too genetically different from a normal albino and that the reason that when it is bred back to a normal albino, the result is normal looking hets is that the albino genes are no longer compatible due to the fact that one could be changed by the paradox mutation??? Just thinking out loud, hope that made some sense haha. I'm sure there are some of those crazy twins out there like you guys were talking about but maybe it is just a random mutation that is not compatible with the albinos we know and maybe it can not be passed down??? Chad's KILLER one looks like a twin to me! Its almost perfectly half and half and it is split right down the middle, awesome stuff everyone!

Everything we throw out there is a theory and everyone is as good a guess as the last... We will never know what is going on unless the animals in question are tested... I highly doubt anyone would be interested in giving up such cool snakes to find out... LOL