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Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

vision problems in albinos?

gizzy20001 Oct 27, 2011 08:46 PM

is it common for Albino California Kings to have vision problems. the guy who owns the local reptile roadshow has a old female albino cali called "chiquita" and she is on prekilled mice because she kinda flails her head around at feeding time until it makes contact then she kills her prekilled mouse. I have a much younger, maybe 1 yr old male Albino cali called "Dole" with the same markings and the same issues with feeding. Do all albino cali's do this, I have other albino snakes that strike just fine. this is a picture of mine, his is the same markings, and is this what is referred to as a banana king? or do they have stripes instead of bands

Replies (7)

a153fish Oct 28, 2011 12:44 AM

I haven't really heard of any vision problems with albino snakes. Some snakes are aggressive feeders and may go crazy when they smell food. Maybe someone else knows more about albino vision here, but here is a banana king I had years ago.


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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

Bluerosy Oct 28, 2011 11:41 AM

Some snakes are just stupid or finiky when it comes to feeding. Some will sit there with a pre killed mouse all day and will not take it until you wiggle it. Maybe this is a something that is inhertable and passed down....

called stupid snake syndrome. LOL!

We have it in humans to. Just look at some of the posters here.
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www.Bluerosy.com

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rtdunham Oct 28, 2011 04:59 PM

>>We have it in humans to. Just look at some of the posters here.

LOL

a153fish Oct 29, 2011 02:59 PM

We have it in humans to. Just look at some of the posters here!

Are you serious?
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

DISCERN Oct 28, 2011 04:30 PM

Albinos, due to the lack of pigment in the eyes resulting in decreased visual acuity, have vision problems.
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Genesis 1:1

markg Oct 28, 2011 04:54 PM

For a dead prey item just sitting there, I do not know of sight playing that much of a role anyway. For moving prey, yes.

I did an experiment. I took a thawed mouse, white, and dusted the tail and feet with calcium powder to make them near white. Put that on a white piece of paper. Placed that in the cage. Snake (did this with a Cal king and a spotted python) sniffed around per usual until it located the prey. Repeated the next time on dark paper with a white mouse. Snakes reacted the same way. That is, they didn't seem to locate the prey any faster - they still used smell primarily. However, if I wiggled either, the snakes saw that movement immediately. Cal kings are great at seeing movement.

I used to breed albino Cals and hets and normals. Seemed that albinos, as adults, were usually more pissy than non-albinos. Not always but it was noticeable. It was always suggested that impaired sight might explain that. Don't know if it is true or not because all of my albinos seemed great at seeing movement.
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Antaresia maculosa
Antaresia childreni

Mark G

DMong Oct 29, 2011 02:45 PM

Yes, getula as well as many other types of colubrids primarily hunt with scent cues in conjunction with movement. Snakes are not wired to notice what things are when they are sitting still and not moving. Snakes also seem to be aware that if prey is close by and they KNOW it is from the scent, that will generally wait until the prey moves to strike. Many animals seem to realize that when their prey is still, it too is FAR more likely to see the snake moving toward them. I have done alot of observing this over the years and always noticed that if live prey was tossed in the cage, the snakes would generally tend to move in slow methodical increments toward the prey when the rodent was meandering around checking out the surroundings, then when the prey held still, the snake would too and the snake would tend to wait until the rodent went back to moving again for the snake to go toward it closer still. A perfect example of stalking if I ever saw it!

Snapping turtles would do this as well under water with little groups of minnows that were swimming around in the tank. They would stalk them ever so carefully and methodically just like the snakes did, or the way a tiger or lion crouches down and takes as long as it has to for just the right moment to help ensure that it was successful.

Anyway, many albino animals(including humans) that have no melanin for the eye to properly absorb light do have trouble with bright light being refracted and bounced around within the eye. But in much lower light conditions such as in a snake room, this doesn't seem to be anywhere near as detrimental to their sight as direct bright outdoor sunlight would. I have read many things in the past regarding the dynamics of how the eye works, and there is no doubt in my mind that amelanistic animals would be bothered with bright light situations.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"


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