Reptile & Amphibian Forums

first of all, what is the difference between T albino and albino? second, does anyone have any pictures of a T albino (or albino if they exist???) copperhead? i've grew up with copperheads and seen tons of them, but never an albino.
thanks!

T stands for tyrosinase, which is an enzyme that catylizes melanin (a pigment responsible for dark/black coloration). L-tyrosine (L stands for levo wich means left handed in amino acids)is converted by cells into melanin. T and T- are different types of albinism that are a result of the presence or absence of this enzyme. I think the reason that albino copperheads may not be recognized very often is that they don't have alot of distinct, very black markings and so they appear to be just a very light animal (with the exception of pink eyes!)

TW

Exactly what the other poster said, only to add, appearance-wise, T animals have a sort of caramel to cream color where black would usually be, while T- animals have pure white. T is often hard to distinguish from hypomelanism, which is a reduction but not complete absence of melanin, usually resulting in more of a brown color. I've found that T animals generally still have pink eyes. Whew!

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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Well, I totally didn't mean to post that pic, the mouse slipped. But for what it's worth, that happens to be a T albino Kenyan sand boa.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

ok... that makes sense. thanks guys!

This is the basic synopsis of the T- and T+ albino types.

T- albinos are normal type albinos. They have no melanin, the brown/black pigment. This is primarily due to a mutation of an enzyme early on in the chain of reactions that produces melanin. These animals generally are white where browns and blacks should be and have pink eyes because the red pigments are still present a small amount.

T+ albinos are also called tyronase positive albinos. They also do not completely produce melanin, but they do go all the way down the chain of reactions to the point where the enzyme tyronase is active. Tyronase is the first enzyme that produces a molecule that can be classified as a pigment. This pigment is not the same as melanin however and therefore does not look the same. This type of albino does generally have a golden color and depending on the species, can have pinkish eyes. The best examples of these two different traits are in the reticulated pythons. I have attached pictures so that you can see the difference.

This is my first time in this forum. I was just nosing around and thought that I could help. I am also very excited to see that there are so many seemingly responsible venomous keepers out there.

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1.1.3 D. azureus
0.0.8 P. bicolor
0.0.7 D. auratus (polka-dot)
0.0.3 D. auratus (blue)
0.0.3 D. auratus (kahlua and cream)

Shannon