Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This in response to the post on 11-7. Im not sure of the source of info for these posts but I can tell you first hand that the translucent dragons are not weak and can be kept under bright light. I am one of the original producers of this morph and have been working with them for 2 years now. My translucents are actually one of my strongest bloodlines. They are also some of my largest animals. This mutation is simply a variant of one of the most desireable traits of our hobby(albinism). Sure not every animal is going to be fast growing healthy and robust,if they were then dragons would not produce 20-80 eggs per season. Noone seems to be uneasy about the hypomelaninistic animals. The translucent trait is basicly the same thing, but instead of missing melanin they are missing the irridiphores. But hey.. everyone is entitled to thier own opinion.

Paul Morlock
Sandfire Dragon Ranch

How about a link to some photos of the adults as well as some pricing info!
-----

I would love to see some good pics of the adults as well.

I have posted pics in the gallery.

Paul,

Thank you for posting the pics. WOW.. When you are willing to start parting with some please let me know. I would love to do some experimenting crossing with different morphs (xleucistic, xsnow, etc.)

Thanks,
Sean
heartmountainherps@bresnan.net

there are very limmited number available now. E-mail me at paul@sandfiredragonranch.com.

I saw one of your translucent babies in Philly this past weekend. She looked lovely! As did all of your other babies (and displayed adults). Congrats on the morph!
-----
Kelly Affonce
DeKeaff Exotics

AIM: DekeaffGrrl

thank you very much!!

Paul,

What about the claims that they are more prone to damage from ultraviolet light? Do you keep them in outdoor enclosures with the rest of your animals? Also, I read somewhere that the black eyed trait causes vision problems, is this true? Thanks for posting all the wonderful pictures; I especially love the adult translucents they look beautiful.

Peter

As I mentioned before I have had no problems with these animals that would suggest they were geneticly deficient in any way. They truly are one of my hardiest bloodlines. These animals have been raised indoors to offer a little more TLC and to have more control over breeding. I really cannot say if natural light is dentramental or not. I dont see why it would be, the irridiphores are not responsible for UV protection. If you look closely at the pics you can see the blue/green color on the belly and over the eyes,this is a black membrane that protects the vital organs from UV. If any lack of skin pigment would effect the animals health under UV I would guess that it would be the melanin, and since hypomelanistic animals seem to do just as good outside as normals, I would conclude that the lack of white also bears no effect.

Paul,

I don't doubt that they are hardy indoors but the question of whether or not sunlight could pose a problem still concerns me. I don't exactly understand your logic. White pigment is white because it reflects light, it doesn't make sense to have a "black" UV protective layer. In my experience dragons turn dark when they want more light to be absorbed by their skin and lightly colored when they want less. The lack of white pigment could therefore be detrimental to reflecting harmful radiation. You most definitely know more about Bearded Dragons then I do so maybe you could clear this up for me, but my guess is that Dragons have a white base to their scales in order to deal with their constant exposure to sun in the wild.

Even if they are unusually affected by UV light, if they do well indoors as you have shown, it would be quite easy for us to provide an environment that would facilitate their growth (are they housed under mercury vapor bulbs?). Thanks for taking the time share all the pictures and please keep us updated if more is found out about this trait.

Peter

white reflects visible light..we are talking UV.

Yes they were raised under active UV.

In the wild dragons are not under constant exposure. They are most active before noon and late afternoon. At these times UV is much less intense, Therfore the amount of UV required and true exposure time is debatable. My animals were raised under mercury lights which do put out a substantial ammount of UV and I have had no ill effects. The lightning and darkining you are referring to is more related to visible light. If in fact they are less tolerable of natural light because they are missing white, I believe it would a heat factor and not UV issue. Like you said white reflects light and light=heat. Missing the white could have an affect on thier ability to manage an even body temp.