can somebody please tell me what hypo means?
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delbalso
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What does Hypo Mean?
delbalso
Nov 29, 2003 06:32 PM
Replies (3)
alkee42
Nov 29, 2003 06:34 PM
Hypo is when the animal is lacking a lot of it's melanin (if that is how you spell it) the dark pigment. Like the black on an animal will be brown or lighter or not even there
Rob Jenkins
Nov 29, 2003 07:04 PM
Typically, the agreed upon definition is that the leopard gecko has 10 or less spots on its back between the front and rear legs. Super Hypo is when a gecko has no (ZERO, NADA, ZILCH) spots between the front and back legs. Don't pay a premium for a 'Super Hypo' with spots on its back.
The term Hypo stands for Hypomelanistic, Hypo=less and Melanin is the black pigment that we all have in our bodies. Reptiles generally have three pigments, Melanin, Xanthin (yellow), and Erythrin (red). That's why our 'albino' leopard geckos are yellow and reddish. There's a lot more to it than what I described, but this is how I understand it and explain to others. Also, Hyper is the opposite of Hypo.
There are a lot of great websites that cover reptile genetics on the internet. Go to Google and do some searches on the subject.
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Rob Jenkins
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alkee42
Nov 29, 2003 08:36 PM
The hypo I have has about 15 spots on its back but there are brown instesd of black. He is in the pic of Petco gecko above.
