Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This guy is my favorite snake - period!! Hope to produce some Dbl. Het. SNOW eggs very soon. Good luck to all on this season's breedings.....

Is axanthic the loss of yellow pigments? Xanthic is an increase in yellow, right?
Kevin

They are all made up definitions but that is the simple defintion. Axanthics & Anerys will usually have some yellow (& sometimes red) pigment whether it is visible or not. There are many layers of pigment and I believe that some layers will mask or cover others. The Xanthic trait affects more than the yellow pigment as it also removes the Black which is why some breeders call it a Caramel Albino or Tyrosinase Positive Albino.

Axanthism is the lack of yellow pigment, so an axanthic snake does not retain any yellow coloration. ANERYTHRISTIC snakes will retain any normal yellow pigment, as they are lacking red.

My experience is from having Anerythristic Honduran Milksnakes that lack the yellow pigment normally found between the black bands as in this picture:

This statment is correct!! Same goes with the corn snakes(snake food now)i use to breed Sean

Axanthic Ball Pythons appear to be lacking all yellow (& red) but when you add in the Albino mutation to subtract the dark pigment you will find that there is actually yellow pigment in an Axanthic that is "masked". This has also been "PROVEN" to be the case in the production of "SNOW" Boas, "SNOW" Corns & "SNOW" Honduran Milksnakes. If you have an arguement, please state proof (Besides a "generalized" quote or description from a book)to back-up your point.