Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Isn't a high contrast more a luck of the draw than a proven trait? And if that's the case how can there be high contrast hets?

I really think there is a difference. Not as hatchlings but as the snakes mature. I have a normal albino around 1000 grams that as a baby was as high-contrast as he could be.

But now with age he has fadded quite a bit. When taking photos of him there has to be lots of light or sometimes it is very hard to pickout his pattern. He was purchased as a NORMAL ALBINO, and so I have no complaints.

I also have another albino from the NERD'S HIGH-CONTRAST LINE. This snake has super contrast as a baby. Now around 1000 grams still has the pattern, still holds the beautiful contrast. The pattern is crisp and clean, and there is no bleeding of the yellow or fadding into the white areas.

After looking at both over and over, I really like them both for there own reasons. If I had to pick a fav I would go with the HIGH-CONTRAST snake. Both are beautiful in there own ways.

What I want to know is what happens when you breed normal albino x high-contrast albino. Would there be normal albinos and high-contrast albinos? If so would the high-contrast hatchlings look just a little crisper over the normal albinos?

Cool. NERD's line is actually what I was looking at. I want to get a pair of hets to start my Albino project. I, by no means, thought they were trying to pass them off as something they aren't. So it's cool that you brought them up. Looks like I've got some NERD Albinos in my future.

And the "Normal" x High Contrast sounds like an interesting project. You going to try it?

And the "Normal" x High Contrast sounds like an interesting project. You going to try it?

Yes I will use my normal male albino someday when the time comes. Only because I cannot afford to buy another HIGH contrast male albino. Even if I did have the extra $ I would much rather get another female albino

I was inquiring with a well know breeder about purchasing a male hi contrast albino, and asked how they are produced. I'm still not quite clear, but I think that both parents must carry the trait for hi contrast...though not all the offspring will be hi contrast albinos. It was suggested that this may be possible in a few years though.

Here's what he had to say:

"The proper genetic term for a trait that always is
produced in offspring is termed a "fixed" trait
(meaning a solid predictable outcome). This is
different than a "recessive" trait like an amelanistic
albino. At this time the high contrast / high yellow
trait is not a "fixed" trait, including in my colony.
It is moving in that direction, but will take at least
3 more generations. So high contrast/high yellow x
high contrast/high yellow does not equal 100% high
contrast / high yellow offspring right now."

-Jeremy

It would seem that it's more of an unproven morph, type of thing, at this point. Thanks for the info!

Like any heritable condition, selective breeding can produce a "line" which predictably displays the condition. With "high contrast" albinos, I doubt that we're there just yet. I suspect that one could not purchase a "high contrast" albino hatchling from a "high contrast" line and have certainty that the animal will retain the pattern into maturity. I also do not believe that such animals will produce all "high contrast" hatchlings when bred together. I think a few more generations of selective breeding is still required. However, in order to get a jump on such a project, selecting breeding stock from a line that has been selectively bred a bit already is certainly in order.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. I hope to get in with a pair of NERD hets pretty soon.

I had the same question in 2001, when I was looking to purchase a pair of albino hets. After alot of research,I came to the conclusion, You can produced high contrast and low yellow albinos, with normal albino hets. I e-mailed NERD in 2001, and asked the question. Will these 100% high contrast hets give me high contrast albinos every time an albino was produced. The reply was, they did not have any avalible at the time. I purchased my Hets from VPI. Do the research and save.

Salazar

Way cool. Thanks for the info!

Colette Sutherland also informed me that she regularly gets SCREAMIN' high contrast albinos from faded breeders. She sent me a pic a while back of a CRAZY high contrast albino hatchling next to its "nothing special" sibling. The price was the same as the other albinos by the way.

Very interesting. You guys have helped me decide who I'm buying my hets from. Thanks, you've been a great help.