Reptile & Amphibian Forums

....as I said below, I'm more of a Boa guy, but these sure looked hypo to me....and so far everybody else I've showed them to says hypo as well but I figured the Skink forum folks would have more knowledge.

Any input is appreciated here.

Thanks, TC

.....color to the banding. The other one is more grayish in the bands.

TC

NP

I checked with a good friend and whose judgment I trust on anything BTS-related. We both seem to have at least some reservations about the particular subspecies we're looking at here. The coloring, to be sure, is in fact rather light and probably could be characterized as hypomelanistic.
But the main question you asked is not any easier to respond to. Value is ultimately subjectively determined. I may be terribly impressed by light-colored specimens and therefore assign them a much higher monetary value than someone else who prefers the bright contrast between deep orange and black (as in a typical Northern). I'm not avoiding answering the question, but rather, I can't really tell you what the value of these animals is in a vacuum. Even if we agree that they are in fact hypomelanistic Easterns, the real retail value of them is more dependent on who is interested in purchasing them. Several hundred dollars? Not out of the question, but again, you have to find the willing buyer.
I believe it goes without saying that some species and color variations are intrinsically more valuable, e.g., a true albino of any BTS species or a T. multifasciata. Regardless of whether you locate a buyer at a particular point in time, these last two examples ARE worth a great deal of money and it would just be a matter of waiting it out until you locate someone able to pay the price.
I'm sorry if my answer isn't clear-cut; it is, though, an honest answer. Best of luck.

P.S. If you were thinking of selling them, around how much would you be asking for them?
-----
Edward
Carpe diem

caught ya lookin where you shouldn't! (N/P)

I appreciate your time to answer and understand exactly what you are saying. I DID see the parents and they were represented as and appeared to be Easterns. Saw all of the neonates from this pairing and indeed the ratio was about 50/50 normal vs "lighter" animals.

I am thinking about selling them....but had no idea what to ask which is why I posted the question......still a hard question to answer I guess. I may leave it open to best offer and go from there.

Thanks again for your response.

Tom Chambers
TC Reptile

To me, they look like northerns, or northern/eastern intergrades. Any chance of clearing this all up, and posting a pic of the parents. Feel free to send me pics if you like.

James Wilson tiliquaman@aol.com

James,
I think you've got a point there.
I was thinking the same thing.
They look more like Northerns or even IJ's.

Nice animals. Please show us the adults.

Cheers,
Johan.

Hello TC, I was just looking at the pics of your Easterns. I agree with both James and Edward that they look more like regular colored Northerns than hypo Easterns to me, but assuming they are Easterns like you say they are, than I would have to say that they could be considered "hypo", but it is such a broad term. i would say your skinks are on the very end of the spectrum, basically being just a little bit lighter than normal colored Easterns. It is normal for Easterns inhabiting the inland desert regions to have more of a subdued or light tan coloring, so assuming yours claim ancestry to that area, than they are actually perfectly normal colored. basically what i am trying to say is that if you laid out 100 "normal" eastern blue tongues, yours would be in the top 20th percentile in terms of "lightness", so if you want to call them "hypomelanistic", that is acceptable once again because it can cover anything from a specimen with a little bit less melanin than normal (such as the case with yours) to a specimen with some type of genetic mutation. i think the latter category is the one that is generally much more rare and valuable, and can be very expensive. i am positive that there is no genetic mutation at play, but that yours are just lighter colored easterns. in terms of how much they are worth, i also agree that the market is basically what determines that, but my personal opinion in your case is that they are not worth that much more than a completely "normal" colored eastern, so maybe anywhere from $175 to $300 a piece. once again, that is just my opinion and i am only stating it because you had asked what you thought they were worth. good luck with them. by the way, i am going to post a picture of an extremely hypomelanistic northern blue tongued skink to show you what i mean...best regards.

are you selling it