Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it true that albino snakes have poorer eyesight then normal? Do albinos tend to have worse temperments? I've heard several people say this, is there any truth to it?

I know that albinos are more sensitive to sun and predation in the wild, but are there any other side effects to albinism?

Here is my albino black rat. Bad picture though.

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-Andy

Albinism by itself cannot cause a snake to have a worse temperment. All it can do is cause pigment not to develop. It's also unlikely to me that a complex trait like temperment could become 'linked' to albinism through inbreeding, even if temperment was entirely inborn, which it isn't. I can see strong light hurting their eyes because of the lack of pigment, but I think they'd be ok in room lighting. In room light they don't seem to have trouble seeing their prey anymore than other snakes, although this is hard to pin down because even completely blind snakes can move about and eat well.
That being said, the only albinos I have are sand boas, which don't hang out in the light that often, although they do use their eyes when moving above ground and eating. I do have one really nasty albino female, but my other albino, my snow, my paradox albinos, and my het albinos are all pretty normal.
Nasty things can start to happen when you inbreed any line of snake, and too many people seem to be inbreeding albino lines. My eternal example: those poor bugeyed leucistic Texas rats.

This is an interesting link discussing poor eyesight in albino humans:

http://www.albinism.org/publications/What-We-See.html

Gives you a little more insight into why albino snakes might be more reclusive.
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-Andy

The one amelanistic (albino) corn I've owned seemed to me to have poorer vision than normal corns.

I don't think the albino gene causes poor disposition. I think the impaired eyesight can make a snake more defensive than a normal snake. Just like a normal snake is more defensive when opaque than the rest of the time because it's eyesight is impaired. OTOH, plenty of albinos seem to have just as good dispositions as normal snakes. After all, many species of snakes are much more dependent on their sense of smell through the Jacobson's organ than eyesight.

Paul Hollander