There is a lot of confusion right now on the market place regarding Leucists and Hypomelanistic animals. I'll shed the insight I have on the situation:
The leucistic dragons you see on the market are not TRUE leucistics. They are "marketed leucistics". Nobody is really sure what that means. It is known, however, that the leucistics are DIFFERENT than clear-nailed hypo-pastels.
1) If you breed a leuc to a normal dragon, the offspring will not be "lightened". If you breed a hypo to a normal dragon, the offspring will be lightened.
2) Leuc breedings are producing UNUSUAL color morphs. If you breed two hypos together, you won't get something unusual.. If you breed leucs, you will get a spin of the color wheel. I have personally seen dragons with orange, purple, yellow, etc... from het to leuc breedings. They look nothing like their folks. Weird.
3) Leuc and Hypo do share the clear-nailed trait.. which is strange. If you breed a hypo to a leuc, you'll get a clear-nailed baby.. again.. weird. Should get a double het for leuc and hypo.
I think it's all very exciting.. leuc to leuc breedings, leuc x hypo, and then factoring in the transleucents will create exciting new morphs in this species..
Also, the only PROVEN hypomelanistic is a hypo with clear nails. Other animals can possess a "hypo" trait, but they are not a true, proven hypomelanistic animal.
Seth
The Dragon Island
