There are a number of explanations for this situation and I don't think negligence is even the most likely.
1. It could be just bad luck. We can't count the albino since it could also be homozygous caramel for all we know (per the basic assumption that they are independent genes and albino will cover caramel). So, although it really messes up the math, you have to exclude that one and the about 1 in 18 shot of going 0 for 10 from a pair of hets is rare but not like lotto odds or anything.
2. It could be a mix-up but those might be a lot easier to make than we generally think. Even if the mix-up happened before Corey got them we may be finding (especially since 1998) that sperm retention and perhaps even parthogenisis are moderately common in ball pythons. Sure would be nice if we had paternity tests!
3. It could be unexpected genetics. Albino and Caramel may be alleles - different mutations of the same gene. If I imported a Caramel looking male and he produced Caramel looking offspring I would assume he was homozygous caramel. If however it turns out that caramel and albino are different mutations of the same gene then double hets don't have a normal copy of that gene and probably will not look normal - maybe they will look caramel (heck, maybe they will tend not to kink too!). A situation like that would really throw a curve ball requiring some thinking outside the box to figure out. The allele theory was developed as an innocent explanation of Corey's situation but as far as I know no one with both Caramels and Albinos has taken it seriously enough the last two years to test it. If RDR's Lavender X Caramel clutch proves those two to be alleles in the next week then maybe next year someone will try Caramel X Albino.
