Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Could this be a poss trait for piebald. This is a female of mine she has 8 spots in all like the ones in the pictures ive posted. What do you guys think have you ever seen this before?

Micah
http://eastcoasthognose.tripod.com

East Coast Hognose

Very interesting! Are they true white spots or could they be scars? If they are not scars I would definitely try to prove it out.

Good Luck,
Louie

No there not scars most of the spots are just like one whole scale will be solid white then there are a few that are just the tips of the scales then theres a few spots that are bigger like three scales together that are white. She bum me out this year dropped 32 slugs. I hope to get some good babies from her next year and will see what happens.

Micah
http://eastcoasthognose.tripod.com

I have personally observed this phenomenon in a couple of Easterns in a small collection. I don't have an explanation for it except that the two specimens I have seen it in are on the melanistic side and one in particular has got more/larger as she has gotten older. They are unrelated and from completely different areas of their range.
-----
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

Yeah this girl gets more with time as well. Thats why I asked you would think if it was going to be a trait of some kind it would be born with the spots and not get more. Thanks for the replay and take care.

Micah
http://eastcoasthognose.tripod.com

Hello,
My 2 cents. I have seen this too, on different snake species, and even lizards. I have always thought it was from an old injury when the animal was very young. Especially if you see any depressions at the pigment loss area. I had a giant anole (A. equestris) with this happening on the tail, complete loss of pigment in small circles. . .after tail injury.

Since Kory said that he has seen this on hogs where the pigment area progresses, that would lead me to think that this could also be a "condition" of some type with out an injury cause. Something causing the death of the melanin producing cells. But that doesn't mean it couldn't have been initiated by injury to start the process as well. If it was a fungus (which I have seen kill pigment cells in hognoses), I would expect to see swelling there. Interesting nonetheless and worth investigating further.

The only way to really rule things out is to breed the snake, and then see if the trait is heritable. You could also spend the money for a biopsy of the area, especially at the borders where the pathologist can look at what is happening to the pigment cells.

Best,
Kenny

She was a WC female so im sure she had some bad palces on her and it could very well be from some old scars. She is clean now with now bad places so I cant be for sure thats what happen. She is a big girl and im planning on breeding her again even if she didnt have the spots so will see next year what happens.

Micah
http://eastcoasthognose.tripod.com

i had a wc mel.eastern female with about two white spots on the lower sideds she two layed alot of slugs over a weeks time.it may have something to do with the white under the chin?i let mine go.i only had it for about 3 weeks,it never ate.