Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was talking to a fellow today about buying a pair of albino westerns. He is telling me that they are always smaller and lighter than regular westerns. I had never heard this before and wondered if anyone here can confirm this.

Thanks

All the ones I have produced were just the same as the normal ones. Take a look !

JIM

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply. I'm always a little doubtful when someone tells something is "always" true. He claims that his hatchlings are about .5 to 1 gram lighter when they hatch out and stay about the same percentage smaller up to adulthood. I haven't seen any adult albinos in person so I wasn't sure.

Thanks again

same snake ! same size !

The albino phase is just a genetic pigment defect and has nothing with their bodyweight to do! But males are often one size smaller than females.

>

I've noticed that in some albinos, such as Nelson's milksnakes, the average adult size is smaller than that of a normal. It could be quite possible that when selective breeding for pigment, one is also unintentionally selectively breeding for other traits as well.

Let's not forget that amelanism is a genetic defect. When babies are hatched with visible physical defects, I have found that they sometimes have internal defects.

I do not believe there's enough evidence to prove these theories, but it's something to think about.

Tim