Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello there I have a question about two of my albino leopards that hatched a little over 3 weeks ago. When they hatched they had the coloration of what I would consider a normal albino (yellowish/pinkish skin tone). After their first shed I noticed that their coloration began to darken considerably more than previous albinos I had. The second of the two albino's to hatch is now extremely dark colored. He seems to be turning black. So my question is what is this?

Below are links to the pics of them, the pics are of a higher resolution than I can post directly in Kingsnake...

The first photo:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h55/Ackie89/turtles015.jpg

Is the first albino of the two, I believe. That photo was taken within a few days of hatching.

The second Photo:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h55/Ackie89/turtles025.jpg

Is that same Albino 3 weeks later. Notice the darkening of his
tone...

But the strangest photo is of the second albino at 3 weeks old, it had the same coloration as the first albino when it hatched also. But after 3 weeks it has undergone a extreme darkening.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h55/Ackie89/turtles022.jpg

Notice how the white around his head has dark spots beginning to show through...as well as how the pink bars have change to that dark color now.

Any ideas on what this change in color is from? Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks for your time, Lance

Lance,
what temps are you keeping the hatchlings at? Coloration in these guys isn't completely set until they are about a month to six weeks old. In other words if you incubated at high temps (88-89 degrees) for males and then let temps fall below that when they hatch, then they will darken up like that. What you are seeing is the migration and formation of the dendritic arms of the melanophore in the dermal layer. In the wild, if they are born in cooler climates, they need to be darker overall to absorb as much heat as is possible. If you want to keep them lighter (and they are Tremper amels - see below) then keep them warmer during the first six weeks or so and they should stay that way for through their ontogenic change.

Are yours Tremper amels? My guess is, is that they probably are as this seems to happen more so with the Trempers than with the Rainwater amels or Bell amels.

Hope that helps,

Ian

Hi Ian, They were incubated at 83 degrees, and have been kept at 79-82 degrees since they have hatched. I have no idea what kind of albinos they are, neither of their parents were albinos...I purchased the parents as normals at Daytona last year. So there is really no telling what all they could have been het for...

As far as the darkening to absord more heat, I see that alot in snakes in the wild in different areas but it didn't even cross my mind that that could be a possibility...I have just never seen it in an albino of any species, the dramatic change in just a couple weeks is what caught my attention. They are eating twice a day right now and appear to be digesting their meals quickly...which is another reason I didn't consider the temperature to be that big of a factor. Please let me know what you think! Thanks, Lance

Hi Lance,

Chances are if you didn't pay a higher ammount for the geckos that they are probably Tremper amels.

Usually the typical dark coloration of snakes that are found in certain environments is as much a factor having to do with their cryptic coloration of their environment as it is with temp regulation. Some of the P.m.deserticola that I used to catch out in my travels in parts of Mojave have almost a mint green background which matches the soil conditions in the area. Others were almost completely black due to the soils in their environment.

Migration of the pigment cells is not as often seen in (or at least not as dramatically) in snakes as it is in lizards. I can only think of a few snake species that have morphological control over this trait Hog Island boas being an example. Chameleons are the extreme in Lizards, but I have watched my Blizzard leopard Geckos (true leucistics in my opionion) go light and dark according to stress and temp.

If you want to maintain the lightness, keep the hatchlings up in the mid 80's for a month or so.If you want to keep those hatched from getting darker, warm them up. You are currently on the low end of the temp scale for them.

As I also mentioned, it seems to be more apparent with certain strains of amelanisim in the Leopards than in others.

Hope that helps. Feel free to get in touch if there is anything else I can do.

Ian

Hi Ian,

You seem to have some technical knowledge on this matter far beyond what a hobbyist would normally have access to. It's a topic I'd like to become more well versed in, can you suggest any websites or other resources? If they are academic publications (which tend to be startlingly expensive) I'm ok with that too.

I'd appreciate it.
-----
"Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, only to what we know of it."

Hi Bryan,

Sorry for not posting this here sooner, I sent you an email with some info then my laptop suffered the blue screen of death and I'm just now getting back online.

I've done a fair ammount of digging and research on this subject as it is what got me interested in reptiles almost twenty years ago. Most of my information and ideas have been formulated from my own breeding projects, discussions with some academics that I have access to, the internet and some good literature.

In terms of books, I can recommend the following (I may be paraphrasing the titles a bit - I don't have them in front of me at the moment):
For understaning the mechanics of coloration and patterning in Reptiles and Amphibians:
Color, pattern and scale variations in Reptiles and Amphibians by Bechtel & Bechtel, published by Krieger Publishing
Albinos by Stephen Broghammer by Professional Breeders Series
Designer Reptiles and Amphibians by R.D. Bartlett
For genetics: Schaumm's outline of genetics

There are a few good websites outthere:
www.vmsherp.com
www.vpi.com
www.geckosetc.com
to name a few.

I think that most of these come startlingly close to full accuracy on most all reptiles and amphibians. There are points that I would disagree withon some, but they are trivialities and they are my personal opinions which are based on my own interpretation and observations.

If you have any questions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll be happy to answer.

If you can't find a title, let me know and I'll dig it up for you. I'll also try and see what else in in my Herp Library (this one was just off the top of my head)

Ian