Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am sure this has been discussed numerous times, but what is the CERTAIN way of identifying, VISUALLY, an anaconda hognose? Do they ALL have black undersides, etc... Thanks

Troy wrote this thread last summer.....it should help explain it somewhat......

forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=2012080,2012187

Thanks

ALBINO Anacondas are NOT black on underside,correct?

I would think not.....but I've never seen one. Someone else should jump in here and tell ya soon hopefully....

Seeing as albino removes black pigment, I would say no.

Seeing as albino removes black pigment, I would say no.

In pure Amelanistics (Albinos), this is true, there should be no black pigmentation at all hence the term Amelanistic ('A' - without "melanistic" - black pigmentation).

However, more and more paradox Amels have been produced throughout the years, so having an Amel appearance on the dorsal side and a Melanistic ventral side is totally possible but astronomically rare and more often than not, near impossible to reproduce. Several years ago, there was a paradox Amel produced by a fellow breeder that had half it's face Amel and the other half Normal.

But back to the original question of Albino Anacondas having black bellies, the simple answer is no. They might have solid colored bellies akin to whatever morph they actually but then again, the bellies might be checkered too even though they might be actual Anacondas.
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

Thanks for replies.

No they are not. Mine has an all white belly.

I an no expert on anacondas, and as a newbie, I share your questioning.

It appears with anacondas, there is a wide range of expression, from almost nothing, to extreme.
One key is belly patterning. With condas, it appears to have a narrowing of the belly pattern, leaving uncolored edges on the ventrals. Often blackbellied in the middle of the ventrals.

I do not work with westerns much, my son has a few, I work with kennelyi. Out of aprox 200 I looked at in the field, I found one with that type of belly pattern narrowing. of course I kept that one female and hope to express something. Hopefully I locate a male like it. I hope someone pops up and helps you.

I agree, low to super low expression animals are hard to tell and I think the pet trade is full of those animals.

Here is a picture for comparison. Albino conda on the left normal conda on the right

Yep. Thanks much. Nice looking snakes.