Kunasir Island ratsnakes are awesome snakes, you will be very happy with them. I have a pair myself, and have seen a number of others around. Hatchlings ARE fairly drab, and as you speculated, they develop the nice green/blue/turquoise colors as they grow.



That being said, there are also main island Japanese ratsnakes out there (ironically less common here in the US than the Kunasirs) that are colored with more drab browns and greys. I strongly suspect that there has been some crossing going on to get the albino gene into the Kunasir Island form. To my knowledge the only albino Japanese ratsnakes are from the main islands, so any albino Kunasirs you see are probably locality crosses. I have also seen striped "Kunasir" animals, but I believe the striped form is another main island trait, so striped Kunasirs are probably also crosses (though I am less sure of this than with the albinos).



Kunisir Island Japanese ratsnakes have not, to my knowledge, been described as a separate subspecies, but they are a very distinctive form and should not be crossed with the main island type. I don't know how widespread any crossing may be occurring is, but you should try to be sure you are buying pure Kunasir Island animals, or at least look at the parents and see if they have the colors you are looking for.

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