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Albino question

M

MissHisssss

New member
I have always read that Albino means 'ABSENSE of ALL color. Not even the red eyes are really a red hue, but instead are clear/white. The red you see is the blood running through them. Even light bluish looking eyes in some albino animals, including man, are really white with red pupils. So why are amels and anery's called red and black albino's (which is a contradiction in terms) and the blizzard, and the snows that remain pink and white are not called albino's?

MissHisssss
 
Ok....

Umm, Let me tell you what I've heard, and then have people yell at me for begin wrong, lol.

Human, all mammal coloration actually, relies on only one factor that determines the amount of dark pigment that we have. Hence, if the person is devoid of all dark pigment, they have no color at all.

But Corn Snakes have three (or four) color-producing agents, one for black (similar to that found in mammals), one for red, and one for yellow (and one for irridescence that we don't totally understand). Hence, when all dark coloration is taken away in the same sense that it is in an "albino", there are still pigments being produced. Hence, the "albino" corn snake still having color. But it lacks all black, just like a mammal albino.

As for Anerys, or Black Abinos, the red and most yellow pigments are lacking in the same sense that black pigment lacks in an albino. So the paradox term of "black albino" does kind of apply.

As for snows and blizzards, they're not only lacking the black color producing agent, but also the agent to produce red and most yellow coloration. So, in a sense, while they take on the appearence of a mammalian albino, there are more factors at work then your typical albino.

And one more thing, names like "albino" and "black albino" are more marketing names to appeal to the public. I mean, doesn't "black albino" sound better then "anerythristic type 'a'"?
And more people know what an "albino" is then what an "amelanistic" is. So technically, a "snow" would be an "amelanistic type 'a' anerythristic". But that seems a bit long to me, lol.

Does this help? Or even make sense?:p
 
Thank you Midnight Iris

I'm no authority on this.... I only read what is written about things (in this case albino's and albinoism) and then use common sense..... and, it only makes sense that it wouldn't make any difference if it's human/animal or snake (all of which work with blacks, reds, yellows, etc).... albino still means the ABSENSE of ALL color. This is why albino human/animals have white hair. White is not a color, it is the absense of color. The very pale pink skin is only caused by the blood running through the veins and I see how that is so because when I blush my skin turns more pink. Bottom line... if something has any color at all, it can not be classified as an albino... and diluting a color or eliminating a color is a totally different thing than being an albino.

I agree that black albino and red albino sounds prettier than Anery this and Amel that.... but it falsely leads people down the wrong path. And I don't mean for those that know what albinoism really means... I'm talking about people who don't know and think they are buying a 'special color'.... or the kids that one thread person said was going to show her amel and anery snakes to to show them the difference between black and red albinos. Breeding, selling, and teaching people about these anery and amel snakes should be done on fact.... not just because one thinks one name is less difficult to say or to remember than another or one sounds prettier than the other.

Now everyone can get onto my hinney instead of yours.
 
Webster's defines an albino as "an organism exhibiting deficient pigmentation." While that is usually applied to an animal that is white (due to a lack of melanin), it is not the case in reptiles. Reptiles can be other colors, but, because they are deficient in one or more pigments found in their normal coloration, they are technically "albinos" in the truest sense of the word.

However, not all mamalian albinos are completely white. There are mamals (and people) that are tyrosinase positive or tyrosinase negative, which may or may not show some coloration. The reason for this is because the depression of pigment production is incomplete in some way.

Here is a link on white dobermans and their coloration (or lack thereof). While it is not directly related to the topic at hand, it will give you everything you wanted to know (and more) about albinism in mamalian species.

link
 
Thanks Darin

Now if all of that would have been explained in all the books that I've read about albino's then I wouldn't be chewing vigorously on my foot at this moment.

Thanks so much for sharing... I have learned something new today.

MissHisssss
 
Heh...

I personally don't like the term "albino" applied to any corn... it doesn't have any meaning. It doesn't tell you anything of value.

Also, the term albino is based on a word which means "white" because the loss of pigmentation in mammals makes for a lighter appearance.

I still don't like the term, hehe.

Just to throw in another technicality, white is not the absence of color, it is perceived when red, green, and blue wavelengths are all detected at the same place and time. Sneeze or spit teeny little bits of liquid on your screen so you get a little droplet of liquid on it. (Just a little bit, don't hock a loogie!) The droplets will magnify the picture elements so that you can see the individual Red, Green, and Blue glowing phosphor dots that create the colors on your screen. :) Thing is, pigments work in the opposite way: your monitor is additive, and pigments and paints are... umm... "subtractive?" ;)

Oh, and another technicality: I've never seen any evidence that amelanism or anerythrism have any effect on yellow coloration. In fact, my adult snow corn is loaded with yellows, and so are my adult Anery and Amel corns. :)
 
Oh, and another technicality: I've never seen any evidence that amelanism or anerythrism have any effect on yellow coloration. In fact, my adult snow corn is loaded with yellows, and so are my adult Anery and Amel corns.
Click to expand...

Absolutely!

Based on the results I've seen in my Charcoal projects as well as some combos I've done with 'A' Anerythrism, there is no doubt in my mind that xanthism is completely independent of those other genes. Now the question is, are we perhaps talking about an Xanthism gene that expresses the yellow coloration, or an Axanthism gene that represses it?
 
Thanks Serpwidgets and company

Man... according to what I've been reading on this thread, the books, and teachers, that taught me about colors didn't know dip, and once again I shall proceed to open my mouth to insert foot and chew vigerously. I can see that I have a whole new adventure in learning the colors and genetics of snakes. This is cool.... even though my jaw is sore.

MissHisssss.
 
Now if you want to get really technical, albinism really isn't the lack of all color, it is the reflection of all colors, i.e. white light. We see a partiular color because the object (or snake) absorbs the various lightwaves except the one we see, which bounces back to our optic nerve.
Now if Rich could breed a snake that has scales that act like little prisms, which would break light into all the different wavelengths, creating a multitude of little rainbows, I think he could give all his butter stripes away to me, for free, and retire a wealthy man from the sale of his rainbow corns.

Hey, I just got back from a 5-day conference in Orlando, in lectures from 8 AM 'til 6 PM, and 2 days until 7:30 PM. I'm tired, my brain is fried, and my butt is sore. And yet...I still visit this site!
 
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