First boa litter. Need help determining what is hypo.

[Wh00h0069]

Give them a month or two to color up, and you should not have any issues telling them apart. Their colors get more vibrant after a couple of months. Congrats on the litter!

[Evenstar]

So I am confused. Hypo Nicaraguans are hypo w/out being recessive? I was thinking they should all be DH Hypo T+ but I am a bp dude and dont know a lot about boas. Which is kinda weird cuz I love boas. But shouldnt they all be DH?

EDIT: Also that T+ Lady is super hot! Really diggin her!

From every thing I have read hypo in boas is a codom trait like pastel in ball pythons.

The hypomelanistic trait in boas is not recessive - it is incomplete dominant (which is often referred to as co-dominant). What this means is that if you breed a hypo to a normal, you'll get both hypos and normals in the litter. If you breed 2 hypos, you'll get mostly hypos, a few "super" hypos, and a few normals in the litter.

T+ albino IS recessive. So these babies are either hypo or normal and all are het for T+ albino. The normal babies are only het T+ albino. The hypo babies would be referred to as hypo het T+ albino OR as DH T+ sunglow (which is the expression of both the hypo and the T+ genes).

Give them a month or two to color up, and you should not have any issues telling them apart. Their colors get more vibrant after a couple of months. Congrats on the litter!

I agree. These babies have some stuff going on, but it's a bit early to determine their genes. They need to color up more. Hypos are often recognizable from the moment of birth, but some localities are more difficult than others and Nics are one of these. Give it at least month and we'll see then.

[Andybill]

Learning new things everyday!

So a hypo boa's shed still lacks any pattern though right? My hog islands sheds dont have any pattern either but I have heard that hogs are pretty much hypos too. Is this true? Sorry I dont mean to be straying from the OPs topic but it has some relevance right?

[Evenstar]

Learning new things everyday!

So a hypo boa's shed still lacks any pattern though right? My hog islands sheds dont have any pattern either but I have heard that hogs are pretty much hypos too. Is this true? Sorry I dont mean to be straying from the OPs topic but it has some relevance right?

Not all Hogs are hypos. They have a very light, orangish coloration as a general rule, but it's only the coloration of the local - same way Nics tend to be heavily speckled and Argentines are darker and more granity, etc. The hypo gene does occur naturally in Hogs though so you will often see hypo Hogs.

And you should still see some patterning on the shed with either hypos or Hogs unless the animal is exceptionally light. The pattern in any case is much more difficult to see though.

Here is a picture of Peaches, my female Colombian hypo het ghost (she is not a Hog Island). Her coloration is very coral and orange and her pattern is distinct. Her sheds have a light but noticable pattern...


And this is Jasper, my male Colombian het hypo (also not a Hog Island). His coloration is much lighter and more muted, more silvery. His sheds are very nearly clear with only the faintest outline of pattern...


Hope that helps with the distinction!!

[Andybill]

Hmm I am gonna have to take a closer look at his next shed.... His orange coloration is starting to come in on his lower half and his upper half is light with very little speckling so I should see some pattern atleast on the lower half. Thanks for the help! Man I need to start doing some more research on boas.

[Evenstar]

You may or may not see the pattern. If he's young and still attaining color, it might not be visible yet. And you're actually more likely to see the pattern on the upper (or dosal) half and/or down toward the tail.