Who can give good descriptions of BCI morphs?

[Amanda1226]

Hi, can anyone give me some morph education, and descriptions?
I am blind, so pictures don't do me any good, so if you can give a good description, I'll just imagine it the best I can.

I have 1 Albino BCI, and am interested in what other forms of Albino morphs are out there.

On the multi-gene snakes, describe the base morphs, and then explain on how it shows in the end product.
Say a Sunglow for example.
I know it has Albino in it, along with other stuff.
What do the other's look like on their own, and then when crossed, how does this affect the morph?

Hope that made sense.
What about other albino morphs? For instance, the Moon glow or coral albinos?
I am most interested in the albino morphs, so any of those kinds of morphs you can describe for me would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks for any help you can give!
-Amanda

[DooLittle]

Hopefully Evenstar will chime in here. She is very knowledgeable on everything boa. I don't have all the morph stuff down.

[Amanda1226]

Hopefully!
Evenstar was very helpful on my last post about new boas.

[Evenstar]

Oh boy. I could go on and on and on and..... well.... you get the idea.

Probably the best way to do this is to start with what you want to know first. I will check this thread each night and respond (as best I can) to what you want to know next. I'll start with the albino complex.....

Albinism is the absence of black pigmentation. So all grey tones are eliminated. An adult albino will appear yellow in overall tone and one can usually see the boa's pattern in washed out pink or orange. The tail saddles are usually the most vivid. The eyes are pink and may appear red when the pupil is fully dilated. There are two lines of albino and they are not genetically compatible - Kahl and Sharp. It is nearly impossible to visually tell the difference between the two so proper documentation is important. In the Kahl line, there are several strains that can affect color - lipstick and coral are the most common and desirable. A coral albino is usually very pink overall and a lipstick usually has a crisper pattern.

Sunglows add the co-dominant gene hypomelanism. The hypo gene reduces the production of melanin which gives the animal a very pink/orange appearance. With the albino gene eliminating black pigment, you have a very bright and vividly orange and pink snake with a crisp pattern on a light yellow or nearly white background. Picture the albino with a light bulb inside. And sunglows usually retain their pattern better as adults than straight albinos.

Snows are a combination of anerythrism and albino. The anery gene is the reduction of red pigmentation. So an anery boa is a silver grey animal with no red or rust coloration. When the albino gene is combined, it eliminates the pink/orange pattern and reduces the yellow tone. So you have a pure white baby with pink eyes that matures to an overall ivory snake. Good quality snows are light ivory and poorer quality ones can appear quite yellow still.

Moonglows are snows with hypomelanism thrown in. That further reduces pigment so this animal is the whitest and lightest as an adult. Aside from the exceedingly rare luscistic boa, a moonglow is about as close as you can get to a pure white animal.


Hope that helps!! What would you like to hear about next??

[Amanda1226]

Ok, so far I think I like the sound of a sunglow.
I think you covered all the albino morphs that I've came across so far.
If I come across anymore I'll be sure to ask.

If anyone has other suggestions of nice morphs and can give descriptions, feel free.
I had posters do this a few months back to help me picture all the morphs of Ball's, to learn what I liked such as a Pi, and others. lol



So, on the Kahl or Sharp, my little female is one of these?
I guess I should hit up the breeder I bought her from to see what she is.
Don't Really plan on breeding her, but this sounds like info that should be kept if only just for records at least. lol
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I read the terms T positive and negative in some albinos?
What does this mean?


Also, could you give a good link to more info on the Kahl and Sharp stuff?
Or explain in a bit more detail, because this sounds like something worth knowing.

[Craigaria]

Evenstar did a great job of describing to colors. If I were to buy another boa, it would be a sunglow also!

[Evenstar]

If you have an albino boa, it has to be either Kahl or Sharp. If you don't know for certain what you have, it is almost certainly a Kahl. The Kahl line is far more common than Sharp. You can ask the breeder, but most breeders who work with Sharps will make it darn clear at the time of purchase that that is what you are getting. Sharps are usually more expensive too simply because they are harder to find. If the breeder didn't tell you what line it is, its Kahl.

Normal albinos are T negative. Making melanin (black) pigment starts with the amino acid tyrosine. It goes through a dozen or so chemical changes before becoming melanin. Tyrosinase is the enzyme that catalyses the first two chemical changes. One gene carries the information for making tyrosinase. If the gene changes enough, the resulting enzyme can't do its job, and no melanin gets made. The changed gene has become a tyrosinase-negative albino mutant gene. Some animals lack melanin but have normal tyrosinase. Then the mutant gene causing the lack is called the tyrosinase-positive albino mutant gene.

T+ animals look very different from typical albinos. They have an overall caramel color with lots of warm browns and creams. There are several lines of T+ and some, but not all, are compatible.

[jason_ladouceur]

Evenstar did a great job of describing to colors. If I were to buy another boa, it would be a sunglow also!

I agree on both counts. That was a fantastic description and you can't go wrong with a nice sunglow. They are one of my favorite combinations. And unlike plain albinos they really tend to hold up as they age.

[Amanda1226]

Are boas like balls where there are 2 categories, color and pattern morphs?
I would like to hear about other morphs as well.
Some of them that I am aware of are:
Hypo
Motley
Anerythristic
Arabesque
AZTEC

but I'm not familiar with all morphs, so if I didn't list them, that doesn't mean I don't want to hear about them.
I would Google this type of thing, but just haven't found a site yet that gives as good as descriptions as you guys do!

Thanks,
-Amanda

[Evenstar]

Yes, there are both color and pattern morphs in boas. However, it's important to note that color morphs usually affect pattern and pattern morphs can affect color.

Hypomelanism (hypo) is a color morph and is the reduction of black pigmentation (but not an absence). It is a co-dominant gene and when two are bred together, a super-hypo can result. It is a key ingredient to some popular color morphs such as sunglows, moonglows, and ghosts. The snake will have an overall muted coloration and can be vibrantly orange or pink in color. The pattern will appear more clean and the saddles tend to have a distinct X shape. Hypos are very distinguishable from normals, but not all hypo-looking snakes are, in fact, hypo as there are some other color morphs and gene that can affect color in the same way. A super-hypo will be exceptionally clean and light with even narrower saddles. There are two lines of hypo and they ARE compatible although most breeders do try to keep them separate. Salmon hypos are a softer color and more pink in tone. Orange Tail hypos are more brilliant and orange in tone with vivid tails.

Anerythrism (anery) is another color morph. This is the reduction of RED pigment and the snake will have a silver, black, and grey coloring. Some anerys just look rather drab in appearance, but it is an important gene to create snows, moonglows, ghosts, and more. Pattern is not affected as much in this morph. There are several types of anerys and its important to know what you have because they are not compatible - Type 1, Type 2, and black eyed anerys all do slightly different things.

Motley is a pattern morph. These snakes have thick saddles that connect laterally. The pattern is squarish in appearance and the tails are often fully striped. Arabesques are very similar except the pattern and connecting lines are much finer and the pattern is more diamond shaped. The tail pattern on Arabs is more banded than solid too. When these two genes are combined, you often have a snake with no saddles at all but still retains the connecting lateral lines.

Aztecs are almost impossible to describe. poo. These are wicked and considered a high-end morph. The pattern is zig-zaggy, connected, and can create distinct aberrancies. The tail is almost solid color and there almost seem to be "holes" in the color where the base tone shows through in a small square pattern. The head spear is elaborate and creates a more "spread-out" head pattern. There is another morph - Inca - that is very similar but the pattern isn't quite as heavy. Aztecs will set you back about $2000.