hmm Black lucy X Blue lucy?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PythonWallace

A BEL crossed to another morph would only be het for BEL (mojo or lesser) + whatever genetics came from the other parent. The other parent would also have to be a mojo or lesser to produce any Lucies, and I would guess that it would be an all white snake no matter what the other genes were.

---

Yep... unless of course hell freezes over and they play the Stanly Cup there :).

Since Leucism is a reduction in all forms of scale pigment (Albinism is the reduction of melanin only), the only color it can be is some form of white, depending on the severity of the reduction in pigmentation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jhall1468

Since Leucism is a reduction in all forms of scale pigment (Albinism is the reduction of melanin only), the only color it can be is some form of white, depending on the severity of the reduction in pigmentation.

---

Yes, but if we mix enough, maybe they'll become see-through! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Yes, but if we mix enough, maybe they'll become see-through! :D

---

Just wait until my Invisible Ball Python project is finished. I bet I could sell them on fauna.

:carrot:

let me know when we have some pics of the crazy monkey snake!!! ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Yes, but if we mix enough, maybe they'll become see-through! :D

---

That would be f'ed up. Like those see-through fish that are sometimes painted with fluorescent paint. I guess it would be cool for biology students to be able to examine the internal systems of pythons?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jhall1468

Yep... unless of course hell freezes over and they play the Stanly Cup there :).

Since Leucism is a reduction in all forms of scale pigment (Albinism is the reduction of melanin only), the only color it can be is some form of white, depending on the severity of the reduction in pigmentation.

---

Actually, pigment is still produced, but the cells are incapable of "holding" it...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CntrlF8

Actually, pigment is still produced, but the cells are incapable of "holding" it...

---

Actually, that's not quite true. The cells we are talking about are chromatophores. A purely leucistic animal doesn't have any chromatophoric cells, and as such, no color is displayed. An amelanistic (Albino) DOES have the cells but can't produce the melanin, and as such, only the other pigments show through (I don't know how many BPs have, but I'd estimate 2 ;)).

We see some Lucy's have dorsal fins that don't match the color of the rest of the scales. This is a form of partical leucisim, meaning some chromatophoric cells are present, but only in small numbers and located in specific areas across the back of the animal. This also explains why they maintain eye color... there are some leucistic animals that do have red eyes.

So, technically, yes a BP can produce pigments, but the cells used to transport the pigment don't exist. My explanation was incredibly over-simplistic, but in general it fits ;).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jhall1468

Actually, that's not quite true. The cells we are talking about are chromatophores. A purely leucistic animal doesn't have any chromatophoric cells, and as such, no color is displayed. An amelanistic (Albino) DOES have the cells but can't produce the melanin, and as such, only the other pigments show through (I don't know how many BPs have, but I'd estimate 2 ;)).

We see some Lucy's have dorsal fins that don't match the color of the rest of the scales. This is a form of partical leucisim, meaning some chromatophoric cells are present, but only in small numbers and located in specific areas across the back of the animal. This also explains why they maintain eye color... there are some leucistic animals that do have red eyes.

So, technically, yes a BP can produce pigments, but the cells used to transport the pigment don't exist. My explanation was incredibly over-simplistic, but in general it fits ;).

---

That's basically what I was saying, but my explanation was much more simple than even yours. However, a 'red eyed leucistic" would technically be an albino leucistic, as the eye color is not transported by chromatophoric cells. Unless there is a genetically red-eyed ball other than an albino...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CntrlF8

That's basically what I was saying, but my explanation was much more simple than even yours. However, a 'red eyed leucistic" would technically be an albino leucistic, as the eye color is not transported by chromatophoric cells. Unless there is a genetically red-eyed ball other than an albino...

---

It certainly doesn't appear that eye color is transported by chromatophoric cells in balls, but there are (rare) cases where it seems that non-albino animals have red eyes. But it would be interesting to see an Amel Lucy Ball :D.

2cent slightly offtopic post pertaining to albinism and red eyes :

not all albino phenotypes have red eyes as albinism doent actually produce red eyes. some albinos do have blue eyes ( ie; albino humans ). albinism dosent necessarily turn the iris red, its mearly the blood vessils showing through since the iris is part of the vascular system in the eye. human albinos have blue eyes since thats what the reduced pigment shows up as. ie, all pigment = brown or almost black eyes, no pigment is pretty much the color of the muscles ( i think ). ive been learning about this for god knows how long..figure i'd remember it by now.

now back to your regularly scheduled genetic conversation.

(yeah ball pythons!)
i think my girl looks pretty with blue eyes, but i bet she wants to shed more than look pretty.