Regular albino vs high contrast albino

[Ladybugzcrunch]

Thank you. She is very nice. If I had a newer camera (I used a 6 year old sony snap shot for this photo), I am sure she would pop more! I tried to get the best albino example I could fine for my projects. Primeval-Beauty was the best line that I could find.

My mistake, credit should go to Extraordinary Ectotherms.

[DooLittle]

No pictures of hatchlings side by side. But here is my high contrast albino. First is breeders hatchling pic. Second is my pic from last summer.

[Pythonfriend]

here is how i believed it to be, not so sure anymore:

some people try to get high contrast albinos via line-breeding, while others try to get high contrast by using codominants like cinnamon, black pastel, or enchi.

or does high contrast only refer to those that are line-bred for high contrast? as in, a cinnamon albino (even with high contrast) would always be considered a cinnamon albino and not be called high contrast?

but i think a "het high contrast albino" could be visual. albino takes away the black pigment that is between the alienheads, and leaves the yellow pigment that is inside the alienheads. so instead of yellow/brown alienheads on black background, you get yellow alienheads on white background.

so basically to make a high contrast albino, you would look for dark normals that have a darker, dirtier yellow/brown within the alienheads. when you now breed a high contrast albino to an average normal, i think it should show in some of the normal het albinos, in the form of a higher yellow-content inside the alienheads. basically the opposite of a fire or lesser, where the alienheads have a color that is closer to grey. loads of yellow pigment with some black / dark brown pigment mixed in should give you rich yellowish/reddish browns.

i think its marketing when someone sells "het high contrast albino". but i think if you look at lots of het albinos, and look for BPs that have a deep brown, specifically with a high yellow-content inside the alienheads, as far away from an axanthic look as possible, it might work. as in, you can pick out hets that have a high chance of producing high contrast albinos.

[For Goodness Snakes]

There is recent information that leans toward the gold blush as being a stand alone morph. A few years ago Matt Lerer / owner of GHI Reptiles bred one of his GHIs to a female gold blush mojave and the results were totally different than when the same GHI was bred to other mojaves. It looks like I'm getting close at isolating the gene trait, gold blush is now on the morph list.

As far as high contrast albinos go I believe there are several wild caught lines. One of which is Morton Write's line. Morton is a breeder that lives in Florida, many years ago he acquired a wild caught albino that he purchased from Africa. I never did see the original albino, but I did see the hundreds of babies that were produced from a selectively bred group. In my opinion the Morton Write line consistently produces some of the best looking super high contrast albinos around.

As stated before it's all about variation. Find out which two snakes produce the cleanest looking babies and breed the parents back to their children. Do this for a couple of generations then out cross them with snakes that share the same positive visual traits.

Brian Gundy
For Goodness Snakes
408-981-6694

[Pythonfriend]

There is recent information that leans toward the gold blush as being a stand alone morph. A few years ago Matt Lerer / owner of GHI Reptiles bred one of his GHIs to a female gold blush mojave and the results were totally different than when the same GHI was bred to other mojaves. It looks like I'm getting close at isolating the gene trait, gold blush is now on the morph list.

and lets not forget the patternless mystic potion (or was it a purple passion?) you produced, thats also an indication if its reproducible.

As far as high contrast albinos go I believe there are several wild caught lines. One of which is Morton Write's line. Morton is a breeder that lives in Florida, many years ago he acquired a wild caught albino that he purchased from Africa. I never did see the original albino, but I did see the hundreds of babies that were produced from a selectively bred group. In my opinion the Morton Write line consistently produces some of the best looking super high contrast albinos around.

As stated before it's all about variation. Find out which two snakes produce the cleanest looking babies and breed the parents back to their children. Do this for a couple of generations then out cross them with snakes that share the same positive visual traits.

Brian Gundy
For Goodness Snakes
408-981-6694

thanks, thats really interesting. do you think the hets look different compared to other normals?

[Mike Schultz]

A high contrast albino is just a high contrast snake that happens to be an albino

Dark black bands = pure white albino bands, light brown "base" color = nicer yellow albino base.

Hope this helps!

[For Goodness Snakes]

Yes my hets show a lot of yellow on them, you'd think you were looking at a pastel.

Brian

[decensored]

There is recent information that leans toward the gold blush as being a stand alone morph. A few years ago Matt Lerer / owner of GHI Reptiles bred one of his GHIs to a female gold blush mojave and the results were totally different than when the same GHI was bred to other mojaves. It looks like I'm getting close at isolating the gene trait, gold blush is now on the morph list.

As far as high contrast albinos go I believe there are several wild caught lines. One of which is Morton Write's line. Morton is a breeder that lives in Florida, many years ago he acquired a wild caught albino that he purchased from Africa. I never did see the original albino, but I did see the hundreds of babies that were produced from a selectively bred group. In my opinion the Morton Write line consistently produces some of the best looking super high contrast albinos around.

As stated before it's all about variation. Find out which two snakes produce the cleanest looking babies and breed the parents back to their children. Do this for a couple of generations then out cross them with snakes that share the same positive visual traits.

Brian Gundy
For Goodness Snakes
408-981-6694

Hey Brian!

Don't get me wrong, I am not taking anything away from the Gold Blush Mojo - I think selective breeding is imperative to improving different morphs and there is no denying that your line is incredible. From a standard viewpoint your animals set the bar. Sorry I used your specific project as an example, it was the first one that came to mind as I had just finished showing one of your videos (your 5000 gram ball python) to a friend of mine. I did see the results from the Ghi x Goldblush Mojave v.s. the Ghi x Mojo comparisons and I can only offer my opinion: Quality makes a huge difference.

But you see animals like the banana and the coral glow, NERD axanthic v.s. VPI axanthics, lesser v.s. butter and black pastel v.s. cinnamon (at risk of compromising my own argument LOL), calico v.s. sugar, and (for arguments sake) the mojave and the goldblush mojave, and many more examples... a lot of people can't help but feel confused, and have a difficult time explaining it to people when they ask me, "what makes these morphs different?" My honest answer is, "quality, and bred traits" and that raises questions about what standards exist for polymorph naming rights... Again, I don't care what people get credit for - I think people should be recognized for their contributions and years of work with an animal.

I don't mean any disrespect, and I am not an expert, nor am I someone of any real influence in the community, such as yourself. I am actually a bit of a fan (which is making my response here kind of awkward for me..) but I am simply offering my opinion which is; if the mutation acts in the same way (IMO) to it's counterpart - it's the same morph. Again just my lowly (and perhaps cynical) opinion.

Respectfully,
Chris.

[grcforce327]

Baby pics don't mean squat! Show me a 3500-4000g albino with intense color!

[For Goodness Snakes]

Chris,

In many ways I agree with you. Until Matt proved that there was something unique going on with his gold blush mojave I was happy just selectively breeding my snakes. Now that someone has placed the name gold blush onto the World Of Ball Python Morph List. I feel it is my responsibility to prove whether the trait is dominant, co dominant or recessive. As of yet I have not isolated the trait. It's difficult for me as a breeder to fully enjoy the experience. As honored as I am to see the words Gold Blush on the Morph list, It has brought a sense of frustration to me. I feel that in this case the cart has truly been put before the horse. I am hopeful that within the next few seasons I will have the trait isolated. Once that is done I will be able to take the gold blush which is not a mojave and incorporate that trait into all other morphs. I understand the confusion and frustration that this is causing. The frustration for me is how could the bp morph list include a trait that has not yet been isolated.

I'm excited about the future of this project, please be patient with me as I work it out.

Brian