Padawan Breeder Questions

[Malum Argenteum]

i’m basically trying to figure out how what i call the “albino complex” works, both in certain species and in all snakes generally, because every time i think i arrive at a proper understanding of this there’s something else that’s confusing eg: i still think it’s weird that leucism is not considered a albinic variation

edit: by “albino complex” - this is my current belief that hypo, T+ albino, etc morphs are variations of albinism - tho i recognize i am probably wrong but that’s how i understand it at present anyway - cuz it’s like, take “hypo” which is characterized by reduced ability for pigment production so to me in that respect i see it as “mild albinism” (hopefully this will make sense)

Well, albino genes (as the term is usually used: those genes that inhibit melanin production/expression) are somewhat different in different species, and different albino genes act on different steps in the metabolic pathways that produce pigment. Genetic recessives, dominance, codominance and incomplete dominance apply to all species, but how these things cash out for specific genes is different in different species (although I assume there's some clustering of functionality when the discussion is limited to only snakes).

'Leucism' is a broad category that in some contexts includes albinism, axanthism, anerythrism, and piedbaldism, so the way the term is used in a specific context such as herp breeding is idosyncratic.