Ralph's new Lesser Pied

[RegiusCo]

What do guys think of the Lesser Pied, I'm still trying to theorize the genetics?

Randy, very interested in hearing your take!

http://www.ralphdavisreptiles.com/im...lutch_71_2.jpg

[elevatethis]

Pretty awesome IMO.

He described how he "predicted" that was going to happen...I don't know about that...but it makes sense when you think about it. Lessers lack all of the darker colors that show up in the patterning on regular pieds...so combine the two...there still may be "pattern" there, but the lesser gene is turning it off so nothing shows, and you've got an all white snake.

As far as pied combos go...I'm still waiting on the caramel albino pied.

Very cool IMO...should be nice to see it as it grows.

[JLC]

Wow....just....wow! I wish I could get a better look at the eyes on that baby...they look kind of strange in the pics on his page, but that just may be the angle of the shot and the whole "newborn" look that the light colored snakes have.

I definitely want to see more pictures of that as it grows. If it makes a true pied-white snake, that'll be so cool!

And I couldn't help but notice as I scrolled down to look at other clutches that he has the het-labby clutch "classified"....I haven't looked through his hatching pages or blog in quite awhile, but I don't think I've ever seen him hide a clutch like that. VERY intriguing!!

[juddb]

Thats amazing id like to see him grown up a bit....

[SatanicIntention]

What color eyes does it have? There's a glare so I can't really make 'em out.

[juddb]

What color eyes does it have? There's a glare so I can't really make 'em out.

I was wondering myself....

[West Coast Jungle]

The eyes look white? Trip out

[Freakie_frog]

Remember Pied is a form of leucism and Lesser is a heterozygous form of Leucism so like a Mojo and Lesser make a BEL Pied and Lesser make a form of Leucism. But did ralph say if the animal was produce from a Lesser het pied to pied/het pied or a lesser het pied to lesser het pied. If its the latter we may be seeing a BEL Pied. not a Lesser Pied

"Leucism is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin.

Leucism is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration from the neural crest to skin, hair or feathers during development. This results in either the entire surface (if all pigment cells fail to develop) or patches of body surface (if only a subset are defective) having a lack of cells capable of making pigment.

Since all pigment cell-types differentiate from the same multipotent precursor cell-type, leucism can cause the reduction in all types of pigment. This is in contrast to albinism, for which leucism is often mistaken. Albinism results in the reduction of melanin production only, though the melanocyte (or melanophore) is still present. Thus in species that have other pigment cell-types, for example xanthophores, albinos are not entirely white, but instead display a pale yellow colour.

More common than a complete absence of pigment cells is localized or incomplete hypopigmentation, resulting in irregular patches of white on an animal that otherwise has normal colouring and patterning. This partial leucism is known as a "pied" or "piebald" effect; and the ratio of white to normal-coloured skin can vary considerably not only between generations, but between different offspring from the same parents, and even between members of the same litter. This is notable in horses, the urban crow[1] and the ball python[2] but is also found in many other species. In contrast, albinism always affects the entire animal.

A further difference between albinism and leucism is in eye colour. Due to the lack of melanin production in both the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) and iris, albinos typically have red eyes due to the underlying blood vessels showing through. In contrast, leucistic animals have normally coloured eyes. This is because the melanocytes of the RPE are not derived from the neural crest, instead an outpouching of the neural tube generates the optic cup which, in turn, forms the retina. As these cells are from an independent developmental origin, they are typically unaffected by the genetic cause of leucism."
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism

[Freakie_frog]

I just read where the pairing was a lesser het pied and a pied..Does any one get the magnitude of this. The Pied gene is compatible with a lucy gene. That produce a white headed Pied.

[PythonWallace]

Does anyone know of a link to a mojave/pied or know of a good place to find photos of any different mojave X ??? morphs?