Hypomelanism
Hypo Boa
Picture Taken by Tom Burke
Hypomelanism is now frequently seen in lots of boa morphs and has made up the many beautiful combination that we now have today. It has been spoken that the original hypos were called Orangetails and Salmons were simply a product of these animals that resulted in a salmon color in the saddles and tail.
Hypomelanism is a known to be a Co-Dominant color mutation and in known to cause a drastic reduction in black pigmentation in the animal. The hypo gene can be seen in hypos' (both Orangetail and Salmons or a combination), hypo jungles, hypo motleys, hypo Roswell laddertail, hypo arabesque, Sunglows, Sunglow Jungles, Sunglow Motleys , Sunglow Arabesque, Sunglow Roswell Laddertail, and Hypo Key West Boas.
Hypomelanism is a known to be a Co-Dominant color mutation and in known to cause a drastic reduction in black pigmentation in the animal. The hypo gene can be seen in hypos' (both Orangetail and Salmons or a combination), hypo jungles, hypo motleys, hypo Roswell laddertail, hypo arabesque, Sunglows, Sunglow Jungles, Sunglow Motleys , Sunglow Arabesque, Sunglow Roswell Laddertail, and Hypo Key West Boas.
Albinism "Kahl Lineage"
Lipstick Albino Photographed by Serpentes Inc.
The albino Kahl strain was imported in the 1980's and was first successfully bred in the early 1990's.
Albinism in boas is known to be a recessive trait. This means that to produce an albino there must be two parents carrying at least one allele for the albino gene (100%Het Albino). In this example, 25% of the boas will be visual albinos with the rest having a possibility of carrying the albino allele(66%Het Albino). The albino pictured is a Lipstick line sunglow that was originated from Tom Burke.
Sunglow
Lipstick Sunglow Produced by Tom Burke
Photographed by Steve Ihrig
Sunglows have been pretty common in the boa world. They have been known for their red brighter saddles, higher contrast and better retained color overall. The sunglow pictured is a Lipstick Sunglow and exhibits an extreme contrast as well as very well retained color as the Lipstick line is known for.
Sunglows are the combinations of Hypomelanism and Albinism. Because Hypomelanism is a Co-Dominant trait, its only necessary for once parent to be hypomelanistic in order to produce a sunglow. An example would be a Hypo that carries the albino gene (100%Het Albino) crossed with an albino. In this case you will have a litter of approximate 50% hypo boas, 50% non hypo boas. Within this group of boas, you will have 50% Albinos and 50% that carry the albino gene(100% Het Albino). This means that in this pairing there would be a 25% chance that both hypomelanism and albanism will be seen in the same boa.
Sunglows are the combinations of Hypomelanism and Albinism. Because Hypomelanism is a Co-Dominant trait, its only necessary for once parent to be hypomelanistic in order to produce a sunglow. An example would be a Hypo that carries the albino gene (100%Het Albino) crossed with an albino. In this case you will have a litter of approximate 50% hypo boas, 50% non hypo boas. Within this group of boas, you will have 50% Albinos and 50% that carry the albino gene(100% Het Albino). This means that in this pairing there would be a 25% chance that both hypomelanism and albanism will be seen in the same boa.
Jungle Boa
Produced by Steve Ihrig and Photographed by Alex Smith
The Jungle boa originated back to Sweden where a man named Lars Brandle. Lars originally purchased a Jungle Boa from a Zoo in because of its beauty and color. He then bred it to a normal Colombian boa to make approximately 50% jungles. The jungle gene is known to be a Co-Dominant pattern mutation. There is a super form of the jungle gene with both parents being jungles. In jungles there can be variant forms of pattern mutations from blocky saddles like the jungle pictured, to striped, to X patterns. Other key signs of a jungle are the high yellow coloration in the tail, needle head spear marking, two tone coloration comparison from the laterals to the top saddle base color along with the base color being much cleaner and creamy looking rather the later coloring which a lot of times has speckling and sometimes finds their way in the middle of the laters making a straight line to the tail of the boa. Lastly they have a bold black outlining of their saddles as if someone outlined them with a sharpie.
Harlequin
Photographed and Produced by Blackbrush Reptiles
The Harlequin trait was founded by Tim and Brendan Magee. The Harlequin trait has been known to be a Co-Dominant pattern mutation but some also consider it a Dominant trait. Very similar to that of the Jungle trait, it throws aberrant animals and has a lot of color exhibited in the animal. Pictured is an animal that was produced at Boaconstrictor.com and I believe it was acquired by Josh at Blackrush Reptiles.
Motley
Photographed by Alex Burgos and Produced by Anthony Phommasith
Jeremy Stone is known as the Originator of the Motley Gene in Boas. He acquired a pair of motleys in 1998 and produced a litter of them in 2000. The motley gene is known to be considered as Co-Dominant pattern mutation. Genuine motleys have feckless bellies, lateral striping, a black underside past the vent, a cross connecting their eyes, and either a ladder or striped tail. This animal is one of the most outstanding Motleys I have ever seen. It was the product of a Pastel Dream Motley (produced by The Boaphile) crossed with a Pastel Dream Monstertail (produced by The Boaphile).
VPI Pink Panther VPI T+
Photographed by Steve Ihrig, Produced by VPI
There are many different lines of T+ albino's This particular animal was originated from Dave and Tracey Barker at VPI. It is a form of caramel albino that unlike the T- albino's(which have an absence of melanin throughout their lives) will have a reduction in melanin as they age. This particular animal inherited the pink panther trait which is not completely know whether its polygentic or co-dominant but it can be inherited from having only one parent that carries the trait. Instead of the yellows and oranges that the T- albinos represent, these T+ animals show a "Caramel" or "sandy Kaki" color. When mixed with other color and pattern mutations, the colors are greatly increased and demonstrate a highly colorful animal with reduced black pigmentation with glowing features.
These animals are what I believe to be the best representations of patter and color mutations that are in my collection or will soon be in my collection. Eventually I will update with morphs that aren't in my collection or plan to keep for educational purposes.