# is it just me or are most albino snake morphs ugly?



## xBurntBytheSunx (Dec 4, 2008)

i don't get the appeal, some look nice, but most pictures i've seen strike me as much less attractive than regular snake colors.  and on top of that they're usually ungodly expensive.


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## Mina (Dec 4, 2008)

Its all a matter of taste I guess.  I, personally, don't care much for the appearance of most types of albinos myself.  
I do, however, like white snakes.  So I got a blizzard corn snake for myself.  I know it isn't called an albino but I do like the looks of snow corns as well.  We have a bubble gum corn male and he is really pretty!!


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## xBurntBytheSunx (Dec 4, 2008)

yeah i would agree the white snakes are very pretty


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## Stardust (Dec 4, 2008)

yah...i like blizzard corn snakes too !


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## marvs08 (Dec 4, 2008)

Well I think it's just you because it's actually a personal preference...


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## reptilian_BG (Dec 4, 2008)

I like paternless morphs(mostly white) ,but i think most albinos are wreally ugly... too comercial to me...


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## Ritzman (Dec 4, 2008)

Back when I was a kid, this lady down the street had a albino burmese. I thought that snake was an ugly mofo.
Nowadays I find them a little more attractive than I did, but the price tag for an albino boid shuns me away.

I guess it's different strokes for different folks.


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 4, 2008)

I enjoy all albinos... the mear genetic factor is what captivates me... DNA and Genetics have always facinated me..

Granted.. the price of albinos is super super UGLY.... I find the animals AMAZING.


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## Mushroom Spore (Dec 4, 2008)

Given that "ugly" is nothing but an opinion based on the individual aesthetic preferences of each person you ask, instead of anything that can be proven or treated like a fact...yeah, I guess it is just you.


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## calum (Dec 4, 2008)

I don't care much for albinos, I don't see what is so special about them. I would take one for free if the chance arose, but I wouldn't buy one over normal morphs.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Dec 4, 2008)

I don't mind albinos, but I don't think piebalds are very attractive.


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## arachnocat (Dec 4, 2008)

Albinos are actually my favorites. I find them fascinating and really beautiful. The next snake I want to get is an albino ball python


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## kingfarvito (Dec 5, 2008)

it depends on the snake for me...I like albino hognose and milk snakes...but not most albino boids


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## loxoscelesfear (Dec 5, 2008)

its not just you--the albino trend itself makes me wanna barf


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## GailC (Dec 6, 2008)

Albinos are some of the most popular snake morphs and depending on the species, some of the more affordable ones. It also really depends on the snakes, albino milk snakes to me look alien but I love the two albinoa I have.

Albino corn snake:






Albino gopher, a bad pic but shows his colors well.


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## Lucara (Dec 6, 2008)

I think the prettiest white snake are the white rosy boas. =D ( I cant remember what morph it was but it was EXPENSIVE!)


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## Meaningless End (Dec 6, 2008)

im a sucker for albino retics.. and the albino carpet pythons are gourgous.


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## ShellsandScales (Dec 7, 2008)

It is personal preference but keep in mind that albino is a step towards many other morphs that are really amazing and beautiful. Even though you don't like the albino, it may be a key component to produce a morph that you love.


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## xBurntBytheSunx (Dec 7, 2008)

ah i guess that would make sense.


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## DrJ (Dec 9, 2008)

xBurntBytheSunx said:


> i don't get the appeal, some look nice, but most pictures i've seen strike me as much less attractive than regular snake colors.  and on top of that they're usually ungodly expensive.





xBurntBytheSunx said:


> yeah i would agree the white snakes are very pretty


Hmmm...some good contradictions going on there.  

First off, please understand that color morphs come in a HUUUUUGGGGGEEEE whopping array of colors and patterns.  For each "normal" color morph, there is practically an albino verson to go with it.  With blizzard or snow cornsnakes, they are simply the produced outcome of the displayed traits of both amelanism and anerythrism (depends on the anery type [snow is anery A, while blizzard is anery B]).  When breeding an amel to an anery, you get "normal" snakes that are het. for both traits, breed them back to each other and you get homozygous animals that show both traits, resulting in a predominantly white snake.

Take boas for instance, the normal albino may just be big and yellow, but cross it to an anery, and you got white (snow)...now, throw in some hypomelanism and you got a whiter snake (moonglow).  Then, you can have the normal albino with hypomelanism thrown in and you got a sunglow (strikingly beautiful!).  The list goes on.  

So, don't just say "albinos are ugly" just because you haven't been exposed to what all they have to offer.  Look more into them, and you will see how much there truly is!  I've been there before, too...I once thought most albinos were "ugly" untill I realized that so many of the morphs I enjoyed WERE albino!  

This is an albino blood boa:


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## xBurntBytheSunx (Dec 11, 2008)

i don't really see any contradiction in what i said unless you're splitting hairs.  sure i think some of the white snakes are very attractive.  and sure they're a form of albinos, but to me when i think of albino i think of pink or pinkish snakes with pink eyes.  to me that is not very attractive, and is often times very ugly. 

i'm sure the snake you picture is very attractive to you, and i can see how you would think it is attractive.  its just not something i would want based on appearance b/c whenever i've seen a pinkish albino snake i always think whatever color is normal for that snake is more attractive. i've never seen a pink albino snake that i thought was more attractive to a regularly colored snake.  sure some of the morphs are very attractive but they aren't what i think of when i think "albino"

on top of that i personally have a hard time wrapping my head around paying 2k+ for some kind of exotic morph for something you can get for free at a pet shelter or for $30 or less at a pet show.  

i don't see any reason to get into a silly arguement over what i think is ugly and what i don't think is ugly, but i mean seriously.  i think pink albino snakes are pretty ugly and i just was curious what the facination with them is.


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## DrJ (Dec 11, 2008)

Well, to each his own.  Many people love albino morphs.  I personally like both forms (the normal and the albino).  

However, here is a normal blood boa:






Both pictures came from johnberryreptiles.com.  I forgot to mention that in the last post.  Gotta give the credit.  

And, look at the comparison between these two dwarf reticulated pythons from constrictors.com:












I personally favor the albino.  However, the normal is a very awesome looking snake, too.  But, if I were to get either for free...I would definitely take the albino.  You are right though, the normal that you see here can usually be bought for $650 and the albino for $2k.  So, there is a price difference.  But, look at it like this:  there aren't very many, demand is high...what are you going to do about it?  HOWEVER, look at cornsnakes.  You can get a normal, okeetee, albino, snow, anery, ghost, etc, etc. all for the same price.  No difference at all in what you pay.  You may pay a little more for a blizzard, or a lavendar, etc.  But as far as difference in price between a normal and a normal albino, it doensn't exist.  And, there are more morphs constantly being added to the dime-a-dozen basket in the cornsnake arena.  It all just depends on what you're into.

-not saying that cornsnakes are a dime-a-dozen snake, just that for the price of a normal, you can get a slew of options, any one you choose will cost you about $25.


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## clam1991 (Dec 11, 2008)

DrJ said:


> any one you choose will cost you about $25.


better send that info to DE pet stores here are trying to sell snowflake corns for 165 a baby 

regulars can be found more close to 100

the only thing i dont like about albinos is the red eyes
makes em look weird IMO


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## DrJ (Dec 11, 2008)

Pet stores will rip you off "almost" every time.  Check with private breeders or at a snake show (if you are able to make one).  One of my friends here bred a ton of baby snow corns this year, and sold most for $25, even to the pet-stores.  The store is charging $125, each...with a current Christmas special at $89.  

Check kingsnake.com:
http://market.kingsnake.com/index.php?cat=65
(already linked to the corns)

and Don Soderberg at South Mountain Reptiles:
http://www.cornsnakes.net/index.php3
You may pay slightly more for Don's stuff, but he is the best cornsnake breeder in the industry.  You can buy his stuff and resell it better saying "this is a Don Soderberg corn".  Or, "the parents of this snake came from Don Soderberg."  He is a very respected name in the industry.  But, most of what I had mentioned can still be purchased from Don for $25.  His blizzards are $65.


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## blackcadillac70 (Dec 11, 2008)

they don't do nuthin for me.the lavenders are nice with the purples but as they get older it goes away and your left with a ugly white and yellow snake.


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## xBurntBytheSunx (Dec 12, 2008)

wow that regular blood boa is gorgeous


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## Will Hunting (Dec 12, 2008)

Oh wow, I don't think I've ever heard of a Blood Boa. I may have found my next pet. =p


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## DrJ (Dec 12, 2008)

blackcadillac70 said:


> they don't do nuthin for me.the lavenders are nice with the purples but as they get older it goes away and your left with a ugly white and yellow snake.


Not necessarily.  Check these pics out of a full grown adult albino retic:











He belongs to Wilson's Pythons & Boas, and the pictures were done by Subterranean Jungle.

I think he is absolutely gorgeous.  However, in regards to most boas and burmese, they do turn pretty much yellow.  But, that is why the sunglows and sharp strain albinos in boas are so popular, they retain their patterning into adulthood for the most part.  Burmese seem to keep a pretty good pattern going for a long time...so, you get to enjoy it unless you let the burmese get overly obese.



xBurntBytheSunx said:


> wow that regular blood boa is gorgeous


It is isn't it?  I just think the regular blood boa is a little dark for my taste, hence why I love the albino version.  But, seeing how rare bloods are to begin with, I don't think we'll be seeing the albinos hitting the pet trade in the near future.  



Will Hunting said:


> Oh wow, I don't think I've ever heard of a Blood Boa. I may have found my next pet. =p


I want one too!  But...from looking at Kingsnake, they seem to be going for $4000-4500, plus shipping.


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## Ritzman (Dec 12, 2008)

DrJ you sure are posting some pretty albinos. That albino dwarf retic and the full grown albino retic are stunning specimens.


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## xBurntBytheSunx (Dec 13, 2008)

wow $4500?   i better find a damn good job if i want to get one of those   i think my next snake will probably be a regular corn


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## bamato (Dec 18, 2008)

I absolutely love Albino and color morph boids.  I dont favor it much in other animals but nothing gets me excited like a gorgous lavendar phase albino retic   I most certainly still appreciate standard color morphs, but I prefer the albinos.  

I like piebalds as well too   I like the completely contrasting colors 

Luecistics are nice too in the right species.  The black eyed leucistic ball's that Mike Wilbanks had/has are drop dead gorgeous.


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## Drachenjager (Dec 22, 2008)

I dont think they all are ugly..I think most look sickly. And the pied look like someone spilled bleach on them


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## arachnocat (Dec 22, 2008)

I love pieds, but my husband thinks they're ugly. 
I just saw some pics today of baby albino cobras. I've never seen a pink cobra before! It was really neat looking. I tend to like animals other people think are "ugly" like my albino axolotl. She's white, slimy and veiny but I think she's cute


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