A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO OUR ALBINO WESTERN HOGNOSE PROJECT

Welcome to my Albino Western Hognose project ... I have had the pleasure of working with these snakes for two years, this season being the second breeding of these wonferful reptiles.

Last year I produced a quantity of het, but no albino's.

In the UK last year the only Albino's produced were bred by barry Summerhayes (nice chap). This year (2006) I am hoping to produce from my own Albino's. Currently there seems to be three strains of Albino Westerns, with surely more to come through selective breeding.

My strain being the most varient in colouration, there are pale yellows, orange , bright orange and orange/reds. My Albinos might be the same as what has already been named the Orange Albino's or Orange/Red Albino's.

The second strain being the 'Pastel Pink'  Albino's. These are of a soft pink colouration with reduced patterns, so one day could through selective breeding be the key to producing patternless Albino's.

The third strain is the 'Hypo Albino's'. This strain was named to seperate from the other strains and named by it's producer Richard Evans, but Casey Lazik believes it to be a true Albino rather than a hypo.



Sometimes the high orange/reds and Red Albino's look very similar dorsally to the Hypo Albino's. This can be sorted out by quiet simply flipping the snake over. The viewing of the ventral scales will determine what you have, as Hypo Albino's have orange & lavender ventral scales and the high orange/reds and Red Albino's have the lavender replaced by white. If any two of these three are bred together, the result would be normal looking babies which will be double het for both strains of Albino.


Red Westerns & Red Albino's

The true Red Western Hognose are actually a locale of the Western Hognose and are not a genetic trait. These Red Westerns are very rare in the wild but are getting more common in captivity.

If you breed a 'Red Hognose' to a normal the resulting offspring produced will not be het for 'Red Hogs' but actually a mixture of colours from both parents, almost like mixing paint.

Therefore to produce pure true 'Red Western Hognose' you will need to breed from true red to true red. The same would apply to produce the true red albino's.

All of the above Albino's have been graded on price due to the overall brightness of the Albino's produced.

I would like to thank Vin Russo & Casey Lazik for their time and sharing of their in depth knowledge on these stunning snakes.