The Snow Boa is a result of the combination of two
recessive traits, albinism and anerythrism, to create a new lineage of boa
constrictor known as the snow boa. The first snow boa was produced during the
1996 breeding season by Pete Kahl. Pete started this project five years ago by
breeding an albino male to an anerythristic female. Anerythristic boas do not
produce red pigment in the skin, a condition similar to albinism in which no
black pigment is produced. The offspring from this litter are normal in
appearance, but are heterozygous gene carriers for two recessive traits,
albinism and anerythrism. These offspring are commonly referred to as double
hets or double heterozygous for snow. When these double hets are bred to each
other, the resulting litter of babies will be comprised of four different
color phases. On the average, 9/16 of the litter will appear normal, 3/16 will
be albino, 3/16 will be anerythristic and 1/16 will be a beautiful snow
boa.
The appearance of the snow boa is whiter than that of
an albino boa and lacks all red pigment, replacing it with a silvery shade of
white. At birth, the pattern is faintly defined as a lavender color, giving
the snake a mystical appearance. Pete has already started to breed several
different bloodlines of albinos and anerythristics to ensure that breeders and
enthusiasts establish proper genetic diversity in their collections.
The snow boa has become one of the most popular boa
constrictor color variants available to herpetoculturists. The snow boa is, in
a sense, the first truly domestic lineage of boa constrictor. The genetic
variation of "snow" is a man-made condition never observed in
nature. Its creation is the most tangible evidence of the successes of
herpetoculture.
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This glossary of reptile and amphibian terminology was written and compiled by long time kingsnake.com member Gerald Germany (oldherper). Thanks to Paul Hollander, Jeff Barringer, Bill Love, and Jeff Nichols (shadindigo) for their review, corrections, additions and comments.
