PICTURES- Hypo Checkereds!

[Spankenstyne]

Interesting. I've wondered if it's just a colour variation myself. In person or with better lit pics they look more like what I see posted online as "hypos".
Here's the dad as a baby for example, which also is a better representation of what a few of the babies look like (or did before they went to new homes last weekend):


Here's one of Jeff's hypos for comparison/example


It doesn't really matter to me, I wanted the nicest examples of wild type when I got the original male but it's interesting to try and figure it out. It seems to only manifest in a few of the green babies and a few of the albinos also take on that "hybino" look. I do have one of each look in the albinos left so I'll maybe start a new thread for some comparison shots later. At the very least it could be helpful for people to see what we're looking at for different colour phases and possible hypo types in checkereds.

The ones you've posted are absolutely amazingly light looking

[Snakers]

Interesting. I've wondered if it's just a colour variation myself. In person or with better lit pics they look more like what I see posted online as "hypos".
Here's the dad as a baby for example, which also is a better representation of what a few of the babies look like (or did before they went to new homes last weekend):


Here's one of Jeff's hypos for comparison/example


It doesn't really matter to me, I wanted the nicest examples of wild type when I got the original male but it's interesting to try and figure it out. It seems to only manifest in a few of the green babies and a few of the albinos also take on that "hybino" look. I do have one of each look in the albinos left so I'll maybe start a new thread for some comparison shots later. At the very least it could be helpful for people to see what we're looking at for different colour phases and possible hypo types in checkereds.

The ones you've posted are absolutely amazingly light looking

Those two snakes look identical!

[ConcinusMan]

Still don't know why they're called "hypo" at all. If you mean hypomelanistic, they're not.

[Jeff B]

Chris, yours looks like a light color phase just like my "hypo", as I stated on the Reptile Radio show it was sold to me as a "hypo", but I'm not convinced that is the best way to characterize it, and I personally feel the term "hypo" is grossly overused and misused in the reptile hobby. "Hypo" is generally refering to hypomelanistic and personally I don't think it should be used unless it is a grossly reduced melanin and has a ghostly look and is a simple gene with clearly proven inheritance pattern over a couple generations, but that's just my oppinion. Now thats not to say that Shannon's or your snake or my snake aren't a color morphs with inheritablility and designer breeding potiential, they are color morphs either way.

[Spankenstyne]

I agree completely Jeff.
It's why I also have tended to use parentheses with "hypo". Mine was bought as just a normal Checkered but obviously the colour really caught my eye at the time as something special. It's really a lot more noticeable in person when compared to normal "wild type" looks than most of the pics available show with these lighter ones, but still not what I'd say is hypomelanistic. It was when checking online and comparing to other pics that I saw repeated reference to hypos, your pic just happened to be one of them, but there were others & all with the same look.

I haven't ever really been convinced it's hypomelanism at work but without having seen anything like Shannon's before just tended to go with what's been put forward but with the note of some doubt. In discussion in person I always make mention of my belief that it's more likely a light colour phase.

Shannon's pics are more what I would expect to see as hypomelanistic in these guys & deserving of the label. That said there does seem to be something at work with these other lighter green ones we have & may be some slight form of hypomelanism but I don't think they really should be labelled as hypo, especially with ones like what Shannon has posted. Those to me are hypomelanistic.

It also brings to mind the red radix where some of the different reds have red scales, and some have both red scales and red skin.
While these lighter ones do have lighter green scales than normal, they have that extra light neon green skin, while Shannon's have both the extra light skin and scale colour along with a reduced dark patterning.

At any rate after these pics Shannon has shared I'll only be referring to mine as "light colour phase" from now on lol.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I don't consider them hypo.... I consider them to be Pastel. It does the same thing to these garters as it does to the ball pythons... lightens up the background color and intensifies the contrast. I simply call them hypo because that's what they were named and I don't want to confuse people into thinking I have a new/different morph. Here at home, I refer to them as the pastel's. Maybe I will just say screw it and start calling them pastels. When you have a clutch of animals born and half look like that, and half are clearly normal, you are dealing with some type of morph regardless of what it's called. You breed one to a normal animal and you get half that come out looking like that. There is really no gray area... they either are one, or they're not... just like the pastel ball python... and that's really all of the criteria I need to know that it's a morph of some type. I don't consider these to be just a natural variation, just as I don't consider granites or albinos to be natural variations. Sure they all originate from the wild, but natural variation describes the different color phases and slight variations that you see within a clutch of normal animals... not a gene that clearly alters physical appearance to a great extent and that can be accurately reproduced.

[Snakers]

I don't consider them hypo.... I consider them to be Pastel. It does the same thing to these garters as it does to the ball pythons... lightens up the background color and intensifies the contrast. I simply call them hypo because that's what they were named and I don't want to confuse people into thinking I have a new/different morph. Here at home, I refer to them as the pastel's. Maybe I will just say screw it and start calling them pastels. When you have a clutch of animals born and half look like that, and half are clearly normal, you are dealing with some type of morph regardless of what it's called. You breed one to a normal animal and you get half that come out looking like that. There is really no gray area... they either are one, or they're not... just like the pastel ball python... and that's really all of the criteria I need to know that it's a morph of some type. I don't consider these to be just a natural variation, just as I don't consider granites or albinos to be natural variations. Sure they all originate from the wild, but natural variation describes the different color phases and slight variations that you see within a clutch of normal animals... not a gene that clearly alters physical appearance to a great extent and that can be accurately reproduced.

Well stated...

[BUSHSNAKE]

Hypo doesnt always mean "hypomelanistic". Snakes that have an "overall" reduced coloration are usually just called "hypo"

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, I know, just thought I would bring it up and thanks to Jeff, Chris, and Shannon for providing clarification. I think they're awesome either way and I look forward to getting one.

[Snakers]

is it just me or is every cb checkered het for albino? lol.