I found an albino.

[katach]

Hey William, we want pics and an update please.

[EasternGirl]

Aren't all albinos sensitive to light? I would think all of them would be. But I would guess that the less melanin they have to protect their skin, the more sensitive they would be...so I would guess that the T- albinos would be more sensitive than the T+. Right?

[guidofatherof5]

Aren't all albinos sensitive to light? I would think all of them would be. But I would guess that the less melanin they have to protect their skin, the more sensitive they would be...so I would guess that the T- albinos would be more sensitive than the T+. Right?

I believe that is true.

[ConcinusMan]

Aren't all albinos sensitive to light? I would think all of them would be. But I would guess that the less melanin they have to protect their skin, the more sensitive they would be...so I would guess that the T- albinos would be more sensitive than the T+. Right?

I've noticed that T + and T - albinos I've kept avoid bright light. Some more than others and as to the reason, I can only speculate. Regardless of the individual preferences of the snakes themselves, exposure to UV without the melanin can eventually cause blindness and/or cancer so an albino in the wild wouldn't be expected to live to a ripe old age I would imagine.

I wouldn't say that a T- would be more sensitive than a T +. Some albinos absolutely hate the bright light,(even if there's no UV) others just don't spend a lot of time basking in it. I would say that UV exposure would be dangerous to both types. Perhaps not in the short term, but in the long term, it is radiation after all and all the dangers that come with radiation would apply.

BTW, the "T" stands for tyrosinase, an enzyme needed for the production of melanin. In T- albinos, the gene responsible fails to function properly and so they cannot produce tyrosinase at all, and therefore cannot produce melanin. With T+ albinos a different gene is mutated. They can produce tyrosinase like a normal snake, which gives them the appearance of having at least some pigment, but for some other reason, still cannot produce the end product; melanin.

For the rest of you guys with the high degree of education on the matter, when I say mutated "gene" I really mean a matching pair of mutated alleles.

[brain]

There are no T. marcianus in Washington State. Only the following:
· Thamnophis elegans, Western Terrestrial
· Thamnophis ordinoides, Northwestern
· Thamnophis sirtalis, common garter snake
· T. s. concinnus, Red-spotted
· T. s. fitchi, Valley
· T. s. pickeringi, Puget Sound
I agree with Richard and Steve looks like T. ordinoides, we call them “Wonderer’s” here on the island. I have not heard of an albino but great find.

[Steveo]

I've noticed that T + and T - albinos I've kept avoid bright light. Some more than others and as to the reason, I can only speculate. Regardless of the individual preferences of the snakes themselves, exposure to UV without the melanin can eventually cause blindness and/or cancer so an albino in the wild wouldn't be expected to live to a ripe old age I would imagine.

On the behavioral side, a snake doesn't know that it's albino or what being an albino means. Hiding from bright lights (more than non-albinos) is either a genetically-driven behavior that evolved over time in carriers of the albino gene, or a physical response to stimulus (light) that is only elicited in snakes that lack dark pigments.

And on the matter of T+/T-, it's very similar to the difference between diabetes types 1 and 2 - one type can produce insulin but won't respond to it properly, whereas the other cannot produce insulin in sufficient quantities (or at all).

[i_heart_sneakie_snakes]

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[i_heart_sneakie_snakes]

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Hey Richard.... I saw years ago on the original thamnophis.com a pic of an albino concinnus.... it was a long time ago and no one knows what happened to it. was a cool looking snake. as far as this one...I am leaning towards ordinoides due to the pattern...haven't seen patterns like that on wanderings...

That is the same pattern my little wandering girl has. She is not albino though, just regular

[kibakiba]

I still say the head looks too weird to be a northwestern garter snake. I've had a lot of babies, and I've seen a lot of adults. I, personally, think that it's a western terrestrial (thamnophis elegans). They can have the same pattern around here. I had an elegans baby maybe 6 years ago... It looked like that snake without the albinism.

[i_heart_sneakie_snakes]

Here is my girl... IMG_0038.jpg She is on the left Pretty cute right??