Scaleless garter

[RedSidedSPR]

All of the scaleless snakes I have seen retain their ventral scales. I haven't seen more than a handful so that doesn't mean they all keep their ventral scales, just as far as my personal observation goes.

-Thomas

That's a good thing I guess...

[Stefan-A]

That's a good thing I guess...

Better than nothing, but still bad.

[Lisa4john]

I'll stick to the snakes with scales thanks, I am not so fond of the naked ones, they creep me out too.

[RedSidedSPR]

Better than nothing, but still bad.

Definately not something I'd want to see being bred.

[Steveo]

Also not a fan of hairless cats/dogs/whatever. Though on women it's not so bad, I have enough hair for two

[Invisible Snake]

I would love to own a scaleless garter!

[katach]

Wouldn't they require extra care, no uv and less heat and nothing sharp or pointy?

[ConcinusMan]

there was a scaleless wandering found in the Salt Lake valley a few years back... a Wildlife Officer knew the guy that found it, said it was an odd looking snake... not sure what happened with it... he wanted it, but the guy didn't want to give it up... been looking a lot myself but just can't find any..

I believe the photo earlier in this thread, is a wandering.

[ConcinusMan]

Hmm...I think they are interesting looking, but I would think that the reason why you don't come across many in the wild is because they have a very difficult time surviving without the protection of scales.

I don't think so. Perhaps a little more vulnerable to skin scratches is all. I think amelanism is more dangerous due to the fact that snakes need warm up in the sun (they can sunburn) and it makes them stick out like a sore thumb to predators and yet we still find them in the wild. But it is a recessive trait, which makes it rare enough to produce a specimen. It takes both of it's parents to carry the gene in order for the snake to be scaleless. Think about that for a minute. The odds aren't great of producing one unless there are a lot of snakes in a population that carry the gene. Plus, it can be inherited and passed on for many generations without producing any scaleless snakes. So, this one does exist so somewhere out there in that population are others, perhaps many others, that carry the gene but aren't scaleless themselves. But they would never produce one unless two of those that carry the gene got together and mated.

[Stefan-A]

Perhaps a little more vulnerable to skin scratches is all.

A lot more. Scratches, cuts and abrasions all increase the risk of infection and the lack of scales makes the animal especially vulnerable to external parasites.