Look At This Hypo Copperhead??

[agkistrodon]

What do you guys think,hypo??I produced these guy on 9/8/04 three came out looking hypo.I have been breeding coppers for a couple years now and i do know that they can be a little polymorphic.But pics dont do these guys justice,they GLOW in the dark.I have showed a couple other breeders and they all say hypo,no doubt.I am letting the parents,siblings,and one of the hypos go.They will be at the hamburgh show dec.4th.pictured is one of the "hypos" and one of the normal looking siblings.

	Hypomelanistic Hypomelanistic - a genetic reduction in the dark pigment Melanin.

[JuliusSqueezer]

hmmm hard call...since hypomelanistic means "reduced black" hard to say what is reduced black on a snake that naturally has little to no black anyway. Very clean light colored copperhead though. Northern?

[agkistrodon]

it is a southern,the thing that has me convinced is the two little black dots that should be on the head between the eyes.there not present on the hypos,instead they have two faint yellow dots,like the color of a neonates tail.

	Hypomelanistic Hypomelanistic - a genetic reduction in the dark pigment Melanin.

[Bry]

Is this kind of like calling a ball python a piebald because he has 2 white dots?

Bry

[Maynard_JK]

it is very cool

[agkistrodon]

it is very diffrent from a ringer...i am not calling it hypo because it has two yellow dots,iam calling it hypo because with the exception of the eyes it has no black or brown...it is a visual morph,for sake of argument lets just say both parents are het for hypo...that means 25% would be hypo...well out of 11 babies 3 were "hypo".thats 27%,which make the siblings 66%hets...sounds like a simple recessive trait to me...i cant upload a better pic,email me and i can send a better one...hypo means lack of black or brown...these little guys are white and two shades of pink...if these guys arent hypo there never will be a such thing
thanx
mike

	Heterozygous Heterozygous - the animal carries the gene for a genetic trait but does not outwardly demonstrate the trait. Example: A boa that is het for albino looks normal but carries the albino gene. When it is bred to another het for albino boa or an albino boa, a percentage of the offspring will be albino.

	Hypomelanistic Hypomelanistic - a genetic reduction in the dark pigment Melanin.

	Morph A morph is a color or pattern variation that is proven to be genetic. Common morphs include albino, anerythristic, gentically striped, Hypomelanistic, and many others. Morphs also include combinations of simple traits such as "Sunglow" which is Albino and Hypomelanistic. These traits may be recessive traits, co-dominant traits, dominant traits, or created through selective breeding (ie Pastel).

[agkistrodon]

Heres a pic of one of the babies with the parents

[Dragon]

I love copperheads and those are beauties.

[challenger]

What are you feeding the neonates? I found and am keeping one that seems only interested in anoles & frogs. I have recently bred some mice and have presented fuzzies to him and he ignores them. Should I wait until he is hungrier? I have 20 little mice to get rid of now. I am thinking of starting a colony from them in the wild to help improve my snaking in the spring/summer. There are plenty of feild mice in the area but I'd like to kind of create an area where there is currently a ton of scrap tin/ garbage. Perfect snaking area but I found only one black snake last summer. Any advice on this is appreciated as well. I am in SE NC

[BWSmith]

Originally Posted by agkistrodon

it is a southern,the thing that has me convinced is the two little black dots that should be on the head between the eyes.there not present on the hypos,instead they have two faint yellow dots,like the color of a neonates tail.

That is exactly what i was going to ask. The cranial dots are the dead giveaway. If they are yellow, it is a hypo or albino (depending on the eyes). Very pretty chunkhead.

Try scenting pink mice with chicken broth to entice feeding. Small tree frogs are regularly accepted.

	Hypomelanistic Hypomelanistic - a genetic reduction in the dark pigment Melanin.