Albinos in the wild

piratitude · 11-13-2008, 12:07 PM

I have to wonder how an albino leo would survive in the wild. Two of my girls are albinos, and you pretty much have to wiggle the mealworm right in front of them, or hold the cricket down, for them to be able to see their food well enough to eat it- even with the lights down very low.

Untide · 11-13-2008, 12:16 PM

Albinos don't normally survive. Their coloration makes them stand out, therefor predators are able to see them better. Very rare to see an albino anything in the wild. ^_~

**leonut** · 11-13-2008, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by Untide

Albinos don't normally survive. Their coloration makes them stand out, therefor predators are able to see them better. Very rare to see an albino anything in the wild. ^_~

yep, what he said.

**Golden Gate Geckos** · 11-13-2008, 05:39 PM

In most cases, albinism is considered a genetic fault and these mutations do not survive in the wild.

GatorGirl286 · 11-13-2008, 11:29 PM

agreed

**Kilikina** · 11-13-2008, 11:38 PM

this may be a little off topic, but can albinos survive as well as any other in captivity as long as they are properly cared for? or is their life expectancy shorter in all cases?

Untide · 11-14-2008, 08:07 AM

I don't think albinism has much to do with life expectancy in case of being captive bred. Some mutations of albinism might contribute to a shorter life expectancy but I don't know of any direct links between the two. I have heard from others that certain morphs have been linked to problems with geckos (Such as enigmas) I am still not 100% sure if this is true or not but something like that could definitely change the life span of a creature.

**Baoh** · 11-14-2008, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by Kilikina

this may be a little off topic, but can albinos survive as well as any other in captivity as long as they are properly cared for? or is their life expectancy shorter in all cases?

Yes. No.

**jakemyster44** · 11-16-2008, 09:36 PM

albino generally "survives" in the wild through individuals that are Het. albino, and dont visually express it. Like stated earlier, there lighter color makes them stick out more, and they are usually picked off first. If the light colors helped them somehow, I would guess that there would be alot more in the wild...

**Ga_herps** · 11-17-2008, 11:07 PM

Chances are slim, but if you look at some of the other species out there that have been collected in there albino form there is a potential for it happening. Take albino deer or albino alligators for example. They are out there, but the potential of actually seeing one or in the case of the deer harvesting one is rare.