Albinos in the wild

[piratitude]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[GatorGirl286]

agreed

 

[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?

 

[Untide]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[theclean1]

alibinos in the wild are "special"

 

[Nigel4less]

alibinos in the wild are "special"

They aren't special they are just rare, technically speaking most Albinos of any animal have a way higher risk of dying at a young age due to their uniqueness associated with albinism. Most predators would find an albino in a heartbeat

 

[marissashubby]

One also has to take into account the potential host of congenital issues associated with albinism that would make an animal less likely to survive in the wild. Ex. blind, deaf, etc.

 

[Whitey]

I believe the only albino I have seen thrive in the wild is a "top of the food chain" albino.... which is the killer whale that has been seen a few times... other than that, the general rule of thumb is that natura selection weeds them out.

 

[leopardgeckolover]

are there any wild caught of albino?

 

[cassadaga]

I think most albinos in captivity today originated from a wild caught specimen. Reticulated pythons, Burmese pythons, Boa constrictors, etc.

 

[ajveachster]

You can see the natural selection vs. culturing of albinism in deer, and I would think the concept would be generally the same for any wild animal. Most areas the albino white tail is never or almost never seen. I did learn however in Michigan there are higher numbers because they are (or at least were) protected. They are still rather rare anyway because there are natural predators. We are doing the same thing with captive breeding of our lovely colorful morphs. We just eliminate the predators.

 

[Wandering Paddle]

page 170 of The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos shows "bubba" a wild caught tremper albino het. If there was one wild het then there are certainly more. The truth is there are probably countless numbers of wild individuals that are het. for traits we cant even imagine...darn import/export laws. I would be willing to do a lot for the chance to catch a wild leo, especially one from pakistan

 

[leoman777]

i want a wc leo so baad!

 

[Double D]

You can see the natural selection vs. culturing of albinism in deer, and I would think the concept would be generally the same for any wild animal. Most areas the albino white tail is never or almost never seen. I did learn however in Michigan there are higher numbers because they are (or at least were) protected. They are still rather rare anyway because there are natural predators. We are doing the same thing with captive breeding of our lovely colorful morphs. We just eliminate the predators.

One of my friends has pictures of Albino Whitetail on his farm. He has been photoing it since it was a fawn. It is a about 3 years old now. Nice little rack also. It has not been seen in a couple months though so he is afraid something has happened to it. Rare but it does happen. So I assume it could happen in any species.