Albino - A snake with absent or déficient of melanin. Common name for "amelanistic". See tyrosinase-negative and tyrosinase-positive.

Amelanistic - Having no melanin.

Anerythristic - Having no red color.

Axanthic - Having no yellow color.

Co dominant - A gene that causes the homozygous form to look different than the wild-type and the heterozygous form to have traits of both.

Dominant - A gene that causes a snake to look different than the wild-type and where the homozygous form and the heterozygous form look the same as each other.

Double Heterozygous - Being heterozygous for two different traits.

50% Possible Het. - A snake that comes from breeding a heterozygous snake with a wild-type. Statistically, one-half of the resulting babies are heterozygous. Until their genetics are proven, each of these baby snakes are known to be 50% possible "het.".

Gene - Unit of heredity that determines the characteristics of the offspring.

Genetics - The study of heredity.

Heredity - The transmission of genetic characters from parents to offspring.

Het. - Short for heterozygous.

Heterozygous - Having two different genes for a given trait. Such a snake with one recessive, mutated gene looks normal,but it can pass the gene on through breeding. A heterozygous snake with one (co)dominant, mutated gene looks different than a wild-type because of that gene.

Homozygous - A snake where both genes for a given trait are the same. Even recessive genes, if they are in a homozygous state, will affect how a snake looks.

Hypomelanistic - A snake having less black and/or brown color than a wild-type.

Leucistic - A pure white snake with blue or black eyes.

Melanin - Black or brown skin pigments.

Melanistic - Abnormally dark, due to increased melanin.

Mutation - An abnormal gene that under certain circumstances can cause a snake to be born with an appearance other than wild-type.

Normal - A snake that looks like the wild-type generally seen, and it carries no mutated genes.

Offspring - Babies.

Possible Het. - A snake from a known breeding that has either a 50% or 66% possibility of being "het." For a mutant gene. This is an inexpensive way to obtain snakes with the genetic make up required to produce much more valuable snakes.

Recessive - A gene that affects a snake's appearance if it's present in the homozygous state. A heterozygous snake carrying a mutated, recessive gene looks normal.

66% Possible Het. - A snake that comes from breeding two snakes that is heterozygous for the same mutant gene. This produces babies in the following proportions: 25% will be homozygous, 50% will be heterozygous, and 25% will be wild-type. Of the normal-looking babies, 2 out of every 3 (66%) are heterozygous.

Snow - A snake that's homozygous for both albino and axanthic or (for some species) albino and anerythristic.

Tyrosinase - An enzyme needed to synthesize melanin.

Tyrosinase-negative -An albino whose cells lack tyrosinase, producing a white and yellow/orange snake with pink eyes. A separate albino mutation from tyrosinase-positive.

Tyrosinase-positive - An albino not able to synthesize melanin, but capable of synthesizing tyrosinase, which results in lavender-brown skin color.

Wild-type - The way the snake usually looks in nature (i.e. the normal color and pattern).

Xanthic - Having more yellow color than wild-type.