# albino sulcata



## pdrobber

stumbled upon this pic online... thought it was pretty cool, anyone have one?


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## moswen

no, but me and deanS have a ivories. i only have 1, his nam is moswen. ivory is an albino with really dark ruby red eyes so he can actually be housed outdoors and his eyes are not light sensitive. 

this is him:


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## pdrobber

aww haha. i always wonder if it bothers them having food all over their faces. it's cute but I can't help but wipe it off, I worry when it's near their eyes/nostrils.


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## DeanS

Albinos can be kept outside...but require a lot of shade. They cannot tolerate any extended periods of direct sunlight...to me, this is an abomination in the breeding of a tortoise that needs to be in a large expansive area. It's great for the breeder, because it's an easy 3 or 4 grand...not so great for the tortoise! Just my 2 cents!


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## pdrobber

oh yeah that's true, didn't think of that. another reason for another species why albinos don't survive in the wild, I always think of camouflage primarily.


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## moswen

oh i saved a little discovery channel show on dvr for my daughter about baby albinos in the wild, it's a kid show but it's an african legend about all the animals fighting about who was the most beautiful animal, so the "creator of the world" gave all the animals little white babies to remind them that their beauty is in their differences. 

the end. cute story for a small child i think lol!

but i agree with deans, i love the white shell of the albinos but i would never be able to own an albino sulcata, there just would not be enough indoor/outdoor shaded area to comfortably keep him/her humanely. so i got an ivory lol! LOVE them.



pdrobber said:


> aww haha. i always wonder if it bothers them having food all over their faces. it's cute but I can't help but wipe it off, I worry when it's near their eyes/nostrils.



lol that's cactus fruit juice it's STAINED on there. it's still there today, that pic was like 2 or 3 days ago. it was still on my fingers until yesterday.


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## DeanS

moswen said:


> oh i saved a little discovery channel show on dvr for my daughter about baby albinos in the wild, it's a kid show but it's an african legend about all the animals fighting about who was the most beautiful animal, so the "creator of the world" gave all the animals little white babies to remind them that their beauty is in their differences.
> 
> the end. cute story for a small child i think lol!
> 
> but i agree with deans, i love the white shell of the albinos but i would never be able to own an albino sulcata, there just would not be enough indoor/outdoor shaded area to comfortably keep him/her humanely. so i got an ivory lol! LOVE them.



Yeah! The white croc, the white baboon and the white lion...right? I love that one! The only one that didn't survive was the baboon. Then, as soon as it passed, another was born...amazing stuff!


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## zzzdanz

I'm curious if anyone has seen the albinos actually have problems with the sun light or if it's just hear say.I know the albino iguanas have no problems with being in the sun,so again,just curious.


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## moswen

DeanS said:


> Yeah! The white croc, the white baboon and the white lion...right? I love that one! The only one that didn't survive was the baboon. Then, as soon as it passed, another was born...amazing stuff!



hah, yes! funny you know that one too. have you seen on the "big cat diaries" where they randomly catch a few minutes with an adult albino gazelle? they film it for a while but the other gazelles in the herd keep chasing it around, like they know it's different and they're trying to get it away. it's sad, but amazing that it made it to adulthood!


...and dan, i perosnally have never owned an albino animal so i can't say from personal experience, but i'm pretty positive that it is true about the sensitive eyes, it's not a myth!


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## gummybearpoop

the albinos are cool, but I would rather take Rebekah's spider tortoises over those albinos


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## dmmj

Tyler had 2 albino sulcatas didn't he


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## moswen

gummybearpoop said:


> the albinos are cool, but I would rather take Rebekah's spider tortoises over those albinos



aw, thanks gummy! they are pretty special to me...


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## TylerStewart

dmmj said:


> Tyler had 2 albino sulcatas didn't he








Once they're adults, they're all covered in mud, dust and dirt and look like normals anyways LOL. I should get these on a regular (yearly) basis from now on, but I have no obsession over albinos or ivories. I'd rather have a really nice leopard or a star.


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## ALDABRAMAN

We had one several ears ago. The poor thing never had a chance. It struggled to eat, could not see, and never grew over the one year we hads it until it finally passed away. We got it at the Daytona expo when it was a new hatchling about five years ago.


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## PeanutbuttER

zzzdanz said:


> I'm curious if anyone has seen the albinos actually have problems with the sun light or if it's just hear say.I know the albino iguanas have no problems with being in the sun,so again,just curious.



It's documented and it's independent of species. That's part of what makes an albino an albino. The red coloring in the eyes doesn't block out the light like a normal iris does. Are you certain those iguanas are true albinos? If they are just white without the pink eyes and called albino then they wouldn't have a problem. That's a common mistake people make when they call something albino. Here's what wikipedia says on it.

"The iris is a sphincter formed from pigmented tissue that contracts when the eye is exposed to bright light, to protect the retina by limiting the amount of light passing through the pupil. In low light conditions the iris relaxes to allow more light to enter the eye. In albinistic subjects, the iris does not have enough pigment to block the light, thus the decrease in pupil diameter is only partially successful in reducing the amount of light entering the eye."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albinism#Signs_and_symptoms

In other words, the cornea can't protect itself from the sun using the iris as effectively and it can cause problems with the animals sight. 

The other common problem with albinos is that they sunburn more easily, but since tort and lizard skin doesn't burn like ours does it's a non-issue.


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## Tom

I agree with Dean. They are neat, but not practical. I wouldn't want a sulcata that couldn't be out in the sun. I do really like the ivories though.

Tyler is right too. After a few years of outdoor living, they all look the same anyway.


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## TylerStewart

PeanutbuttER said:


> It's documented and it's independent of species. That's part of what makes an albino an albino. The red coloring in the eyes doesn't block out the light like a normal iris does. Are you certain those iguanas are true albinos? If they are just white without the pink eyes and called albino then they wouldn't have a problem. That's a common mistake people make when they call something albino.



You're exactly right.... In all reality, the iguanas would eventually get eye damage, unless they didn't have red eyes, which would make them _not_ true albino. The tortoises don't go blind immediately in the sun, and they don't go blind in the first few years (unprotected in the sun), but they do go blind eventually. From what I gather, it's about an 8-10 year process. The iguanas that are in captivity probably just haven't been exposed as much, or for as long an amount of time. There is also a massive difference in the sun that we see in So California, Nevada and Arizona (the 3 "sunniest" states in the country) to the sun that they get in the "sunshine state," where the bulk of the albino iguanas are, which is much less direct, unfiltered sunlight than we get in the desert.


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## zzzdanz

Yeah,I was just thinking of Tom Crutchfields Iguanas.He has adults outside yr. round. Red eyes.


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## tortoises101

That's one heck of a tortoise. 

And to say, there aren't any albino torts in the wild anymore, but a reptile breeder that specializes in albinos dug up a western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) nest and a few of them had albino pigment in their skin, and eventually they were raised into true albinos. Not sure if it was genetics or something, but seems pretty interesting to me. Could someone chime in and kinda explain this to me?

Merry Xmas!


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