Albinos health

[RayRay]

I have read on the forum someone said that albino turtles (I'm not sure if they meant tortoises also because they were talking about turtles specifically) have no health concerns besides being easier for predators to see in the wild.

is that true?

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't know for sure, but I've heard that Albinos' eyes are a bit more sensitive to bright light. One of the members at the Turtle Room keeps a nice variety of albino turtles. He would be the one to ask, but I don't remember his username. We can send an alert to @Anthony P and maybe he will know who I'm thinking of.

 

[mike taylor]

Its @Gerards Yvonne !

 

[Yvonne G]

Thanks.

 

[mike taylor]

Glad to help you !

 

[RayRay]

I don't know for sure, but I've heard that Albinos' eyes are a bit more sensitive to bright light. One of the members at the Turtle Room keeps a nice variety of albino turtles. He would be the one to ask, but I don't remember his username. We can send an alert to @Anthony P and maybe he will know who I'm thinking of.

Ok thanks so you'd have to have a less than normal brightness bulb?

 

[Anthony P]

Gerard has said a million times that albinos are not negatively affected by direct sunlight. I have nowhere near the experience with albinos that he does. Not many people do.

I will say that some species and some different strains/morphs within the same species can have varying levels of compromised eyesight. Snow RES for example, in my experience are REALLY blind. They need to use their sense of smell/taste to find pellets/food in the water.

I have heard a lot of negative things like the fact that sunlight can affect the eyes or even cause cancer in albinos. But if Gerard says it's not true, he surely knows better than I or almost anyone else. I have never seen or heard of any study on the subject, so this would have to come from people who report their own findings in their captive operations, which makes Gerard's experience that much more important. The one person I have in mind who would be very important to this conversation is Clive, but Vin or Mitch could probably add to the conversation too.

 

[Randi]

Sorry for commenting. I don't have experience with albino turtles but I have experience with other albino reptiles. Their vision seemed to depend on their morph. It seemed that the lighter the eye, the more trouble they had seeing. The darker the eye, the better the vision was. I had a few that were almost blind. They sometimes noticed a shadow moving but most times would have to smell their food and were quite cautious. Feedings can take some time as they are relying on other senses to find their food. With certain animals, I would feed in the dark and it would be devoured in minutes. They startled easily as they couldn't see what was going on around them. If they were outside, they would seek refuge in the shade. If the light in the tank was too bright, they wouldn't bask and would hide in the dark hides. They would also close their eyes quite often when in the light. I always kept the albino enclosures slightly less bright and they seemed to see better. Most could see quite well in the dark. Hope I could help a little.