Many reptiles labeled as albino are, in fact, not completely lacking in all colour pigments. They are actually
amelanistic, not albino. Reptiles often possess at least two pigments. Therefore, the absence of melanin doesn't make them albino. Instead, their appearance is determined by the non-melanin pigments. Among the most common are xanthin (yellow) and erythrin (red). An amelanistic reptile, therefore, may still have pale yellow, orange, or red pigmentation. The
California Academy of Sciences, in the
Steinhart Aquarium, had on display an albino American alligator named "
Claude". The alligator was partially blind because of lack of pigment in its eyes. The albino alligator hatched from the egg in 1995 in Florida, and was brought to the academy in 2008. This alligator would not have survived in the wild because its whiteness would have made it too easy a prey object. The only known albino alligators are in captivity. While extremely rare, white-coloured
crocodiles and
alligators do exist in other places. However, most of these animals are
leucistic given that they have a general loss of
pigmentation with some colour tinges remaining on their bodies although looking at first like other albino creatures, thus creating the misconception that the reptiles are albino themselves when they are not. Four such alligators are kept at the
Gatorland theme park in the U.S. state of
Florida. In Australia, a crocodile believed to be "part-albino" and nicknamed by people in the area as "Michael Jackson", attacked and killed a man. In snakes, partial absence of pigment is more common than absolute albinism. For snakes that are usually patterned in colours, they appear as a faint blue, peach or yellowish. In these cases, there has been a genetic mutation in the melanin and pigment delivery. The appearance comes from the inability for full colours to be present, such as black, red, brown and others. The eyes of an albino snake are typically red or pink. Albino snakes can remain in the sunlight for several hours with minimal harm.
Corn snakes and snakes of larger types, such as a
boa or diamondback snakes, are the most commonly affected by albinism often appearing to be a pinkish or yellowish colour. Albino tortoises and turtles are uncommon;
Sulcata tortoises are the most likely type of turtle to express albinism. The shells have an almost yellow colouration and they have pink eyes. For turtles, a pure white colour is nearly impossible, even with albinism. Albino turtles can have a longer lifespan than many other albino animals; their hard shells help to prevent predation and other environmental challenges. Vision and sensory organs are slightly affected. In 2007, it was reported that an albino stumpy-tail lizard (possibly a
shingleback lizard), approximately long and roughly 1 year old, had been found in Victoria, Australia. There are three known "albino" strains of
leopard gecko, however, breeders state that albinos are generally recognized by their lack of black pigment and having red eyes is not a requirement to be considered an albino. These three strains are called "tremper albinos", "rainwater albinos" and "bell albinos". == In amphibians ==