i have owned snakes for about 7 years now i have had many different burms and boas and a few different venomous snakes - i know almost anything and everything about snakes except for one thing - i just can not understand hypo or super hypo??  i have talked to people and tried looking online but i just can not understand it - when i go to expos i see all snakes marked as hypo male or hypo female or super hypo - what does hypo mean??  some people tell me it has to do with breeding - some people tell me it has to do with color?? Can you please tell me in simplest terms what hypo is - i see stuffed marked hypo male that are completely different breeds? for example; i see a hypo red tail male and a hypo albino male? how can two snakes be the same thing?

Thank you


Here's how I would explain it. Hypo is short for hypomelanism, which simply means 'reduced black pigment.' It's just a special gene in the breeding that makes the snake lighter colored than normal. Now if you take 2 hypo snakes and breed them together you could produce a super hypo, not for sure, but you could, that just means their coloring is even brighter, making them more rare and more desirable to snake collectors. It is not the same thing as a 'Ghost' which I'm sure you have heard of. A 'ghost' snake is when a hypo (hypomelanism) and and antherythrism (no red pigment) are bred together. There is also Amelanism, or Amel is which means albino.

Simply put, it simply is a matter of color pigments, which are left out of the genes that are passed along to change the color of the snake depending on which you breed together, each more rare than the next, and color can vary through each breeding, making them unique and valuable.

I hope that was a good explanation for you, thanks!


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Adena Canterbury


I can answer questions about what kind of snake to buy and what to look for in terms of health. How to determine gender, what to feed, types of snakes and behaviors. I can answer questions regarding catching snakes, handling venomous, venomous knowledge questions. I cannot answer questions regarding breeding or hatching or health questions that should be answered by a vet, I have no medical knowledge on snakes other than simple health questions.


I grew up on a reptile farm in Florida where my dad bred, raised and sold many kinds of reptiles, mainly snakes and gained much knowledge from this. The experience sparked my own fascination for snakes, which I now own two of my own and constantly capture wild snakes to study for certain periods of time.

Grew up on a reptile farm. My brother and I plan to open a reptile store.

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Have taken snakes from friends to improve their health. Have caught wild snakes for the learning experience.

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