# Albinos in the Sun?



## YayPythons (Dec 19, 2013)

Hey everyone,
so I was talking to my friend who owns an Albino Darwin Carpet and he said that albinos couldn't be taken in the sun for even short periods of time.

But this is the first I've heard of it so I don't think it would be true (even though I'm probably wrong) so I wanted to ask every one on here.

Thanks,
YayPythons


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## saximus (Dec 19, 2013)

Your friend is wrong. It's fine


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## YayPythons (Dec 19, 2013)

Thanks Saximus.


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## andynic07 (Dec 19, 2013)

I would think that excessive amounts of sun would be harmful to an albino snake due to the lack of melanin to protect the snake from UV. Here is an extract from another post from [MENTION=20726]Bluetongue1[/MENTION] who may be able to expand on this for us.

"You mentioned albinos. Here is a simplified explanation An albino lacks the ‘black’ pigment melanin. Melanin is manufactured in the body by cells called melanocytes. There are several chemical steps involved in the manufacture and each requires an enzyme to drive that step. Each enzyme is made from the instructions carried in a gene. If just one of the enzyme genes for that chemical pathway has wrong information (i.e. is a mutation) then melanin cannot be made and you end up with an albino. 

While most melanin is found primarily in the skin, it is also present in the eyes to protect them from UVB light. The iris of the eye contracts and expands to control the size of the pupil and therefore how much light enters the eye. This needs blood to supply the energy for movement. Without melanin you can see the colour of the blood in the eyes i.e. a true albino has red eyes."


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## saximus (Dec 19, 2013)

I know they have issues with albino Beardies going blind (among other things) but I don't think I've heard any stories about Carpets yet


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## andynic07 (Dec 19, 2013)

saximus said:


> I know they have issues with albino Beardies going blind (among other things) but I don't think I've heard any stories about Carpets yet


I guess the amount of time that a pet python would spend in the sun compared to a pet bearded dragon would account for there being no problems. A pet bearded dragon would spend a lot of its time during the day under a UV lamp where as an albino python would spend maybe 30 min to an hour in the sun a week.


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## Amelia (Dec 19, 2013)

Agreeing with Andy. Bearded dragons are exposed to a UV source for hours on end as per their housing requirements, pythons are not. Bearded dragons also rely heavily on sight which probably makes any complications they're experiencing all the more obvious.


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## RSPcrazy (Dec 19, 2013)

I was speaking to Gavin Bedford a couple of years ago, when he dropped off my albino olive. He told me, to make sure I don't have her in direct sunlight for more then 10-20 minutes at a time, as it will damage her eyes and she could go blind.


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## Amelia (Dec 19, 2013)

Albinism causes known complications in numerous animals, pythons are no acception. It's their lack of sun exposure that makes the difference.


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## saximus (Dec 19, 2013)

I’d be interested to hear accounts of this damage actually occurring. I’m not saying you are wrong but, as I said, I just haven’t heard first hand stories of it. I know plenty of people in the tropics keep animals outside. Have any of our friends in the North hurt a python by having it live outside?


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## andynic07 (Dec 19, 2013)

Have a read through this old thread @saximus, especially the extract from Reptile Australia magazine.

[h=1]Albinism in reptiles[/h]


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## OldestMagician (Dec 19, 2013)

Just personally I wouldn't take an Albino python outside for extended periods for fear of burns etc, even if it's unfounded. 
Do reptiles have a different way of reacting to the sun though? I'm going to struggle to explain but as they use heat from the sun to raise their body temperature is it moved away from the skin rapidly? I'm assuming that they have a stronger "sun metabolism" than mammals. 
Not the most scientific paragraph I've ever written but hopefully someone might get the gist of it.


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## Ramsayi (Dec 19, 2013)

OldestMagician said:


> Just personally I wouldn't take an Albino python outside for extended periods for fear of burns etc, even if it's unfounded.



I'm the same considering that they don't need to go outside.One thing I do notice with them is that they do not seem to be bothered by bright lights.I keep mine under halogen lights and they bask under them just like normals do.I would think if bright light bothered them they would at least stick their head under a coil to protect their eyes.


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## andynic07 (Dec 19, 2013)

Thermal radiation is different to ultraviolet radiation even though both can burn skin.


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## Ramsayi (Dec 19, 2013)

andynic07 said:


> Thermal radiation is different to ultraviolet radiation even though both can burn skin.



None the less their eyes are supposed to be sensitive to bright light also.However I haven't that to be the case.


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## andynic07 (Dec 19, 2013)

I guess one fact that we are all missing is that there does not appear to be many if not any wild Australia pythons found with any visible signs of skin cancer which you would expect to see some cases if snakes or any reptile was susceptible to the condition . You would expect that if there was very low accounts of the problem in normal reptiles then it may also be a fairly low occurrence in albino reptiles and the risk would be further reduced by them mainly being kept indoors.


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## Crazy_Snake08 (Dec 19, 2013)

I've put mine in the sun, either on the lawn or in a modified bird aviary every week so I can clean their enclosures out. Sometimes they chill out in the sun, sometimes in the shade, sometimes half and half. So far, the snakes are now 4+ years old and fine.
Matt


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## the_tsar (Dec 19, 2013)

OldestMagician said:


> Do reptiles have a different way of reacting to the sun though? I'm going to struggle to explain but as they use heat from the sun to raise their body temperature is it moved away from the skin rapidly? I'm assuming that they have a stronger "sun metabolism" than mammals.



From what I understand, it isn't a problem of sun energy dissipation, Uv particles of light have high energy, and when they zoom through space and smack into skin cells they smash parts of the DNA in the skin cells, and DNA is needed to creat chemistry the body needs for life... DNA is a streamer and uv is the scissors!!
In short UV rips cellular dna/rna up, we (humans) go red after sunburn due to extra blood flow needed to repair our cells or to fix areas of dead cells though uv exposure.
If heat transfer was the problem we wouldn't get burned underwater as the water would dissipate our skin heat, but what causes sunburn isn't heat but smashed skin cells from high energy UV particles.

I assume without this melanin, then there is no UV protection for a snake, and I would assume ( I don't know for a fact) that their skin cells may be at risk of this UV smashing DNA in full sun, however snake skin is reptilian and may hold out better than mammal skin, I don't know of their skin makeup protects better than humans without melanin, but unless I could confirm this, I wouldn't be too flippant about a lot of sun.

I also assume they need the sun for vitamin D? So I guess they may need a bit of sun, perhaps get it a sun smart t shirt.....


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## saximus (Dec 19, 2013)

What about albino Blueys? Do they have the same UV requirement as Beardies? Do they suffer these health issues?


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## mikey_mike (Dec 19, 2013)

the_tsar said:


> I also assume they need the sun for vitamin D? So I guess they may need a bit of sun, perhaps get it a sun smart t shirt.....



I'm not a vet, but I think they're unlikely to need additional vitamin D. 

Vitamin D (the precursor to the active hormone which is involved in calcium metabolism) is found in some foods. I reckon whole rodent is probably an adequate source of vitamin D. 

Something has gone seriously wrong with the evolutionary process if nocturnal animals have a requirement for sunlight to maintain bone health.


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## Brittany rhymer (Mar 17, 2018)

Hey I got an albino het pied python and I took it out In the sun and it started acting like it was Having a seizure within 2 min. I then ran straight back inside and she started acting fine. The next day I was taking her to my neighbors house and when I was in Direct sunlight she would start jerking and I would turn around facing away from the sun and she went back to normal.


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Mar 17, 2018)

Brittany rhymer said:


> Hey I got an albino het pied python and I took it out In the sun and it started acting like it was Having a seizure within 2 min. I then ran straight back inside and she started acting fine. The next day I was taking her to my neighbors house and when I was in Direct sunlight she would start jerking and I would turn around facing away from the sun and she went back to normal.


Hi, I'm not sure if it's the same with snakes although I don't see why it wouldn't be but we cannot put albino turtles outside in the sun like we no normal turtles.


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## Bl69aze (Mar 17, 2018)

Their eyes can be sensitive to the sun.

It could have also been the fact she was so “exposed” in such a big area, although doubtful.

Could also have been the sudden change from inside to direct sunlight
[doublepost=1521239712,1521239650][/doublepost]


Brittany rhymer said:


> Hey I got an albino het pied python and I took it out In the sun and it started acting like it was Having a seizure within 2 min. I then ran straight back inside and she started acting fine. The next day I was taking her to my neighbors house and when I was in Direct sunlight she would start jerking and I would turn around facing away from the sun and she went back to normal.


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