Paradox-Albino, Original Founder Female

So far as we know, this is the only albino Kenyan sandboa of record. Other lineages of "albino Kenyans" are actually descended from albino Egyptian sandboas, Eryx colubrinus colubrinus, that were bred to Kenyans in order to improve the color and also to make the babies larger and more likely to feed on pinks.

This snake came into the country from Tanzania in 1995 with the first and only batch of flame-race sandboas, but it is not known with certainty if she is actually from Dodoma, or if she was just added to that shipment.

Albinism refers to the inability of an animal to synthesize melanin, yet this albino morph has black speckling and large freckles scattered randomly over the body. This type of albinism is called "paradox-albino," with "paradox" referring to the unusual black markings. There are records of paradox-albino boas, ball pythons and Burmese pythons, but these appearances are not inheritable.

This appearance has been demonstrated to be inherited as a simple recessive trait. Babies are born with their black markings, although they may develop a few more black flecks as they mature. A paradox-albino sandboa can have as little as one black scale. The amount of black on the parents does not predict the appearance of their offspring; two adults with the minimum black can breed to produce babies that will have lots of black markings.

For many years this morph was the only known inheritable "paradox-albino" appearance in any species of snake. However, the "whitesmoke" morph and the "banana" morph of ball pythons both are inheritable paradox-albino appearances.