Albino (Sharp) Boa Constrictors
A Sharp albino boa loses the black from its pattern, leaving a pink tongue, red pupils and a pale ground that gains contrast as the snake grows. Paired with BWC albino it makes a Paradigm, and with Prodigy albino a Paradise.
About the Albino (Sharp) gene
The Sharp strain, often called Sharp albino or Albino (Sharp), is one of many different albino lines in the boa constrictor. Brian Sharp produced the first ones in 1991 from a wild-caught female from Colombia. This gene is at its own locus and is separate from the older Kahl strain. It pairs with Albino (Prodigy) to make the Paradise and with Albino (BWC) to make the Paradigm.
Appearance
A Sharp albino has the black taken out of a normal boa's pattern, leaving orange and yellow on a pale ground, with a pink tongue and red pupils. The pattern is a normal boa's, drawn without dark pigment. The colour generally holds or improves with age rather than fading, and the contrast between pattern and ground grows stronger into adulthood.
Genetics
Because Albino (Sharp) is recessive, a visual requires two copies while anything else looks like a normal boa constrictor. This family includes Albino (Sharp), Het Albino (Sharp), 66% Het Albino (Sharp), 50% Het Albino (Sharp) and Pos Het Albino (Sharp).
When crossed with Kahl, Sharp produces only hets for both genes and never a visual because the two sit at different loci. Sharp is allelic with Albino (BWC), and one copy of each makes a Paradigm, first produced by Mike Weitzman in 2004. It is also allelic with Albino (Prodigy), and that pairing makes the Paradise. Named combos built on Sharp include the Sharp Sunglow which pairs it with Hypo, and the Blizzard which pairs it with an anerythristic gene.
Known issues
Like other albino boas, a Sharp has little pigment in the iris to filter light, so its eyes are sensitive to bright light.