Caramel Hognoses
The Caramel morph removes the black from a western hognose to create a peach to caramel snake with a mostly clean head and a bright white belly. Because it is a different albino from the standard Albino, these two together produce an Ultramel instead of a plain albino.
About the Caramel gene
The Caramel is the T+ albino of the western hognose. It removes the black to leave a soft peach to caramel snake with a clean white belly and very little on the head. Breeders use it as a building block for Frosted, Ultramel and a run of pattern-reduced Anaconda projects. Keepers buy it for that warmth alone.
Appearance
No black markings are found on a Caramel. It has a peach to pink body with warm caramel tones, a matching tail, and a bright white belly. Start by looking at the head. The gene's recognisable trait is the reduced head stamp. Most facial markings are gone, and the pattern around the neck is reduced along with them. The amount of facial marking that survives varies from animal to animal, and some still show a faint trace.
Genetics
The Caramel gene is recessive, meaning a het looks like a normal western hognose. You will see it listed as Caramel, Het Caramel, 50% Het Caramel, 66% Het Caramel and Pos Het Caramel. This gene is also sold as Caramel Albino or T+ Albino. It is a separate gene from the standard T- Albino, so the two are not compatible. An animal visual for both is an Ultramel. Caramel with Evans Hypo or Dutch makes Frosted, which is also written as Frost or Frosted Hypo. It gives Caramel Anaconda with Anaconda, and Caramel Superconda with two copies of Anaconda. Craig Trumbower first produced it in 2001.