Extreme Red Hognoses

The Extreme Red morph takes the common tan and brown of a western hognose and moves it toward a deep, saturated red. This was not from a single genetic event but was built by breeders pairing the most vividly coloured animals over generations. Keepers buy into the line for this colour and for how it affects other morphs. When bred into an anaconda or an albino, it carries the red further than either trait manages alone.

Appearance

An Extreme Red shows more red and orange pigment than a normal hognose and ranges from bright tangerine to deep crimson and burgundy. Because many genes work together instead of just one, the expression varies a lot between animals. This means two hognose sold under the name can look quite different. The Purple Line comes from the same red stock but takes that pigment toward maroon and purple instead of crimson.

Genetics

Extreme Red is a polygenic colour. It comes from many genes working together instead of a single recessive or dominant mutation. Breeders built it up by pairing the reddest western hognose they had over several generations. Because no single locus sits behind it to carry two copies of, there is no het to test for and no super form. The catalogue lists the line as Extreme Red and Pos Extreme Red. Justin Mitcham of Extremehogs bred the line from wild-caught red hognose. It remains one of the most-used red lines for building into other morphs. These include Extreme Red Albino, Extreme Red Anaconda and Extreme Red Snow. These are all paired with Axanthic and Albino and sell regularly. Another polygenic red line from Extremehogs, Diablo, is sometimes confused with Extreme Red. It is named and bred apart and it occasionally throws solid black eyes, which Extreme Red does not.