Green Hypo Hognoses

Green Hypo is a hypomelanistic gene in the western hognose snake that cuts back the dark pigment across the back and belly, replacing the usual bold blotching with a softer, smokier finish. The western hognose already carries several distinct hypo lines, and Green Hypo is the one that keeps developing well after hatching: the smoky ground colour often shifts toward green as the snake ages, which is what draws keepers who want a morph that looks different at two years old than it did as a hatchling.

Appearance

A Green Hypo hatchling shows a muted version of normal western hognose patterning: reduced black in the blotches, a smoky grey-brown ground colour, and a mottled rather than solid belly. The surest way to spot an adult Green Hypo is that colour shift with age, as the smoky ground colour trends toward green over the animal's life while the belly tends to darken rather than lighten. How far that shift goes, and how much the pattern reduces, varies a good deal from one animal to the next, which is part of the appeal for keepers who like a snake that keeps changing well past its first year. How the double-copy Super Green Hypo's appearance actually differs from a single copy is not well documented, beyond it being the stronger expression of the same look.

Genetics

The western hognose catalogue lists this gene as two rows, Green Hypo and Super Green Hypo, with no separate het row between them: a single copy shows as visual Green Hypo, and two copies produce the stronger Super Green Hypo. In the trade, the double-copy form is sometimes sold under the name Watermelon instead of Super Green Hypo. How the gene is inherited beyond that shape is not well documented, and this page does not assign it a mode.