The home of Bearded Dragons - Pogona Vitticeps
General Information | Hypo Bearded Dragon
Hypomelanistic.. Hypomelanism.. Hypos.. aka Hypo Bearded Dragon
Juvenile red hypo leatherback
Hypomelanistic - "Hypo" means less and "melanistic" means pigmented. Black pigments are produced, but not transported. This results into a lightly coloured appearance compared to a standard coloured Bearded dragon. Some standard animals are lightly coloured, but not a Hypo. They differ from true Hypo's, because they lack the heritable genetic disorder that is transferred through generations. The difference is found within the genotype and phenotype. The genotype (genes) of a Hypo is completely different, while phenotype (the way they look like) can be almost identical.
Clear nails from hypo bloodline
How does a Bearded dragon becomes hypomelanistic? Hypomelanism is caused by a malfunctioning melanin (pigment) production or its transport to pigmented cells (melanophores). This genetically determined disorder is called hypomelanism. This name is only to be used for animals (with 100% clear nails) originating from a hypo blood line, a dragon even with a single nail that is not clear should not be regarded as 100% hypo.
Heterozygous for Hypo (abbreviated to Het. Hypo) implies the presence of the Hypo gene within a Bearded dragon, without showing it. The appearance is like a standard dragon with no clear nails, has darker pigmented compared to a 100% Hypo. However, these animals are still interesting due to the presence of the Hypo gene. They are also lightly coloured compared to standard coloured Bearded dragons, causing the colours to emerge better. Breeding a Het. Hypo with a 100% Hypo will result into a certain amount of 100% Hypo offspring. The rest of the offspring will be heterozygous (without the looks of a Hypo), carrying the Hypo gene.
How do you trust a breeder that the dragon is a het? of course trust is an important issue when buying a Het. Hypo; you simply can't see the Hypo gene and the seller can only give you its word. Asking details would help, but I must stress that this is all trust based.
As with all the various available bearded dragon morphs, the traits can be bred together so you can in theory get high red hypo translucent silkback/leatherback bearded dragon. They are available, but very rare and extremely expensive. I have heard that one had been sold for over £2500.
Breeding | Colour Morphs | Leatherbacks | Silkbacks | Translucents | Hypos | Genetics
