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Leucistic/White adult Slow Worm. |
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Testudo Man
Senior Member Joined: 11 Apr 2012 Location: Kent Status: Offline Points: 91 |
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Posted: 11 Jun 2012 at 7:35pm |
I came across a leucistic/white adult slow worm recently(9/6/12). It was half hidden and belly up, so I assumed it was dead. I wanted to examine it, to see possible cause of death, but as I picked it up, it was in fact very much alive! I took several photos of it, then watched it return to the cover of the woodland floor.
Its of adult size, and intact(as in, no tail missing/damage). It has normal eye colour, so its not an albino. It appears to be a female? but its head is also large, so Im not 100% sure its female? No blue spots could be seen on its body, although you would be hard pushed to see any type of markings on this slow worm.
Has anyone else found a leucistic/white slow worm?
Some photos of the beauty, cheers.
In this photo, the slow worm is showing its nictitating membrane.
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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great find/pix. tks for posting!
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Testudo Man
Senior Member Joined: 11 Apr 2012 Location: Kent Status: Offline Points: 91 |
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Thanks, no problems.
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tim hamlett
Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1062 |
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very beautiful and very rare i think
look at page 2 on the archived slowworm section under snow worm tim |
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herpetologic2
Forum Coordinator Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1511 |
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There are dark markings on its chin coupled with the normal coloured eye means it is not leucistic. a pale coloured animal which is pre slough perhaps? it would have been nice to take it into temporary captivity
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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I can't agree with that at all Jon. That animal is clearly leucistic. It is very common for leucistic animals to have normally coloured eyes.
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herpetologic2
Forum Coordinator Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1511 |
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My mistake, therefore an animal with lack of pigment on its body.
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Yep, there is a write up on Leucism on Wikipedia, with a fantastic picture of a leucistic lion, well worth a look.
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Testudo Man
Senior Member Joined: 11 Apr 2012 Location: Kent Status: Offline Points: 91 |
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Darn it, I knew I would raise an eyebrow using the word leucistic!...lucky I wrote it like this then- Leucistic/White.
The markings on the chin area, look like scale formation to me. It didnt appear to be pre shed/slough either, but if it was, if this slow worm did shed, then it would appear even brighter/white.
Im not that familiar with all things slow worm, but if this is a female, then it shows no normal markings that you would associate with that of an adult female slow worm.
The light conditions were cloudy, I didnt use the flash on my camera, and whilst editing these photos, I had to decrease the contrast, in order to tone down the whiteness of this slow worm.
Not so nice for the slow worm though, to be taken into temporary captivity
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