Albino tiger seen for sale

[mark]

Has anyone else seen the albino barred tiger that is for sale on kingsnake.com?
It appears to be a young juvenile and they are asking $500. I am not surprised at the price, since I have heard they are extremely rare.
I have talked to a vendor at reptile shows who says he has two albino adults and has been offered around $1500 for the pair but declines to sell.

 

[russ]

It's been for sale before, quite a while back. That makes me question how many they really have. Of course if you can't breed it, that's quite an expensive display animal!

 

[jeff]

Yeah, $500 is a little steep, and ridiculous in my opinion. Any takers?

 

[michael]

They pop up every now and then. I had 2 years ago. I decided not to work with any native U.S. stuff so sold them. I think I paid about 30.00 ea.

 

[paris]

hey-i think the guy is wising up....slowly....its now down to 350$, what a bargain!

 

[jeff]

$350?!? Are you serious, Paris? I'm sooooo gonna buy it now...

 

[paris]

still...thats pretty darn expensive fish bait!..

 

[joan]

Is it just me, or does it look like they're keeping in an aquarium on a piece of carpet?

 

[foster]

I realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but after years of being in the hobby I cannot for the life of me figure out what is so nice about albino animals. I know that anomalies occur in nature but thank goodness they are usually easily spotted and eaten by something at an early age. As far as commercial propagation goes, it is again beyond me why anyone would prefer albinism (or any other of those awful mutations) over an animals natural coloration. To each his (or her) own I suppose.
Chip

 

[paris]

chip,
some people just value that which is different-in my area we have melanistic fox squirrels http://animalpicturesarchive.com/animal/a2/Black_Squirrel-by_Stellactica.jpg
(not aberts btw...)-its nice to see something different, melanistic animals do better than albinos, so albinos are rarer to live as long and have as much of a genetic influence
this adult male deer has beaten the odds by living but due to its condition it is essentially blind and probably wont win competitions with other males for females
http://www.3-lakes.com/images/deer/Albino.jpg
or how bout a kangaroo?
http://www.josephrenzi.com/Other%20Pictures/2002/2002-10-09%20Queensland/Day%206/Albino%20Kangaroo.jpg
there is a whole city in indiana that identifies itself with its unique population of albino squirrels...but the town is not unique in that respect...
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/squirrels.html
here is a pic of a non trad 'red back'
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/salamand/thumbs/images/76.jpg
lots of genetic variances, like hypomelanism, will result in some spectacular colours like this C e popei
http://www.remix-net.co.jp/Peponi/Image/226ikou/6gatu/6.15/akaimori1.JPG
albinism has mystic links (not including the albino salamander that is linked to the mormon church), the rarity of running across something like an albino raven
http://www.softbills.com/images/photo_c/albino_raven.jpg
would invite stories of other worldly influence (like the sacred whit buffalo)
but just incase you think some peoples facination with albinism is limited to 'pets', i myself have met a few humans like that due to my attraction to them, personally something like this is very appealing to me
http://www.lunaeterna.net/popcult/jwinter3.jpg
...but then, hey, einstein was a role model of mine as a child (as in 6th grade) and my one grandmother went white at 20....so i may be a bit tainted

 

[jeff]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Paris Reilley wrote on Thursday, 26 May, 2005 - 13:01 :</font>

"lots of genetic variances, like hypomelanism, will result in some spectacular colours like this C e popei
http://www.remix-net.co.jp/Peponi/Image/226ikou/6gatu/6.15/akaimori1.JPG "<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Ha! When my friend's brother came to visit from Japan last summer, he was smoking those Mild Seven cigs. Those things are mild- like breathing in air!

what an awesome looking C.e. popei!

 

[pamela]

Hey Paris! Fun site links! My fav is the albino raven -- AWESOME!

In Council Bluffs, IA, there is a large population of coal black Grey squirrels. I used to get the privilege of seeing them in my Grandfathers yard, running up and down the Oak trees--being nutty as usual.

 

[foster]

Hey Paris,
You presented your point well. I particularly liked the deer (which should buy a lottery ticket!), thanks for sharing those links. I suppose that I should have been more specific in my rambling. Again, individual tastes aside, I have never understood the apparent mass appeal of many of the albino forms of pet trade animals. Colubrid snakes, leopard geckos, and tropical fish such as Macropodus opercularis are a few of the examples that come to mind. I do not want to take away from the efforts that pioneer breeders have put in, it is an incredible amount of work. Personally I just feel that the natural colors (even the dullest wildtypes) are more appealing. Thanks again for sharing the links.
Chip