Hello everyone. I found several topics concerning same question, but I still can’t understand how to see the difference between albino boa and sunglow. We got a boa constrictor a month ago and she was sold to us as a sunglow (Sharp albino). The breeder is quite known in a snake community and has a very long breeding experience so I don’t think he might make a mistake tho. Since that time I started to read more and get more curious with every photo I’ve seen. Anyway I have a really lovely and calm girl, she is just gorgeus I don’t really care how to call her, but I would like to finally understand. 
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@tommccarthy this is where you shine! But the short of it is in the “jelly-like” appearance of the tail saddles.
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Your boa is a sunglow. I see the bow tie / pinched type saddles. Also albino have a very distinctive white outline around their tail saddles. Sunglow will have a very light, almost non-existent white outline around their tail saddles.
Here are some sunglows.
Here are some albinos.
All three are albinos.
Hope this helped you out.
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Thank you for your responses. Honestly I feel like a really bad student. I see tie-type saddles in all of those pictures. I can’t correctly recognize it I think. Some of sunglows you sent has a really thin ties, but mines are more like in a second or third before last picture.
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Sunglows also have a nicer base color. Hints of pinks, red, and orange in them. Yours looks like a sub adult to me. Sub adult albinos will already start turning yellow, and their saddles will start to fade in color. Sunglow will also turn yellow but keep their saddle colors for the most part.
When I was talking about bowtie saddles, I meant this shape ) ( most normal saddles are square in shape.
Sub adult and adult albinos.
Sub adult and adult sunglows.
The next 2 pictures are a super sunglow.
Albino and sunglow.
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These photos are awesome, I would be thrilled if mine looked like the snakes in these pictures. Besides, you are right, it is a sub adult, it’s one year and 2 months old. If I may ask you, when do you think her creamy colors will start turning more yellow?
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Sharp albinos / sunglows keep their colors better than Kahl albinos and sunglows do.
Sharp tend to keep their colors better into adulthood than Kahls do.
My Kahl albinos and sunglows seem to start yellowing out around 1 1/2 to 2 years old, I believe. I am sorry, I don’t really keep track of it as I know they all turn yellow.
However, my sunglow motley jungles seem to keep their reds and even get purple in them as they get older.
Yours is going to be a very nice-looking adult. She should keep some of the red / pink color into adulthood.
@lumpy
Maybe Riley can post some pictures of Sherbert she is one of my sunglow motley jungles and she is a sub adult.
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I am not home at the moment, but when I get home I can do that.
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Sunglows and albinos are pretty easy to tell apart as adults, because sunglows will typically keep their bright orange saddles and keep some contrast between saddles and base colour, whereas the saddles on albinos seem to fade and lose contrast as they age…but I still sometimes struggle to tell them apart as babies.
Those pictures are super helpful, @tommccarthy!
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@tom sherbet is in shed right now but I grabbed some pictures anyways. She is looking even better with size. Please excuse the horrible photo quality too lol 
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That’s a really beautiful snake, it has a lot of pink! Gorgeous, how old is it? I wonder if mine will develop more pink as well, I can see she has a little little bit of it already.
I have another question, and I don’t want to start a new thread to avoid spamming… I’m a bit worried. I fed her last Saturday and she ate nicely. The next time I saw her was on Wednesday, and she was slightly less vibrant, almost unnoticeably (my partner didn’t notice the change). Yesterday, it turned out that she was really pale and colorless; it looks like she’s going to shed, but I didn’t see any cloudy eyes. I didn’t see her from Saturday to Wednesday after feeding; could she have had them during that time, or will she have them soon? I took her out for a moment today, and she was very lethargic, not gripping me tightly as usual, and more allowing herself to be held. Should I be worried? This is the first shed under my care, and the online descriptions of the process are very brief. I know you’re not supposed to feed before a shed, but when I gave her the mouse on Saturday, she didn’t look like she was about to shed.
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Sounds like she’s in shed. Their eyes usually only go “blue” for a couple of days, but their colours will start to dull maybe a week or two before they get the zombie eyes. A shed cycle is a whole process where the old skin separates from the fresh skin underneath, and it goes through several stages.
Basically, their colours will start to dull, subtle at first, then they get really pale/dull, then their eyes will go blue, then their eyes will clear up and their colours will brighten a bit (though still look a bit dull), then they actually shed. The whole process can take a couple weeks, give or take.
There’s really nothing wrong with feeding them when they’re in shed. The reason a lot of people say not to feed them while in shed is just because a lot of snakes won’t eat when in shed, but some snakes are happy to eat even when they’re “deep in blue,” where their colours are super dull and their eyes are clouded over. My boa and my blood python will eat deep in shed (they’ll both eat pretty much anything, any time, anywhere ). My sand boa won’t. It just depends on the snake. But it’s not going to harm them if they do accept food while in a shed cycle, so don’t stress over that.
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Thank you very much for your response and for describing the sequence so thoroughly, I really needed that. It explains a lot because the sources I found said that the eyes appear at the very beginning of this process (which lasts from 2 to 8 or 10 days), and she is already very faded. What scared me the most was that she hardly tensed her body when she was in my hand, which made her seem very weak. Until now, she has always been strong and gripped tightly. Is this normal?
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I agreed with everything jawramik said. Don’t worry your boa she will be ok. Most boas will seem weak when in blue. I stll have two baby boa who refuse to shed for me since they were born. They are 115 days old now. I am not worried about them as the eat and poop fine. I do keep there cage / tup humidity up so when they do shed it will be easy for them.
One of them is a fantastic looking sunglow motley jungle i have been dieing to post pictures of for everyone to see. But he is so ugly looking right now.
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As Tom said, that apparent weakness is normal while in a shed. I get the sense that the shedding process might be a bit physically annoying/uncomfortable for snakes, so it’s not uncommon to see some behavioural changes when a snake is in shed (my boa is normally very bold and curious and sweet, but she can get a little hissy when in shed). It sounds like your boa is just fine, though I understand being concerned. Snakes are very unique animals, and some of their normal routines and behaviours can take some getting used to.
Your boa is beautiful by the way! I love sunglows (and albinos). I came very close to getting a sunglow or albino.
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@tommccarthy Thank you, you both calmed me down. I’m very anxious because this is my first snake, and I don’t have anyone close who also keeps them. Even now, looking at 86% on the hygrometer, I’m wondering if it’s showing the correct humidity for her and if the reading is accurate… Are these boas smaller than those that shed on time? I would probably worry myself to death. Do you mean he looks ugly because it has faded?
@jawramik Maybe it’s uncomfortable for them to stretch the shedding skin… Mine has never hissed in any situation, but maybe it’s better not to test if that changes during shedding. Today, she wasn’t nervous at all, but she doesn’t have blue eyes yet, so maybe that’s why. Thank you for the compliment; I really like her too, although as you can see from the thread, I don’t know much about snake coloration. However, since she’s been with me, I love her as if I gave birth to her.
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No, they are the same size as all the other babies. I said ugly because all boas in deep shed look ugly, dull, and faded to me.
Here is one of the troublemakers. 
His bowl is filled with cypress mulch and sphagnum peat moss.
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It’s really wrinkled! Despite that, he has a very nice pattern! I wonder why he doesn’t try to shed his skin. Is this snake in a shedding mood all the time? I really like his tail; does this type of coloration have a specific name? Mine isn’t wrinkled at all yet; I understand it will take a long time…
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Most boas don’t get to wrinkley unless they take too long to shed. I am not worried about him as I have owned boas for 48 years now. He will shed eventually. Plus, I am not selling him he is staying here. So there is no hurry for him to shed.
He is a lipstick line sunglow motley jungle. His dad is a double dose lipstick line sunglow motley jungle.
By the looks of yours, I bet in about 2 weeks she will shed for you. Then she will look fantastic.
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You might find more reptile people at some local reptile swaps. After going to them a few times, you should be able to figure out who are nice and honest.
Plus, you may find someone here as there are people from all over the country here.
I have made a few friends here from the southern states, midwest, Texas, California. Haven’t met them in person yet as I live in North West Indiana near Chicago, IL.
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