What pigment creates blue in reptiles?

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HI. I know a little about basic pigments, but what pigment creates blue in reptiles?

Would some types of reptile have no chance of a blue version without it?

What about Indigo? Black based on blue to the dark side? Like the ink, and maybe an indigo snake.

Its mainly a snake thing for me. But its all good knowledge. :thinking:

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There is no blue pigment (in anything other than this one rare butterfly) and what causes blue to appear is the way light reflects off the scales. So cell structures cause it, but I am pretty certain it is melanin that makes it possible.

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Makes sense, it would explain the ;‘Blue’ during shedding of snakes.
Actually I think the butterfly’s do it with refraction other than actual colour.
Like oil on water creating colours???

Just an un educated grasp at the concept, is that what your saying or close ???

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And hypo Cresties :crazy_face:

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Here is a video that explains it a bit better than I can.

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oh no, are you saying there is no Blue pigment and its just refraction like butterfly’s and oil on the floor???

So that means no blue ball pythons or no non blue snakes (unless its refraction) are possible to create?

:cry:

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As the video states, the only thing that has an actual blue pigment are those olive wing butterflies. So yeah, blue in something that hasn’t evolved it yet is…highly unlikely. The closest you could get is a gray that kinda looks blue.

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Thanks man, that video really helped explain it.
Even if I didn’t like the answer. :face_exhaling:
Why? because a blue snake would be so cool. But I guess its so cool, because its so rare and so hard to create without a natural common blue pigment.

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There are some snakes that are blue. Mainly colubrids though.

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Yes but Blue is awesome. come on no one will argue with that, :face_with_monocle:
I am just disappointed that its not a pigment and so limited and not much chance of creating it in a new animal or new blue reptile line.

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Just the tongue on this one but some scales too-

Or the eye in this one—

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Like in your examples, there are a lot of blue or blueish looking snakes. It’s just a less common pigment type, that Reflective-making-illusionary-blue. I have seen, on youtube, a garter snake that is CA Red sided, but she’s all blue and black- Big Blue, owned by Emily and Ed Roberts of Snake Discovery.

That would be an interesting thing to breed for in a snake species: higher blue-look content.

It feels like it’s a lot more common in Lizards, like the collared lizard or jeweled lacerta. Have you seen the electric blue day geckos, i think they’re called?

Edit to add: A black snake that is iridescent with blue light is the Black African House Snake. Mine has the sheen already even at his baby age.

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