This Albino Turtle is Absolutely Stunning
Albino animals are eye-catchy, whether they are albino hedgehogs, also known as floofs, or ouch mice, who look like they came from another planet. Another well-known albino animal is the albino zebra, then the albino lion, that may be the most admirable animal in the world. And the last but not least, albino turtles, that are out of this world, and don’t look like any other animal.
If you ask a person to think of a color when someone says albino, by any means they will say ‘white’. And if you didn’t know, Albus means white in Latin. But that doesn’t mean every animal that is classified as albino has to be white. For example, albino turtles can sometimes be red! This unique look makes them appear like tiny dragons or other fictional characters from a science-fiction movie. Planet Earth constantly amazes with its creations that are nowhere else to be found.
One albino turtle named Hope was born with a rare condition; its heart was placed outside its body. But hopefully, it survived and celebrated its first birthday in November. With its heart beating outside its body, it became popular on the internet. Her owner, Aqua Mike, takes good care of Hope. Let’s hope it will celebrate many more upcoming birthdays.
Aqua Mike was asked to talk about his initial reaction when he first met Hope, and he answered: “I was immediately in love. It was like seeing something that I couldn’t have ever imagined to exist.”
He added: “There are different species of albino turtles,” he specified. “Some may appear to be a solid yellow without many patternings, like a red-eared slider, but the pink belly side necks are known to have pink on them when they aren’t albino, so that color stays in the albino variant as well!”
Albino turtles are amazing pets to have but do not behave the same as cats and dogs: “They are very interactive and will beg you for food, they will pose for the camera and everything, but they are not meant to be handled. I always get asked what’s a good turtle I can get for my kids one that can be handled. Don’t get me wrong they can be handled, but they are no dog or cat. They are happiest when you leave them alone!”
He mentioned: “Albino turtles are amazing animals. They do require a bit more advanced care as when they’re small, it may be difficult for them to find food in their tank because of their impaired vision. This requires them to be moved to a smaller feeding container where the food is much more accessible just to ensure that they are eating enough. However, once they reach 3-4″ they are much more efficient at finding food in their enclosure and do not need to be moved outside of the tank to be fed in a separate container.”
He continued his thoughts: “Albinos are also a lot more observable than normals. A normal turtle may get shocked or scared when it sees you and this causes them to swim away & hide. The albino doesn’t feel this same sort of threat in your presence especially because you’ve been handling them to feed them for so long. They act a lot more natural and it gives you a chance to observe them and study them even better.”
It is proven that albinism is not the same as that in mammals, humans, and lizards, and it works differently with lizards, turtles and other reptiles. What is interesting is that albino reptiles contain one remaining color; that’s why they look different than other albino animals and humans.
Scientists have discovered that some species of turtles are predisposed to be born albino. Unlike other turtles, Sulcata turtles are likely to be born way different than others, with red dots. The sad truth is, albino turtles are easy to be caught by predators, because of their poor eyesight, which blocks them from having a safe life.
Albino animals have a difficult life. They constantly cope with various health conditions, such as poor eyesight. And because of that, they cannot easily find food and are easy pray for predators, as they can’t see them approaching.
Because of the poor eyesight, many albino animals don’t survive childhood. Even though they are amazing to watch and explore, always have in mind that they fight a battle we aren’t aware of.
Sources: www.nationalgeographic.com