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A quick note is that oftentimes people will mistake leucistic or white animals for albino ones, and vice versa. While they may seem similar at first, there is a slight difference. Leucism is a condition in which there is a partial loss of pigmentation in an animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticle. Leucistic reptiles do not lose pigmentation in their eyes, whereas albino animals do and tend to have red/pinky red eyes. Albino reptiles also tend to keep more yellow pigmentation if they already have some, whereas leucistic reptiles tend to be just white. If you want to check out our list of albinos to see the difference yourself just click here! Now let’s get on to the list!
Top 10 List – Leucistic Reptiles
1. Blue Eyed Leucistic Ball Python
Scientific Name: Python regius
Geographic Range: West and Central Africa
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Check Out More Ball Python Morphs Here and Here.
Ball pythons are one of the most popular pet snakes, which means many breeders are constantly working with these snakes to produce many beautiful morphs. With all the morphs available today, ball pythons can come in hundreds, if not thousands of colors and patterns. The blue eyed leucistic morph (aka blue eyed leucy or BEL) not only makes the ball python a beautiful bright white with no patterns, but it also gives the python beautiful icy blue eyes.
2. Leucistic Western Hognose
Scientific Name: Heterodon nasicus
Geographic Range: Central North America
Conservation Status: Least Concern
See More Hognose Morphs Here and Here.
Hognose snakes are another popular pet snake. While they don’t have as many morphs as the ball python, they do still have many beautiful morphs to choose from. One of the rarer/higher costing morphs is the leucistic morph. As usual, it removes any patterns and colors from the snake’s body and leaves them a brilliant white.
3. Leucistic Pine Snake
Scientific Name: Pituophis melanoleucus
Geographic Range: Eastern United States
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Pine snakes can come in various shades of colors and patterns in the wild, but this leucistic pine snake has none of those. With how gorgeously these snakes are with their bright white scales and blue-grey eyes it’s no surprise that people would want to have this snake in their collection and show it off any chance they get!
4. Leucistic Texas Rat Snake
Scientific Name: Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri
Geographic Range: United States, primarily Texas.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Another popular leucistic reptile is the leucistic texas rat snake. Their big bright blue eyes make them look a little googly-eyed but we think that makes them even cuter!
5. Leucistic Flying Gecko
Scientific Name: Gekko kuhli
Geographic Range: Asia
Conservation Status: Least Concern
The leucistic gecko pictured above is named Henson, and was bought off of craigslist by his very lucky owner. He is possibly one of a few, if not the only, leucistic flying geckos. Due to how few there are this makes Henson a very rare gecko! Henson is currently a father to baby flying geckos, and we are interested to see if he can produce leucistic babies in the future!
6. Leucistic Common Snapping Turtle
Scientific Name: Chelydra serpentina
Geographic Range: Eastern North America
Conservation Status: Least Concern
While snapping turtles need a lot of space and care to thrive in captivity, a small group of turtle keepers dedicate their time to caring for these little snapping cuties. This means that a couple of different colors for them are available and being worked with, one of them being the beautiful leucistic common snapping turtle! While not all of them are completely white, the one above is almost completely white in color, and absolutely stunning!
7. Leucistic Green Sea Turtle
Scientific Name: Chelonia mydas
Geographic Range: Warm subtropical and tropical ocean waters, nesting occurs in over 80 countries
Conservation Status: Endangered
The unique leucistic green sea turtle pictured above is named Cloud. Considering all the extra challenges cloud has faced in her life due to her leucism (like loss of camouflage and deformities) she has beaten all odds and managed to survive as long as she has. If you want to read the whole story of Cloud’s rescue, rehabilitation, and release you can read it here.
8. Leucistic Sulcata Tortoise
Scientific Name: Centrochelys sulcata
Geographic Range: Southern Edge of the Sahara Desert in Africa.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Sulcata tortoises are the third largest tortoises in the world and can live more than 70 years, meaning taking on one of these big guys as a pet is a lifelong commitment. However, sulcatas are known to be very sociable and friendly with their owners meaning if cared for properly you could have a lifelong friend in your tortoise. They can form relationships with their owner, recognize them, and they each have unique personalities! Sulcata tortoises with leucism are available for sale, often referred to as the ivory morph, and are stunning tortoises.
9. Leucistic Mojave Rattlesnake
Scientific Name: Crotalus scutulatus
Geographic Range: Southwestern United States
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Tracey Harmon posted a photo of this beautiful leucistic Mojave rattlesnake they were shown while at their friend’s house. The beautiful snake pictured above is definitely a rare and gorgeous find, and we’re thankful they snapped a photo to share with us.
10. Leucistic Monocled Cobra
Scientific Name: Naja kaouthia
Geographic Range: South and Southeast Asia
Conservation Status: Least Concern
The leucistic monocled cobra pictured above is actually someone’s pet snake. However, they are definitely not beginner snakes and should be left to professionals and experts to care for. As they are venomous EXTREME caution must be taken around these cobras. Despite the caution needed around them, they are absolutely beautiful animals that deserve respect, and the leucism makes them look even more unique and fascinating to look at!
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