aberrant- not normally patterned or colored, indifferent, irregular.

aestivation- the act of passing the summer or dry season in a dormant state.

albinism- the state of an animal where there is an absence or great decrease of melanin, referred to as "albino"

amelanistic- containing no melanin.

anerytheristic- a condition with generally only black, gray, and white colors, resulting in an animal lacking colors such as red and yellow.

aquatic- growing, living or found in water.

arboreal- living in the trees.

axanthism- the absence of yellow, referred to as "axanthic".

blonde- a variant of a snake when the color is reduced to a straw/yellow color, seen in Trans Pecos Rat Snakes, Anacondas, and other animals.

brumation- the cooling period for reptiles and amphibians, similar to hibernation in mammals.

caramel- term often used to describe the T+ form of albinism in Ball Pythons and other animals.

carapace- dorsal side of shell of turtle.

clown- term used to describe a recessive condition in Ball Pythons and other species that results in a vibrant yellow coloration with abnormal head colors in most cases.

co-dominant- condition in which a certain trait can be reproduced by breeding the homozygous (see) animal to a normal and achieve 50% of the trait and 50% normal offspring.

colubrid- term used to describe all non python, boid, and venomous animals, such as Rat Snakes, Kingsnakes, Milk Snakes, and others.

dominant- condition in which a certain trait can be reproduced by breeding the homozygous (see) animal to a normal and achieve 100% of the respective co-dominant trait.

dorsal- the top side of an organism.

F1- first generation offspring

F2- second generation offspring

generic- a term used to describe a natural occurring morph that is achieved every clutch with no variation, or non-locaility (ex. Blair's Phase Gray-Banded Kingsnake vs. Alterna Phase Gray-Banded Kingsnake).

genetics- study of heredity

ghost- a condition achieved by crossing a hypo with a anerytheristic, resulting in a snake with reduced or no yellow and no black, also incorrectly used in Ball Pythons to represent Hypomelanistic (see).

gravid- pregnant

herpetoculture- breeding/husbandry of reptiles and amphibians.

herpetology- study of reptiles and amphibians.

heterozygous- genetic term describing an animal that posses the gene for a recessive gene but does not show the trait, often referred to as a "Het".

homozygous- shows the trait, has two of the (r) types in genetic makeup in which it shows the trait, can be recessive, dominant, co-dominant, etc...

hybrid- condition in which the hybrid animal is a cross between different species or animals with one or more heritable characters.

hypomelanistic- condition resulting in a snake lacking black and brown pigment.

hypopigmented- trait resulting in decreased amount of pigment.

incomplete dominant - when a mutation is "co-dominant" in expected results ratios (ex. Spider Ball Python x Normal is expected to produce 50% Spiders), not recessive, and cannot produce a "dominant" form (ex. as of 2003, a Super Spider cannot be produced, in other words, a Spider cannot be produced as of yet that can be bred to a normal and get 100% Spiders).

lavender albino- a recent genetic mutation that displays a variant form of Albinism. Lavender Albino specimens appear to be "glowing" under a black light, showing a very purple/lavender coloration on top of being Albino.

melanin- black or brown pigments.

melanism- unusual increase in melanin, a specimen exhibiting melanism is referred to as melanistic.

morph- a condition, phase, or variant of a certain animal (ex. Black-Backed, Striped).

motley- term used in Boas and Corn Snakes referring to a snake that is either "spotted" or exhibits bullseye patter and/or exhibits a wider range of varience.

neurotoxin- poison that effects the nervous system.

nocturnal- active at night.

patternless- a condition resulting in a generally one tone color animal (ex. Patternless Leopard Geckos show only pink or brown in adult form).

piebald- spotted, patched, or blotched colors, usually in black or white.

pinstripe- a condition in which the bands of the animal are reduced greatly to thin lines.

pinstripe (morph)- a morph seen in Ball Python resulting in greatly reduced black and increased brown pattern

recessive gene- an allele that occurs only when two (r) are present in genetic make up (ex. Albino Ball Python, Axanthic Trans Pecos Rat Snake).

silver- this condition is termed silver due to the silver color of the animal, term most commonly used in Trans Pecos Rat Snakes, real name is Axanthic.

snow- a condition produced by crossing albino and axanthic or anerytheristic, in Ball Pythons it resultsin a two toned white snake with red eyes.

spider- a co-dominant condition in ball pythons resulting in pinstripe (see) black colors, and white bleeding up from the ventral side of the snake.

striped- condition in which the pattern contains abnormal striping, in most cases the condition is not genetic (i.e. Ball Pythons)

taxonomy- scientific naming of organisms.

terrestrial- living on the ground.

toxic- poisonous or pertaining to poison.

tyrosinase- the enzyme essential in development of melanin.

tyrosinase negative- albinism due to lack of tyrosinase.

tyrosinase positive- albinism form in which tyrosinase is able to be produced, but not melanin.

unilateral- found only on one side.

variant- differing from normal variation.

ventral- underside or lower side of specimen.

xanthic- increased yellow, often referred to as Caramel Albino or T+ Albino.