Should be piebald! Maybe the Ball Python breeders got it wrong? LOL

Balls that are Piebald are not leucistic...it is a different gene. :) Leucism is related somewhat to albinism, though it is different.

Sorry, I am both VERY well-versed in Ball Python morphs AND I'm very fascinated by pigment reduction and the genetics that cause it. ;)

It was more of a joke than any serious comment ;)

Ah, pretty! I love pieds of any kind.

Pretty! I don't know what the naming rules are for 'gators, but, just guessing, maybe it's like the labeling for dog colors? In dogs, if the body is a certain percentage of colored, it's colored, and if it's only colored on the head and for instance twenty percent or less of the body, it's "white".

It isn't like that at all, sorry. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism

Ah, thanks, this part clarifies it somewhat:

"This results in either the entire surface (if all pigment cells fail to develop) or patches of body surface (if only a subset are defective) having a lack of cells capable of making pigment"

But if I understand this correctly: "More common than a complete absence of pigment cells is localized or incomplete hypopigmentation, resulting in irregular patches of white on an animal that otherwise has normal colouring and patterning. This partial leucism is known as a "pied" or "piebald" effect"

then the 'gator in the pic would in fact be both leucistic and technically pied or piebald, right?

Depends on species. I'm actually not well-versed in gators, but in Ball Pythons (which someone else alluded to above) "Piebald" is the name of a totally different expressed genetic color/patterning. You'd have to contact someone who is very experienced with crocodillian color genetics and morphs, if any.

Thanks for the info. :)

Oh okay, thanks! The ball python pieds always looked white with dark patches to me so it got me confused :O

Oh, hurm. I get the impression that technically either term is probably accurate, regardless of the amount of white, though in common parlance piebald probably tends to mean islands of white not islands of pigment.

Beautiful gator!!! Love how extensive his leucism is. Wonderful pic too!

Info on being leucistic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism

.. well this makes it sound like leucistics with patches of normal pigment can indeed properly be called "piebald" although it's sort of a subset of leucism (so I guess you could legitimately call them either one!)