At the suggestion of some corn forumers, I'm doing a "breeding experiment" with my ghost male & amel female. Both come from unknown backgrounds/genetics, so I thought it would be cool to see if they have hidden genes. Fyi, I decided not to brumate for a variety of reasons - mostly due to the difficulty I have controlling temps already, since my house is freezing cold. I just introduced them naturally (after a slight warm-up from moving into a rack), and left them alone for a few days... they spent the time curled together in the hide, but I don't know for sure if anything happened.

My first question is regarding how I introduced them, and the fact that I didn't brumate. Do you think it'll happen naturally, and how will I know when to either give up or call it a success? I guess I can just wait for signs of ovulation, and call it a wash if nothing happens by summer. But if they do reproduce, should I determine they're not het for anything if the babies are all normal... or will I have to breed another generation to know? Finally, as the parents are a ghost and amel, I can still call them possible het for ghost/amel - right? TIA for any advice, and here are some photos of the (hopefully) parents: