Breeding for "Dummies" haha

We're going to be trying our hand at breeding our 100% het albino normals when they get to appropriate age/size (probably wont be for a couple years considering they're both only 200g) and I'm doing my best to absorb as much information as I can on the process so I'm super prepared.

Reading all the threads is incredibly helpful (and makes me so excited for my first clutch in the future) but there's obviously some things that I'm not educated about. The hatchling care thread and incubation thread were awesome, but I'm still pretty clueless on a lot of things.

Could someone find the time to spew as much info in this thread as possible? Haha.

-Terms? (ovy, gravid, "glow", building etc)
-Maybe a timeline documenting from beginning to end? Going from even before you pair them. How can you tell if they're ready? Any special considerations, feeding routine, signs to watch for, how long & often to pair them, how can you tell if they're truly locked?

I'm sure there's a TON of things to learn and understand so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Just to clarify, btw. Our snakes are brother & sister. Breeding them would be okay, right? Are there any pairings that you SHOULDN'T try due to being related etc?

Also, with them being both normals, with 100% het albino, would all their offspring be albinos? Or would there be normals thrown in?

Haha gosh, this is a novel. Thank you in advance to anyone who feeds my brain with knowledge haha :D

Well the only part I can answer for you is about what the odds are for the morphs. You've got a 1/4 shot of visible albino, 1/2 shot of het albino, and 1/4 normal.

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Originally Posted by Marrissa

Well the only part I can answer for you is about what the odds are for the morphs. You've got a 1/4 shot of visible albino, 1/2 shot of het albino, and 1/4 normal.

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What does "het" albino mean exactly?
I thought with both of them being 100% and pairing them together, it'd be better chances? I'm still a SUPER noob when it comes to genetics and morphs.

GREAT questions! I'm a newbie, so can't really help you. But definitely looking forward to the feedback you receive.


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Originally Posted by Melissa18

GREAT questions! I'm a newbie, so can't really help you. But definitely looking forward to the feedback you receive.


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My name is Melissa too :cool:

best.name.ever. ;)


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Here is a step-by-step chronicled breeding method by one accomplished breeder. It's almost a direct "how-to" but keep in mind this is just one breeders way of doing it. The pics really help. I've read it a few times over and can't wait to breed my snakes.

http://www.ballpython.ca/gallery/breeding.html

het means heterozygous for that particular trait

as in they carry it but it isn't physically expressed

AA = dominant (homozygous)
Aa= heterozygous
aa= recessive (homozygous)

the only way a het trait gets expressed is if the het animal is mated with a het or homozygous recessive animal....punnett squares 101 from genetics/gen bio

Aa x aa= Aa and aa (50% chance for either)

Aa X Aa= AA/Aa/aa 1:2:1 ratio (25%/50%/25%) chances

I never did like math....:rolleye2:
The step by step link is great! Thank you!
Would love to hear other people's methods as well :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timely.grace

We're going to be trying our hand at breeding our 100% het albino normals when they get to appropriate age/size (probably wont be for a couple years considering they're both only 200g) and I'm doing my best to absorb as much information as I can on the process so I'm super prepared.

Reading all the threads is incredibly helpful (and makes me so excited for my first clutch in the future) but there's obviously some things that I'm not educated about. The hatchling care thread and incubation thread were awesome, but I'm still pretty clueless on a lot of things.

Could someone find the time to spew as much info in this thread as possible? Haha.

-Terms? (ovy, gravid, "glow", building etc)
-Maybe a timeline documenting from beginning to end? Going from even before you pair them. How can you tell if they're ready? Any special considerations, feeding routine, signs to watch for, how long & often to pair them, how can you tell if they're truly locked?

I'm sure there's a TON of things to learn and understand so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Just to clarify, btw. Our snakes are brother & sister. Breeding them would be okay, right? Are there any pairings that you SHOULDN'T try due to being related etc?

Also, with them being both normals, with 100% het albino, would all their offspring be albinos? Or would there be normals thrown in?

Haha gosh, this is a novel. Thank you in advance to anyone who feeds my brain with knowledge haha :D

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1. Terms

• ovy = ovulation. It's when the female's follicles move into the ovaducts where they are met with the sperm and are fertilized - this guarantees that you will get eggs (not neccessarily viable...but eggs no less)
• gravid = a female who has undergone an ovulation and is due to lay eggs
• "glow" = it happens before a female ovulates. The color of the female brightens to where it looks like a completely different snake
• building = when the female is growing her follicles. She will show signs of being uncomfortable: getting larger, bowl wrapping, sitting on the cool side, laying funny, "glowing", feeding can be described as hit and miss or a garbage disposal, and follicles are palpable
• "het" = means they are heterozygouse for a trait. It basically means they carry one gene but need two genes to express it

2. Timeline

• http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ndom/Chart.jpg
• http://www.jkobylkareptiles.com/pdfs...hedule_Doc.pdf
• http://www.ballpython.ca/gallery/breeding.html
• Also take note that not everyone cools and it can often take many months for this process to occur. It is never like the charts say. The females can be unpredictable.

3. Special Considerations

• You will find that every breeder has their own things that they do...the following are mine
• I offer food weekly regardless (both males and females)
• I pair them for 3 days (unless I visually see a lock), then separate the pair for 4 days to allow for feeding and digesting
• usually you will see the male's tail underneath the female's and curled - this is a lock (http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2561/img0674ki.jpg)

4. Brother and Sister - this should be fine. A lot of morphs are proven by breeding siblings, mother-son, and father-daughter. It's not like in people.
5. Genetics

• A het x het albino pairing will give you the following odds: 1 in 4 chance of an albino, 1/2 chance of a het albino, and a 1/4 chance of a normal
• note: if you get 4 eggs, you will NOT get 1 albino, 1 normal, and 2 het albinos. The above ratios are chances per egg! You could end up with 4 albinos, 4 normals, or a mixture.
• You will not know which babies are het and which are just normals, so when you sell the babies, you sell them as PH ablino (possible het albino). It means you don't know if they are het, but they could be.

I hope that answered a lot of your questions. This is my first season breeding, but this is what my research as taught me.