Ok what would you do...

So my plan was to purchase a pastel axanthic female this summer when the right girl came along. I'm aiming to produce firefly axanthics eventually. Well last night I got to thinking wouldn't it be better to have the male be the axanthic? That way I can spread the axanthic around my future group easier. Which way would you go about it. Firefly female or male?

I know I'm going to be doing things backwards when I eventually get a blue eyed Lucy for my pinstripe boy for jigsaws. He's my first so it's sentimental.

IMHO getting males is always a better idea.

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

IMHO getting males is always a better idea.

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x2

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

IMHO getting males is always a better idea.

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The male be the axanthic or firefly/superfly?

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Originally Posted by Marrissa

The male be the axanthic or firefly/superfly?

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Well, axanthic is a slow moving project. It's going to take you at least 3 years. I'd get the male. That way you get to produce several female hets to up your chances of producing what you want. If you get a female axanthic then you'll need to wait 3 years to make a male het, then the next year you can breed them but only get 1 clutch, which reduces your odds by a lot.

Makes sense. I didn't think of it that way. Thank you very much!

I would keep looking for a Pastel Ax female to start raising up now.
And also get a visual male that you could put with any females that you want to produce hets from that are currently ready to breed.
This way you don't have to breed the visual male, produce hets that you will then have to wait an additional 2-3+ years to raise up before they are ready.

The other way you could go is to start stocking up on morph het Ax females to raise up and get a visual male in a year or so to start breeding to the het females you are raising up.

Homozygous males would be better then homozygous females if you had to choose between the two. Getting a axanthic male and putting it to a firefly leaves you open to adding another 1-3 females. Then you can take the half sibling 100% hets together to produce homozygous and 66% hets.

Example:

Axanthic Male X

- Firefly Female (pastel fire)
- Bumblebee Female (pastel spider)
- Lemonblast Female (pastel pinstripe)


Optimal offspring

- Firefly het axanthic
- Bumblebee het axanthic
- Lemonblast het axanthic

Then you can take those combos together to make say a Super Pastel Fire Spider Axanthic, ideally.

The best thing would be to get a female Pastel Ax or Het Ax now...Next year get a male Fire Ax or Het Ax...Boom you could have Fire Fly Axanthics in as little as two years.

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Originally Posted by OctagonGecko729

Homozygous males would be better then homozygous females if you had to choose between the two. Getting a axanthic male and putting it to a firefly leaves you open to adding another 1-3 females. Then you can take the half sibling 100% hets together to produce homozygous and 66% hets.

Example:

Axanthic Male X

- Firefly Female (pastel fire)
- Bumblebee Female (pastel spider)
- Lemonblast Female (pastel pinstripe)


Optimal offspring

- Firefly het axanthic
- Bumblebee het axanthic
- Lemonblast het axanthic

Then you can take those combos together to make say a Super Pastel Fire Spider Axanthic, ideally.

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I'm new to all this breeding stuff, but wouldn't you want to breed the offspring back to dad rather than each other? You may not have as much diversity as far as morphs when breeding sib-sib, but you won't have to deal with trying to sell off poss hets and you'll have better odds of getting axanthics (theoretically).

I think it depends on the size of your intended breeding colony in the future. One powerhouse male can breed multiple females, but one fancy girl can still only produce one clutch per year. But if you get a visual or het ax girl now, you have time to raise her up while waiting for the right fire male to come along, and you have the option of pairing her with your pin boy if you don't find a fire male you like.

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Originally Posted by coldbloodaddict

The best thing would be to get a female Pastel Ax or Het Ax now...Next year get a male Fire Ax or Het Ax...Boom you could have Fire Fly Axanthics in as little as two years.

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lol I never thought of doing that. I'm glad I came on here. My mind was just like oh firefly to axanthic, then breed back to parent. So much easier to get an axanthic with each gene I'll need. And I wouldn't have to worry about hets. Thank you!

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Originally Posted by Marrissa

lol I never thought of doing that. I'm glad I came on here. My mind was just like oh firefly to axanthic, then breed back to parent. So much easier to get an axanthic with each gene I'll need. And I wouldn't have to worry about hets. Thank you!

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You're welcome!

Even breeding back to the parent, I would still get the axanthic in the female, then all you gotta do is wait for the male baby to be ready to breed, vs waiting a few years for the female offspring.