Quote Originally Posted by PhoenixGate View Post
Okay, so I'm curious now. If Spider x Spider pairings haven't produced a super spider, then how is it that the babies only inherit one copy of the gene? Statistically, there should have been some super spiders in there. Maybe there's something about the gene that simply prevents a zygote from thriving before it ever becomes an egg? I've had enough college and biology classes to think that logically, this shouldn't happen. There should have been some super spiders in all those experiments. The same thing applies to pinstripes.
I'm coming late to this thread, but I don't think the quote was answered adequately.

Statistically, a spider x spider mating should produce some super spiders among the babies. Maybe there's something about the gene that simply kills a super spider zygote either before or shortly after the eggs are laid, long before hatching time. Maybe those dead eggs are simply lost in the shuffle among dead eggs from all causes. I've never expected a 100% hatch rate with my snake eggs. IMO, if everything is right, any rate over 80% is acceptable.

http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~mcclean/...el/mendel5.htm

The above link discusses dominant yellow, a lethal mutant gene in mice. The genetics of the spider gene may be similar, even if the physiology is different.

For what it's worth, I do not think enough statistics have been collected for a consensus about the spider gene to be reached. I have never made a spider x spider mating because I've never had the snakes. But I would have no hesitation making a spider x spider mating. I have made that sort of matings with dominant lethal mutant genes in zebra finches and ringneck doves.