Het Percentages

[mebigbadbrat]

Sorry. I mis-wrote. She is 500 grams. I was told she should but I know pieds are also known to be iffy feeders. I haven't purchased the pied but am thinking about it.

[RandyRemington]

When ball python morphs where more expensive there was some slight interest in the possible possible hets (anything under 50%). Actually it was only certain people, I find that you are either a glass half full person or a half empty (either excited about the possibility of proving a possible het or fearful of the possibility it doesn't prove). Being an extra generation removed from a known het is a significant difference because even though you know out of a large sample of say offspring from different 50% hets that 25% of them will be het but for each individual they are either 0% or 50% depending on if the 50% parent hit or not.

Now days I'm thinking I should stop mentioning possible het percentages at all. I've run into lots of people who don't seem to understand and keep thinking it's a 100% het. And it honestly seems like some people would pay more for an animal that doesn't confuse them (maybe as soon as they hear "possible" they start thinking they are getting ripped off?).

Anyway, I still like possible hets and have proven three 25% chance het pied girls and a 33% chance but with pied you can cheat because it's simi co-dominant. In several cases the male was also 50% chance so I hit on what most would consider a ridiculous 50% het X 25% het breeding. But my thinking is the only time you know for sure you will not hit is if you don't try. I did prove a 33% chance het caramel this year with no indicators I know of. Am holding back a pied girl that is 25% chance het albino and 12.5% chance het VPI axanthic and two of her brothers just for the heck of it. Not really expecting to produce a snow pied but at least it's possible.

[mebigbadbrat]

Randy,

I like how you think. I am hoping to get my pied girl this weekend. I am very excited! If I hit the odds with a female from her and my albino, then I hit the odds, if not oh well. At least I am trying. =) This is the first year that I have really considered breeding ball pythons. I love my two and think it would be fun to see what comes out.

Thanks
Nichole

[don15681]

If one parent is visual you will always get 100%, as for the rest, what Jerry said = ).

not true, this is where a lot of breeders make mistakes. I just asked this question to V.P.I. and tracy responded to me confirming what I'm going to post below.

example: say you have a normal female that was breed to a spider. she becomes gravid and has a good clutch of eggs. the next year you breed that female to a clown male. she again becomes gravid and has a clutch of eggs. she can still retain sperm from the spider even tho she had a clutch of eggs between the 2 breedings. this is why you should only get hets from someone that knows what they're doing. many mistakes made with hets. and not on purpose, just not knowing. this is why all my recessive males have females that's only breed to them. if I breed a recessive male to a female that can be in question cause of a breeding. I hold it ALL back. I could get into this even farther where even how I breed my recessive that you still need genetic paper work on a het. this is a perfect example of buyer beware.

[loonunit]

I think a 400 gram female won't go next year

Hmmm. Honestly, if she's 500 grams, it depends entirely on what she does this winter. If she eats this winter, you can probably get her up to 1200-1300 grams by this time next year. If she's that bit by November, she'll eat her way up to 1600 grams by the time she lays in the spring. If she decides to stop eating, or skates by on a mouse a month like my super mojave did, she might even lose weight. And then she won't be breeding size by next winter.

If I had to put money down I wouldn't bet on her being over 1000 grams this time next year. But I wouldn't have bet on my pastel two years ago, either? And she gave me 6 eggs this summer. If really depends so much on what they decide to do their 2nd winter.

[loonunit]

not true, this is where a lot of breeders make mistakes. I just asked this question to V.P.I. and tracy responded to me confirming what I'm going to post below.

example: say you have a normal female that was breed to a spider. she becomes gravid and has a good clutch of eggs. the next year you breed that female to a clown male. she again becomes gravid and has a clutch of eggs. she can still retain sperm from the spider even tho she had a clutch of eggs between the 2 breedings. this is why you should only get hets from someone that knows what they're doing. many mistakes made with hets. and not on purpose, just not knowing. this is why all my recessive males have females that's only breed to them. if I breed a recessive male to a female that can be in question cause of a breeding. I hold it ALL back. I could get into this even farther where even how I breed my recessive that you still need genetic paper work on a het. this is a perfect example of buyer beware.

Oh, that's crazy. I wonder how often that happens, that a female fertilizes an egg with sperm from a pairing the year before?

...but I gotta say, the vast majority of the mistakes I see people making with hets and possibles have more to do with just not understanding the math, even for virgin pairings. Or maybe not even really understanding what possibles are...