none locallity specific bci morp list

[Evenstar]

So I'm going to bring back up the issue of the hog island hypo again. Everything I read about it, it is a polygenetic trait. With that being cut and dry, we don't know how many genes and all that, actually cause the trait. So we can't really have it in the calc, since it isn't really giving out anything close to accurate answers.

What is still throwing me off is how the heck someone can have a polygenetic trait in a combo name, I mean how the heck do you really define anything with hog island in it? 4 generations down the line after making the bloody sunrise, how can you tell me that snake is different than a super sunglow blood? How can you tell me any variation is caused by the hog island hypo vs the potentially thousands of other genes that have an effect on appearance?'

You have something undefined and use it to define something else, wth boa people?

I tend to agree with not having that in the calculator - at least not yet until we get some better answers.

I am unsure enough that I don't want to express a personal opinion on how the gene(s) work. But here are a few facts to consider:

1) I had never before heard that Hog Islands were ALL hypos until we got into this subject here - even though I do agree that their coloration is very characteristic of the hypo gene.

2) I do know that there are normal Hogs and "Hypo Hogs". If all Hogs are hypo, how can there then be a "Hypo Hog" that is visually different from the normal Hog??

3) I had heard from several noted Hog breeders that a "sunset" was a hypo hog x hypo colombian. That does not mean that there is a difference between the two hypos - what it means is that there is BOTH hog and colombian blood AND the snake is a SUPER HYPO (because both parents were hypo - but this part cannot be proven until the snake is bred. This animal is sometimes referred to as a "possible sunset" or "het sunset" until it produces - and I HATE that "het" is used here as that is not what the word means - grrrr).

4) There IS a super form of the hypo gene. If both parents are hypo, 50% of the babies will be hypo, 25% will be normals, and 25% will be super hypos. A Super Hypo in turn cannot produce anything but a hypo even if bred to a normal. The hypos and super hypos do NOT look the same - there are very subtle differences. The problem is that, due to the natural variations of the gene's expression, we cannot say with absolute certainty that the "possible super" will prove out until it is bred. This is true in BOTH Hog Islands and in Colombians.

This is just food for thought. I am going to see if I can call a couple of friends/breeders with more experience than me over the next few days and see if we can figure out just what is what.