Platinum Tiger Retic vs Caramel/Blond Retic

[reptileexperts]

Answer this shortly. On my way into work.


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[reptileexperts]

Or.. I can pair him up with a GC het Indo female right? (If i can find one )
I'm wondering would there be any issues in breeding offsprings with their parents or even between siblings for snakes?
I can't remember where but I think I read online somewhere on issues of inbreeding snakes, but that was for kingsnakes.. I'm not sure, maybe I'm wrong.
Appreciate your advice, reptileexperts! And thanks!

There are only 2-3 GC het indo in the US right now, Aubrey Pruitt had, or sold, the only ones.

As far as back breeding to get recessive traits, yeah its not exactly ideal - but heres the thing. Reptiles are very simple in terms of genetic make up, there is not a whole lot of complexity that goes into coding things in their DNA that can screw up when crossing parents to children (inbreeding). In humans, we are very very complex organisms, thus when we inbreed we have a greater potential of crossing lethal genes together that are normally not expressed. These genes are referred to as being "lethal recessives" that is, recessive traits that are not expressed since each person tends to have a few single copies bouncing around in their genetic makeup. The problem is, those in your own blood line (family) tend to have the same recessive lethal genes. So when you breed with a close relatively, these genes begin getting expressed.

In snakes, there are not many lethal recessives that are hiding. We tend to express most of these or till them out due to the large amount of inbreeding that naturally occurs. Is it a good thing to do for many generations? No, this is what is referred to as a genetic depression, you need to add variety to your blood lines as you can. But line breeding / back crossing / inbreeding is something that occurs a lot in captivity, and frequently enough in nature.

(for more information - look into a paper that was written in regards to Timber Rattler dens being isolated by highways which forced inbreeding across many generations. When a genetic depression was noticed - essentially all the members of the den becoming weak to the same thing which can cause a selection event to wipe out the entire colony - biologist began moving timbers from dens across the highways to mix the blood. Now we create wildlife bridges that allow these animals to pass securely to one another, thus increasing the genetic flow, and decreasing genetic depression).

http://www.bio.sdsu.edu/pub/clark/Si...ke_pop_gen.pdf
Clark, Rulon W., et al. "Integrating individual behaviour and landscape genetics: the population structure of timber rattlesnake hibernacula." Molecular Ecology 17.3 (2008): 719-730.

[reptileexperts]

http://noss.cos.ucf.edu/papers/Clark...0al%202010.pdf the other paper I was mentioning specifically - finally found it

Clark, Rulon W., William S. Brown, Randy Stechert, and Kelly R. Zamudio. "Roads, interrupted dispersal, and genetic diversity in timber rattlesnakes." Conservation Biology 24, no. 4 (2010): 1059-1069.

[influence]

Wow! These are extremely valuable information you shared Thank you very much reptileexperts!
I will try to look for a female GC het Indo if available, if not, I'll go the long way.. which is ok I guess, since I'm in no rush. I'm in for the passion for these amazing snakes
And maybe later add some other genes as the studies suggest.

Thanks again!!

[influence]

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So here's the update on the caramel boy! I decided to name him Haro
About 2ft plus, hatched June 2014 from Prehistoric Pets line.
The seller gave me a yellow bar just in case for mite protection, as per below picture:

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I wonder what this anti-mite 'bar' or 'stick'? anyone has ever used it before? What brand is it?
The seller told me not to let contact water and put it in the enclosure, and I decided to put it in a perforated deli-cup in the enclosure, just to protect in from fecal and urate matter. I have not noticed any mite whatsoever on his body, underneath his scale, pits and eye area. (I have provent-a-mite and mite-off on standby).

Anyhow, the snake is super lovely and gentle
A little bit camera shy but he is explorative and always curious

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[reptileexperts]

That's a hot shots. Very powerful do not take it out of the container.


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[influence]

That's a hot shots. Very powerful do not take it out of the container.


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Whoa! but the seller asked me to put it in the enclosure, and when i got the snake, the pest strip is in the temporary tub used to carry the snake (without any barrier like a deli cup) and he was in it for a few days!
A quick google showed that the pest strip can cause a few health issue (i.e neurological disorder, etc) to both snakes and humans, I've already moved it away from my animals as soon as I read it
But I wonder if he is going to be okay? Since he was in an enclosure with the pest strip for a few days before this maybe I should give him a light bath/soaking and do a complete enclosure clean-up.