Question about Axanthics

[kc261]

I know that Axanthics are simple recessive, that there are different lines of them, and that the different lines are not compatible. So if, for example, you bred together a VPI Axanthic with a Joliff Axanthic, you'd get all visual normals because all of the babies would be het for both lines, but not homozygous for either line and therefore not displaying the Axanthic trait. Is all that correct?

What I'm wondering is if anyone has tried to produce a snake that is homozygous for 2 or more of the different Axanthic lines? This might not be possible, depending on whether the different lines are mutations at the same or different loci (I hope that is the right word).

I was thinking that if such a snake could be produced, it might have less tendency to brown out than a snake that carried only 1 Axanthic line.

[muddoc]

I know that Axanthics are simple recessive, that there are different lines of them, and that the different lines are not compatible. So if, for example, you bred together a VPI Axanthic with a Joliff Axanthic, you'd get all visual normals because all of the babies would be het for both lines, but not homozygous for either line and therefore not displaying the Axanthic trait. Is all that correct?

That is correct.

What I'm wondering is if anyone has tried to produce a snake that is homozygous for 2 or more of the different Axanthic lines? This might not be possible, depending on whether the different lines are mutations at the same or different loci (I hope that is the right word).

I was thinking that if such a snake could be produced, it might have less tendency to brown out than a snake that carried only 1 Axanthic line.

Mike Jollif does have some animals that carry the trait for VPI and Jollif strain Axanthics. Whether or not he has ever bred for the Double Homozygous is not known by me.

[MarkS]

I know that Axanthics are simple recessive, that there are different lines of them, and that the different lines are not compatible. So if, for example, you bred together a VPI Axanthic with a Joliff Axanthic, you'd get all visual normals because all of the babies would be het for both lines, but not homozygous for either line and therefore not displaying the Axanthic trait. Is all that correct?

What I'm wondering is if anyone has tried to produce a snake that is homozygous for 2 or more of the different Axanthic lines? This might not be possible, depending on whether the different lines are mutations at the same or different loci (I hope that is the right word).

I was thinking that if such a snake could be produced, it might have less tendency to brown out than a snake that carried only 1 Axanthic line.

I've seen this topic come up before, but I'm not sure it would be worth all the time it would take to prove. Lets say you bred a VPI axanthic to a Joliff axanthic and got a bunch of double het normal looking snakes. You'd raise them up for about three years to breed back to each other, and you would in all probability hatch out a few axanthic looking snakes... But how would you know which is which???

You only have a 1 in 16 chance of any one of them being the double homozygous axanthic, in the mean time you'd have a 1 in 4 chance of any one baby being either a vpi axanthic or a joliff axanthic. You'd have to keep all the axanthics to raise up for another three years to test breed them out to axanthics of known lines just to find out what you've actually got. And if you find out after test breeding, that you don't have a double homozygous animal, then it'll be back to the drawing board with more time spent raising up babies from your double homozygous clutches....

In the mean time you'd also have a lot of possible double het babies that you probably wouldn't want to hang on to. But how would you sell them? If somebody did buy a pair of normal looking hatchlings from you and succeeded in eventually producing axanthics, how would THEY know which type they had? It just seems to me to be a very long drawn out process for very little potential reward.

Mark

[FIREball]

Is anything different about the Snake Keepers line? I always hear about VPI and Jollif but just noticed the price on SKs site and they seem cheaper than the rest.

[kc261]

Thanks for the replies!

I knew that producing such an animal (and confirming that it was double axanthic) would not be an easy task. I don't think I'd take on the project myself. But at the same time, I bet a lot of people out there would love an axanthic that didn't brown out. So I thought maybe someone might have tried it.

Fireball, the general concensus seems to be that the VPI line of axanthics is best because it browns out the least. So that might be why Snake Keeper sells theirs for a little less.

[J.Vandegrift]

VPI is the only way to go IMO. There is a reason the SK line is cheaper.

[MarkS]

Actually, I'm interested to see how VPI's new line of black axanthics hold up over time. I would imagine that the blacker the axanthic the less likely it would be to brown out.