# 50 Percent Het For Albino Ball Python Breeding



## GootySapphire (Mar 4, 2006)

So my question is...in order to get any albino babies out of the clutch, I would have to take my Het. albino and breed him with a regular female...take the female babies and then breed those females with another het. albino male? what if there like 99 percent or 100 percent het? how does it work?


----------



## Thoth (Mar 5, 2006)

Don't know how you came up with that breeding scheme but its odd to say the least.
Bear with me the explanation will be involved

50% heterozygous (het) for Albino first means that there is a 50% percent chance your ball python might have one copy of the gene for Albino. So there is a chance your ball does not even have the gene. A ball needs to have both copies of the gene to look albino, since it is a recessive trait. Since your ball is 50% het it means your balls parents, one was normal the other 100% het.  If you want to know with out a doubt if your ball has a copy of the gene, you would do what we call a back cross and breed it with an albino ball, half the clutch should look albino the other half will look normal (they'll be 100% het for albino). If your male doesn't have a copy of the gene, all the babies will look normal (they'll all be 100% het for albino)

So you should be breed your male with either an albino female or a 100% het female.  Breeding your male with a 100% het female will give you, if your male has a copy of the gene, a quater of the offspring that are albino the rest will look normal (they'll be 66% het for albino). If you male does not have a copy of the gene all the offspring will look normal (they'll be 50% het).

If you breed with a female that is 50% or 66% het for albino means you reduce further the chance of getting albino babies. Honestly don't feel like working out the probabilities.


N.E.R.D. has a good series on herp genetics (first two are the most relevant to you)
Part 1
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/genetics_intro.html
Part 2
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/genetics_simple_recessive.html
Part 3
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/genetics_double_recessive.html
Part 4
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/genetics_codom.html


----------



## GootySapphire (Mar 5, 2006)

Thoth said:
			
		

> Don't know how you came up with that breeding scheme but its odd to say the least.
> Bear with me the explanation will be involved
> 
> 50% heterozygous (het) for Albino first means that there is a 50% percent chance your ball python might have one copy of the gene for Albino. So there is a chance your ball does not even have the gene. A ball needs to have both copies of the gene to look albino, since it is a recessive trait. Since your ball is 50% het it means your balls parents, one was normal the other 100% het.  If you want to know with out a doubt if your ball has a copy of the gene, you would do what we call a back cross and breed it with an albino ball, half the clutch should look albino the other half will look normal (they'll be 100% het for albino). If your male doesn't have a copy of the gene, all the babies will look normal (they'll all be 100% het for albino)
> ...



Thanks Thoth. Some guy told me at the Oregon Reptile Show what I posted...so I was going off what he said. Guess you cant believe everyone who say they know snakes haha.


----------



## bengerno (Mar 8, 2006)

And don't forget, you have to BREED ball pythons first!  It is not too easy.


----------



## GootySapphire (Mar 8, 2006)

So I found out my Het for Albino male is 100% percent Het. So would I be able to breed him with a regular female and get some albino babies...or would I need an at least 50% het. albino female?


----------



## Marc_C (Mar 8, 2006)

You would need a female that was either 100% het. or an actual albino for there to be a CHANCE to hatch out albinos. 

The whole 50% 33% 66% nonsense only means that your animals has a chance at being a het or not. There really are no animals that are 50% het. They are either a het or they aren't, it's just something breeders label their animals as when breeding a het to a normal because you have no way of knowing which animals have the gene. To figure it out, you actually have to breed back to albinos or animals that you know are het.

Remember, even when you are breeding an albino to a sure het. each egg only has a 50% chance to hatch out as an albino. It does not mean that half the clutch will be albino, only that the chance is there. Sometimes people get all albinos and sometimes people get none...

Hope this makes some sense...


----------



## GootySapphire (Mar 8, 2006)

Marc_C said:
			
		

> You would need a female that was either 100% het. or an actual albino for there to be a CHANCE to hatch out albinos.
> 
> The whole 50% 33% 66% nonsense only means that your animals has a chance at being a het or not. There really are no animals that are 50% het. They are either a het or they aren't, it's just something breeders label their animals as when breeding a het to a normal because you have no way of knowing which animals have the gene. To figure it out, you actually have to breed back to albinos or animals that you know are het.
> 
> ...


Thanks a bunch man!


----------



## Thoth (Mar 8, 2006)

Marc_C said:
			
		

> Remember, even when you are breeding an albino to a sure het. each egg only has a 50% chance to hatch out as an albino. It does not mean that half the clutch will be albino, only that the chance is there. Sometimes people get all albinos and sometimes people get none...
> 
> Hope this makes some sense...


I don't know about snakes or herp breeding, you're the expert in that regards but with fruit flies and and mice/rats breeding a purebreed for a trait (homozygous) to a sure het roughly half (chi test?) the offspring do end up with the trait, unless there is something funny going on like imcomplete pentrance, gene suppression, linkage et c. Though with very small clutches what you say is true.


----------



## Marc_C (Mar 8, 2006)

Thoth said:
			
		

> I don't know about snakes or herp breeding, you're the expert in that regards but with fruit flies and and mice/rats breeding a purebreed for a trait (homozygous) to a sure het roughly half (chi test?) the offspring do end up with the trait, unless there is something funny going on like imcomplete pentrance, gene suppression, linkage et c. Though with very small clutches what you say is true.


Yup, that's exactly what I am saying. Over a large enough group it should even out to 50%, but in small clutches it can swing heavy either way.


----------



## Marc_C (Mar 8, 2006)

GootySapphire said:
			
		

> Thanks a bunch man!


You are very welcome.


----------

