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Originally Posted by otis lee
both parents where WC from the same ky horse barn . i was just hoping the normal male was het.scotts albinos are not compatible,but are true albinos just diff.lines .its like the hypo/ghost morph in ball pythons.
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I was drawn away from the significant of this birth, due to the incompatibly of the other breeding. Finding a wild caught from a horse barn in Kentucky, is very significant, but now you have offspring from her, and hopefully, you can recover the gene in the next generation.
We have had a few wild caught females Corns that have been caught and it is much harder to recover the gene, than if she was a he. Many people will breed a wild caught to another mutant gene, to get a start on a double homo morph, but I really like that you used a wild caught male from the same location. If your Amel proves to be reproducible, you will have established a line of Amels from a very specific local. Did you catch the female, or do you know who did? Have you considered what you are going to call you line if it is reproducible? Kentucky Albino, or the county and state, or perhaps Otis Albino. I know it is really too early, but it is something to think about.
In the Corn Snake World, we have a few very knowledgeable people who have written books about the genetics of Corns, but he also wrote one for the genetics of reptiles, called Genetics for Herpers. I would highly recommend the book to everybody who wants to learn genetics the right way. Check out this site:
http://cornguide.com/
As will all new genes, the first thing that needs to be done is to reproduce the mutant gene, which Otis is well on his way to accomplish. The second thing to prove is if the gene that is causing this Albino Eastern is the same as the original Amel gene or if it is a new gene located at a different location genetically. The correct term for this type of mutation is amelanistic, or amel for short. Considering the exact local of this Amel Eastern, it doesn’t really matter if it is compatible with any of the other Amel Easterns, but this is information that is very important for future breeding efforts.
From Scott’s site, he list these five Amel Easterns (SCHUETT STRAIN, FLORIDA ALBINO, CARAMEL ALBINO, CLASSIC ALBINO, Kenton County, KY Albino Eastern). Is the Kenton Co., KY Albino referring to this one or is it another? There isn’t only one TRUE Amel Eastern, they all are, except for perhaps the CARAMEL. They are all Amels, but where are the genes that caused them located on the chromosome tree? If they are all located at different locations, then they are all independent genes, that can only be reproduced if both parents carry the same gene, either as het of homo.
Usually the first one discovered is called the “Albino” Eastern, or in this case perhaps the Classic Albino, and any new Amel Easterns that are discovered are either compatible with the Classic Albino, and have different local info, or they are a new gene themselves. As they get tested, they will be given new names to keep track of them and usually a letter is assigned to them to help for example, we have these proven hypo gene in Corns. Hypo (The original) Type A, Sunkissed, Type B, Lava, Type C, Ultra, Type D, Christmas, Type E, and Dilute, Type D. They are all hypomelanistic, but all very different genes. This is important information to pass down with each line, because if the different Amel Easterns are different genes, then it is possible to breed a Amel Classic X Schuett and produce NORMALS het for Albino and Schuett, which would not usually be the goal of most breeders. Normally, it doesn’t make since to mix two different genes that cause Amels, especially if they are of the same phenotype. It would be nearly impossible to tell which is which in the next generation, and even litter mates Amel, could be incompatible due to misidentification.
To test out each line, you have to mix the different Amel genes together, but the information gained is well worth the mixing in one litter. The knowledge gained, will help to prevent Amel X Amel breeding in the future that produce Normals, or worse, Snow X Snow breedings that produce Anery double hets. It is even possible to breed Snow X Snow and produce Normals if the Amel genes are incompatible as well as the Anery genes, which there are also several of.
There are a couple “Albino” Garters, that look to me to be extreme hypos such as the Caramels for example. They could be alleles with one of the Amels, but generally they are not. Believe it or not, genetics can become even more confusing when genes are discovered that are alleles, but different phenotypes. We have proven out two pairs of genes like these in Corns. They are different genes but when combined, they produce a mutant phenotype. In Corns, Amel and Ultra are alleles. One is an amel and the other a hypo. When combined, they are co-dominant and produce an in-between phenotype. Our Striped and Motley genes are also alleles, but in this case Motley is dominant over Striped a Motley phenotype is produced.
It may be time to start some testing with the different Amel Easterns, so we can learn if some of them are caused by the same gene, even though they are from different locals, or if they are actually a newly discovered gene. New genes are very significant, where as a Wild Caught from a different local that is caused by one of the previously discovered amel genes, is still significant because it removes any hybrid questions, but they may not actually be a new gene, but one of the previously discovered Amels.