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1. What is the classification (if that is the correct term) of the melanistic gene in T.s.sirtalis (dominant, recessive, other)?
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THe melanistic gene is a recessive gene, and that goes for every snake I have ever seen a melanistic gene in.
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2. What is the classification of the flame gene in T.s.sirtalis?
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The flame gene is co-dominant. If you breed two average flames, you should theoretically get flames with a few that are more than average red. If you bred a flame to a normal snake, you should get some flames and some normals. Chances are, if you take two non-flame snakes from that litter and breed them, you will not get any flames. There is no "het" form of this gene, heterozygous only applies to simple recessive genes, where the snake has one dominant allele and a recessive one. Normally, the normal looking gene is the dominant one, and the oddity (albino, melanistic, etc...) is the recessive one.
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3. Was the info I received correct about the melanistic gene and all babies being melanistic even if the parents carry the flame gene?
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unfortunately, no. If you breed a normal male sirtalis to these females, you are going to get all normal babies that are 100% het for melanism. If the females are actually flames (you don't really know because you can't see it under all that black!) then there is a chance that you would get some flames in that breeding. But it's not a sure thing. The females are either flames, or they are not. They are not hets. If you breed a melanistic male to these females, you will get all melanistic babies, and you will have no stinkin' idea whether a flame gene is at play or not. If you breed a male flame to them, you will get some normals and hopefully some flames that are all 100% het melanistic. If you breed a SUPER red male to them, you have a much higher chance of producing flames, but they still will all be only hets for melanistic.
Your best shot at producing all sellable babies is to get a melanistic male and forget about the flame thing.
hope that helps out a little!!!