Genetics

[poissonguppy]

I, personally, am sort of a purist when it comes to these things and I prefer (although I don't require) that snakes come from the same population.

What do you mean same population?

Haha, a little overload of info/vocabulary. But, I think I'm understanding a little bit of it. I'm not very strong in the basic genetics, so maybe I need a little more explanation... Sorry.

Like in dogs, a golden retriever and a rottweiler are the same species, but different breeds. So in the equivalent of garters, a T. radix and a T. sirtalis are the same species but different subspecies?

Do albino garters occur naturally in the wild? And how do you know which garters bred would produce albino's or not? (I'm just using albino as an example...)

In this particular case, the locality is of special importance, because the Nebraska albino is not "compatible" with the Iowa albino morph of the same species, because the mutation that causes albinism in them occur in different genes, so mixing them won't produce more albinos.

How do you know that they aren't compatible?

[Stefan-A]

What do you mean same population?

A biological population, i.e. a collection of organisms within a specific geographical area.

Haha, a little overload of info/vocabulary. But, I think I'm understanding a little bit of it. I'm not very strong in the basic genetics, so maybe I need a little more explanation... Sorry.

No need to apologize, we've all been there and we've never actually left.

Like in dogs, a golden retriever and a rottweiler are the same species, but different breeds. So in the equivalent of garters, a T. radix and a T. sirtalis are the same species but different subspecies?

"Morph" is the closest equivalent there is to a dog breed, but it's not quite the same. I'd have to do a taxonomy thread to explain it thoroughly (it has crossed my mind a few times), but Thamnophis is the genus and includes several species. Each species consists of smaller units, subspecies. The point of this system is to illustrate how animals are related to each other.

Do albino garters occur naturally in the wild?

Occasionally. What you do, is you catch them, breed them with a normal-coloured garter and then you breed the offspring (which in this case would be all normal-coloured) back to either the albino parent or each other to make that albino trait visible.

And how do you know which garters bred would produce albino's or not? (I'm just using albino as an example...) How do you know that they aren't compatible?

You breed two albino garters and they only produce normal-coloured offspring. If it was the same gene, some would be normal-coloured and some would be albinos.

[zooplan]

You breed two albino garters and they only produce normal-coloured offspring. If it was the same gene, some would be normal-coloured and some would be albinos.

This is wrong:
If you breed two albinos of the same gene together= all offspring will be albino.

[Stefan-A]

This is wrong:
If you breed two albinos of the same gene together= all offspring will be albino.

Thank you for the correction. I thought about checking that before posting it, but I was far too lazy, so I got it confused with what happens when you breed hets. Thanks again.

[poissonguppy]

This is wrong:
If you breed two albinos of the same gene together= all offspring will be albino.

But, if you bred two garters that have the recessive trait for albinism, then their babies would be both normal and albino... right? I'm thinking punnett square, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Quibble]

But, if you bred two garters that have the recessive trait for albinism, then their babies would be both normal and albino... right? I'm thinking punnett square, but maybe I'm wrong.

I believe if they both had one recessive gene, then there's a 1/4 chance for albinos, 3/4 chance for normal but only 1/4 chance they will be normal and not carry the recessive trait.

correct? ish?