What produces what?

[AaronSB]

So there may already be a thread about this, but I haven't seen it. I am wondering if there is a list of boa morphs that can be produced by breeding two morphs together. If you breed a motley + albino, what do you get? Or... Pastel + jungle. Hypo + pastel. Etc. I'm just wondering if there is a "textbook" compilation of pairings that have been tried and what they produced.

Also, if someone could explain VPI and T+, that would be awesome. Thanks!

[Reinz15]

Re: What produces what?

Ok, I'll kickstart this.

Don't know about the handbook on genetics. But as far as VPI-

VPI is a well respected company/large breeder in a South Texas near San Antonio. They have extensive Bp, Boa, and other Python collections. They do offer snakes for sale. They have published nice informational reference books as well.

Check out VPI.com

[Pandorasdad]

Re: What produces what?

There's this over in the Genetics Forum.

http://www.redtailboas.com/f115/what-do-you-get-when-you-breed-what-what-14551/

It's a great place to start and will probably answer most of your questions.

[taxcollector]

Re: What produces what?

Also, if someone could explain VPI and T+, that would be awesome. Thanks!

VPI is T+. Albinos lack tyrosinase which is what creates melanin in an animal. melanin is color pigment. So lack of tyrosinase creates an albino animal. a T+ ( a.k.a + for tyrosinase ) is still an albino animal but it has small amount of tyrosinase in it causing a hypo look, but again it is still an albino. So there is T+ albinos, kahl albinos and sharp albinos. All 3 are different strands of albinism and none are compatible with either of the other 2. Meaning if you bred a Het kahl to a Het kahl you will get Kahl albinos. If you breed a het kahl to a het sharp or het T+ you will get babies Het for both. Follow? VPI is a T+ strand of albinism. It makes some pretty cool stuff. If you have a moonglow boa ( albino, anery and hypo ) the pattern will be almost invisble because of all the genetics removing tyrosinase from the animal. If you have a T+ version of albino in a moonglow the pattern becomes visible creating some stunning animals. If you want to play around with a genetics calculator, OWALREPTILES.COM is a great place! I use it a lot. Hope all that blabbing helped!

[paulh]

Re: What produces what?

T+ or T-pos stands for tyrosinase positive. T- or T-neg stands for tyrosinase negative. Tyrosinase is the enzyme that catalyses the first two steps in the production of melanin, the black pigment in the skin.

A T-neg snake is albino because it has no tyrosinase. A T-pos snake has tyrosinase. A T-pos snake may be albino because of a non-tyrosinase-related genetic mutation. Or a T-pos snake may be less dark than a normal snake because of impaired but still functioning tyrosinase. Or a T-pos snake may be less dark than a normal snake because of a genetic mutation that affects some step in melanin production that is unrelated to tyrosinase. Clear as mud?

If you do not get that explanation, no sweat. T-neg and T-pos are meaningless buzzwords. They sound scientific but do not help us understand anything. Kahl albino may be T-neg or T-pos. Sharp albino may be T-neg or T-pos. Or both may be T-pos. Nobody knows because nobody has run the necessary biochemical tests. It is very unlikely that both are really T-neg, despite what people of the forums say. Hope that helps.

[paulh]

Re: What produces what?

... I'm just wondering if there is a "textbook" compilation of pairings that have been tried and what they produced.

...

I once make a program to compile all possible outcomes of matings involving the hypo, Kahl albino, and anerythristic mutant genes. Result: 729 matings. The huge number is is why there is no textbook compilation. What you need to do is use a genetics calculator. or learn Mendelian genetics. There is a sticky in the genetics forum that will help with that.

Motley x albino is a two gene pair genetics problem.

Motley gene pairs:
Gene pair 1: a motley gene and a normal gene
Gene pair 2: two normal genes

albino gene pairs
Gene pair 1: two normal genes
Gene pair 2: two albino genes

The babies get one gene from each parent's gene pair 1 to make the baby's gene pair 1. And each baby gets one gene from each parent's gene pair 2 to make the baby's gene pair 2.

Motley mated to albino produces
1/2 motley het albino (gene pair 1 = a motley gene and a normal gene; gene pair 2 = a normal gene and an albino gene)
1/2 normal looking het albino (gene pair 1 = two normal genes; gene pair 2 = a normal gene and an albino gene)

Pastel is multigene so does not work by Mendel's rules.
Good luck.

[AaronSB]

Re: What produces what?

Thanks for the info everyone! This stuff is just so interesting to me.