"I was really hoping to hear from someone with a lot of major breeding experience, who could give me some idea of the frequency of this trait in their lines if at all. If it is common, which it very well may be due to the "sandwiching" of major between triunguis and bauri (both rear 3-toed), I'll feel more at ease. Frankly, this guy is my only major source right now. Boy, I hope he doesn't read this forum."

Hahahahahaaa... for the sake of your relationship, I hope not, too. When it comes to captive-bred major, I can't help you out. I've always left the ones I've seen down here where I found them, so I've never gotten hatchlings. However, I can confirm that they do "frequently" (compared to easterns) have three toes. Problem is, "here" is southeast Louisiana, and the parents of your animals are not from here. I couldn't tell you how common or not three toes are in panhandle major, as I don't guess I've seen enough from that area.

The good thing for your situation is, we're talking about a REALLY characteristic subspecies, one that we rely more on structure than on color to identify. For that reason, you should be able to tell as your questionable animal gets older. If it's female, there's a chance it could be trickey, since I've seen a panhandle major female that looked remarkably like a larger-than-average triunguis. One important question is, does the seller seem to have any reason for fibbing? How likely is it that he exposes major and triunguis to one another?

The variability I've seen within single clutches of triunguis has been significant. Conversely, some clutches have resulted in hatchlings that all look identical. I figure either one of these could apply to major clutchmates, too, hey? Ben

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