Wow, man, definitely a roller coaster. I feel bad for your losses but am still happy to here that your project (mostly) panned out. I hope you figure out what happened.



Are the Sire and Dam related at all? I'm wondering if there is a possibility of genetic defect. It wouldn't have to appear as some sort of deformity, but could be a metabolic, hormonal, or some other form of internal or chemical genetic defect. It seems odd that you are only losing the morphs. Strictly speaking the morphs that reptile hobbyists breed for are genetic defects/mutations and can have greater consequences than simply color and pattern changes. All types of defects and/or mutations can arise - everything from kinked spines, blindness, defective liver function, cardiac problems, even neurological difficulties and chemical imbalances can be triggered by an animals genetics.



If the sire and dam are related I would suggest possibly trying to breed the dam to an unrelated male in the future... preferably from a different breeder. I'm not saying the breeder you purchased them from is incompetent or anything like that, but purchasing from someone else would reduce the likelihood of receiving a related animal.



If your sire and dam are unrelated, I would still suggest attempting to breed the dam to a different male in the future. Maybe you could try a breeding loan with someone near you? Just be sure to let them know the difficulties you've had with this litter.



I would try for the same morphs in the breeding loan (have the other breeder do the same). This way you can see if the litters produced by either your sire or dam have the same types of fatalities in the breeding loan. If so, you would know which of your animals is the cause (carrier of the "bad" gene(s)... if it is a dominant trait) and would be able to move that animal into your "strictly pets" part of your collection.



This would end up being more of an experiment than a typical breeding and I would make sure that the other breeder knows this and to be fair, I would split both clutches with the other breeder... instead of keeping the neonates you each produce. That way if either your sire or dam does turn out to be a carrier of a lethal combination of genes - neither you or the other breeder would feel too cheated on the deal.



Also, if this were to turn out to be the case I would definitely contact the breeder you purchased the animal from and let them know about your findings. I would do this now anyways and see if maybe they have had any similar troubles with their collections (hopefully, they will be honest about it if they have).



Part of what makes reptile breeding so interesting is the gamble. We never know what will hatch or be given birth to and we can never completely predict anything from one clutch or litter to another. If it weren't for the lows, even the highest of the highs wouldn't seem so sweet.

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