Posted by:
RandyRemington
at Sun Jun 8 08:58:30 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by RandyRemington ]
I was poking around to see if there was a lab offering paternity tests for reptiles but didn’t find one yet. It looks like human paternity tests are around $200.
I'm not expert but I'm thinking that a test has to be developed specific to the species. If this is the case, there probably isn't enough demand for anyone to develop one.
If there could be a more generic test (presumably with less certainty) that could be economically applied to multiple species I think there would be a market for that.
With the possibility of sperm retention or maybe even parthenogenesis some might want to pay a few hundred extra on high $ hets to have a test documenting that the morph male was the father. I would think a paternity test would be much more realistic at this point than an actual test for the mutant gene which would have to be identified (a veritable needle in the haystack). Maybe we aren't yet at the point where snake paternity testing is an option but I bet we are getting there.
With a good picture to positively identify the individual snake and a genetic test to verify paternity I would think there would be little risk for either side other than the normal risk of an animal dieing or not reproducing.
The biggest remaining catch is what is proof that an animal wasn’t a het. How many eggs do you need to hatch? What was it bred to (could there have been a mix-up with the purchaser’s breeding)? Breeder A could suspect that it’s breeder B’s “het” male and not his “het” female that is at fault.
And then you get into the whole thing of how to make it right. Can the animal just be replaced with another (proven?) of the same size? This would thwart the person who just wants their money back because prices have fallen.
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Genetic Tests - RandyRemington, Sun Jun 8 08:58:30 2003