Okay, it is called a double het because it carries two different mutant genes. A double het (dh) striped albino carries the genes for albinism and striping. A double het for snow carries the genes for albinism and anerytherism (sp?). Now to confuse you a little more, the terms dh for sunglow and dh for ghost are used somewhat incorrectly. These terms describe a hypo het for albino and a hypo het for anery. Since the hypo trait is dominant, these terms aren't exactly accurate, but I believe they are used just for simplicity. So, a triple het would be a hypo that is also het for two other genetic traits (i.e. triple het striped sunglow or triple het hypo/snow).



Now, the stripe gene is a little funny compared to something like albinism. It acts in a simple recessive manner, just like the albino gene, but the animals that get the striped gene are variable. They can be anywhere from 20% to 100% striped. If it is questionable, the breeders will often sell the animal as het stripe since they are not sure. Both of the albino pics I posted are of animals that were sold to me as het stripe, however I believe that either of them could possible prove out to be striped albinos. The only way to prove them when they are so questionable is to breed them.



So, lets confuse you even more. When you breed the hypo gene into the stripe line, the hypo gene tends to bring the striping out in the het animals too. So, if you have hypos het for stripe, or striped hypos, they can be very difficult to tell apart. Here is a picture of a low striped female with a hypo het stripe. Even though the hypo has a stripe, he is just het for stripe since only one parent was a stripe and the other didn't carry the stripe gene at all.



Sorry if I lost you in all this. Please keep asking if you have more questions. I will do my best to answer them.



Matt

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