Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's the story...I purchased a male and female Alterna x Ruthveni that I was told were 100% Het for albino. I bred them this year and produced 11 eggs. 6 hatched, 2 dead in egg, 3 deformed. 0 were albinos. Was I lied to or just got unlucky? I understand that the probability should have been for 25% albino, or two snakes. Also, with the alterna x ruthveni hybrids, why do they always come out looking like alterna?

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Snakes to the Max

I would wait another year before coming to the conclusion you were lied to, but you might have been - or the dealer may have shipped the wrong snake(s) to you in an honest but careless accident.

Mathematically speaking - the odds of not getting an albino if both are het and you got 8 eggs should be (3/4)^8 * 100% = 10%

Those are low odds, but not low enough to indicate you were lied to. Now if it happens next year, meaning they produced 16 young with no albinos, that's 1% odds and your pair are not both HETs.

Did you buy them from a reputable dealer?
I don't think you can say who it is on the forum due to the TOS - but you should be able to indicate wether or not they are a "well known" dealer.
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3.0 WC; 0.2 CB L. getula californiae
0.1 WC; 10 eggs (7/11) Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

that's 1% odds and your pair are not both HETs.

should read

that's 1% odds and your pair are in all probability not both HETs.
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3.0 WC; 0.2 CB L. getula californiae
0.1 WC; 10 eggs (7/11) Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Well, I didn't purchase them from a well known "dealer", just a guy from the classifieds. I guess I just won't worry about it, and see what happens next year...Thanks for the response.
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Snakes to the Max

Do all of the hatchlings look similar? It may not be albino, but the baby pictured is still one darn good looking snake. Please post pics of the parents for a comparison--thanks for sharing.

rgds,
althea

Althea,

The hatchlings do all look similar, with basically the only difference being some variation on the color of orange on the saddles. There is one with a neat black head. Here are pics of the parents and one pre-shed pic of the blackhead...

Male

Female

Blackhead

-Max-
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Snakes to the Max

I thought I resized it properly, sorry...I guess I need to use the "preview message" feature
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Snakes to the Max

1.2 Variable Kingsnakes
1.1 Grayband x Ruthveni
0.1 Western Massasauga
1.1 Jungle Carpet Pythons
1.1 Pastel Red-tail Boas
1.0 Lavender Motley Cornsnake
0.0.14 Hatchling Variable Kingsnakes
0.0.7 Hatchling Grayband x Ruthveni Kingsnakes