Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I don't come on here very often so this may be a stupid question or one that is answered often, so bare with me...
I have been breeding leo's for 8 years, but only normals and carrot-tails. I bought some morphs for the first time last winter and bred a male LVA het for patternless to a female normal and got my first hatchlings about 2 months ago. At first the babies just looked like normals as I expected, but now that they have started to change to their adult pattern, they are increadibly light. Definitely not LVA light, but a lot lighter than any of the babies from my normal crosses. So my question is, will a leo that is het for LVA show reduced pigmentation, or is it just more likely that the male came from a line with reduced pigmentation?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!
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Black Rat Snake 0.1 (Patty)
Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 2.2 (Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 3.6 and babies!!!(Leo, Spaz, Spazzooka, Leiah, Han, Padme, Lonestar, Vespa, and Spot)
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)
Mississippi Map Turtles 0.0.5
(Modelo, Tecate, Corona, Sol, XX,)
Columbian Red-Tailed Boa 1.0 (James Jr.)
Central American Boa 1.0 (Steve)
Longnosed Snake 1.0 (Serano)
Bearded Dragons 1.1 (Adi and Obie)

No visible hets, sorry. Your second theory is possible, though color traits are generally line-bred, not dom/rec.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 Leucistic rescue (unnamed yet)
2.1 Ball Pythons
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Adopted out: Goldie, Leucy, "Q"
Hatched: ~50

That's what I suspected and would support my second guess about the male coming from a low pigment line that wouldn't be obvious since he shows none.

Does anyone know if any reptiles will be visibly het for albinism due to the 50% reduction in pigment production? Or is there something different going on in reptilian genetics where the faulty gene is always ignored for the fully functional? I am a geek for genetics and took every course I could back in college, but I've never really learned anything specific to reptilian genetics beyond the for cash phenotypic expression discussed on most websites. If anyone has a suggestion on a book or a site that deals with the gene expression on a molecular basis, I'd love to know. Or does such a thing specific to reptiles even exist?
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Black Rat Snake 0.1 (Patty)
Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 2.2 (Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 3.6 and babies!!!(Leo, Spaz, Spazzooka, Leiah, Han, Padme, Lonestar, Vespa, and Spot)
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)
Mississippi Map Turtles 0.0.5
(Modelo, Tecate, Corona, Sol, XX,)
Columbian Red-Tailed Boa 1.0 (James Jr.)
Central American Boa 1.0 (Steve)
Longnosed Snake 1.0 (Serano)
Bearded Dragons 1.1 (Adi and Obie)

OK, well I am NOT any sort of expert in genetics, but I have managed to understand basic dominant recessive genes, which is what albinism is in leos. A het looks normal. Actually, isn't that the definition of a heterogenous phenotype? A gene carrier, not expressing, which results in a normal-appearing animal? That's about the extent of my genetics knowledge here, so I'll leave it at that.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 Leucistic rescue (unnamed yet)
2.1 Ball Pythons
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Adopted out: Goldie, Leucy, "Q"
Hatched: ~50

Heterozygous in the terms that you are speaking is single gene autosomal dominance which is only one possible outcome of being het (though for LVA it is the only outcome apparently). That's the terms that most reptile sites and enthusiasts deal in. Most characteristics are not controlled by single genes that are either on or off but rather are the result of several genes that have on and off and sometimes other choices altogether. When an animal is line bred to get a phenotypic response, that is because the phenotype in question is not controlled by just one gene where a single cross can get the desired results.

In mammals, albinism can be caused by faulty genes for tyrosinase causing the enzyme to work improperly or not at all. I am curious if there is any research out there as to what is actually genetically different that causes leos to exhibit their albinism. We know that there are different types of albinism in reptiles just like in humans (an LVA crossed with a Tremper albino will not produce a new albino), but has anyone figured out what is the molecular difference?

Sorry if I'm barking up the wrong tree or babbling of things that no one cares about, but I can't help it!!! I'm a geek and a half about this stuff and a teacher so I can't resist trying to spread the geekness to others...
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Black Rat Snake 0.1 (Patty)
Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 2.2 (Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 3.6 and babies!!!(Leo, Spaz, Spazzooka, Leiah, Han, Padme, Lonestar, Vespa, and Spot)
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)
Mississippi Map Turtles 0.0.5
(Modelo, Tecate, Corona, Sol, XX,)
Columbian Red-Tailed Boa 1.0 (James Jr.)
Central American Boa 1.0 (Steve)
Longnosed Snake 1.0 (Serano)
Bearded Dragons 1.1 (Adi and Obie)

Hey, it's all good. I'd love to "get" more about genetics in general, esp. as it pertains to the herp world. There are some co-dom genes in leos, but they are few, and I'm unclear as to whether any have been actually "Proven" as such. What I do know is that all strains of albino in leos are of the single gene dominant recessive type. I'd love to hear more if/when you figure any more of this out, though!
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 Leucistic rescue (unnamed yet)
2.1 Ball Pythons
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Adopted out: Goldie, Leucy, "Q"
Hatched: ~50