Does anyone no the genetics to get a leucistics(sorry if spelled wrong) I know the easiest is just to get to but i'm wondering how they came about in the first place.
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Leucistics
insane_racing618
Jan 09, 2009 09:10 PM
Replies (2)
Redmoon
Jan 10, 2009 08:49 AM
If you look through the forum you'll find a bunch of topics about this. But short version- there have been leucistic forms of Texas rats caught in the wild, and leucistic forms of black rats caught in the wild. A bunch of people don't discriminate between the two, and breed any leucistic rat to any other leucistic rat. Other people simply sold/sell leucistic Texas rats as black rats, because black rats are worth a bit more.
Elaphefan
Jan 10, 2009 06:38 PM
As far as I know, there has only been one Leucistic Texas Rat found in the wild since before people started breeding them like crazy. The leucistic Black Rat was also found after leucistic Texas Rats were common in the pet trade. While I am not saying that any of the later finds were natural morphs caused by a single gene mutation, I think that one has to look hard at any such find.
The leucistic trait seems to be a single gene recessive trait. It also seems to influence the "bug eyed" phenotype. Dr. Bechtel noted this in his 1985 paper "Genetics of color mutations in the snake, Elaphe obsoleta" that he co-authored with his wife.
Since for many, not all Black Rats are the same species, abd you are buying a "white sanke". save your money and get a Texas Rat from a quality breeder. I keep WT Texas Rats myself, and I think they are wonderful animals.
Best of lock to you in finding your perfect snake.
Rick
