hy everyone. i was away while dicussing silkback and i would like to put some more info on these animals.
first point: my english is poor so i hope you understand what i am saying.
after the first silkacks that i have produced i decided to almost stop producing them since this year. the reason is simple: we have done the first breeding with animals which were really close, not brother but cousins!!! so i have worked all this time to increase the genetic distance in my leatherback line crossing them with all animals not related keeping exact record. this it was done in cooperation with josh and vickie and rob by EXCHANGING animals (thanks very much to josh, vickie and rob!!!! p.s i am alive!!!).
as far as i know both josh and the "dachiu's" have done the same and we are starting to see some silkback this year. for all of us there was no rush to arrive to shortly to a result.
i have decided to work only with one line of leatherback, due to my small amount of space just concentrating on what i have. as a matter of fact the two lines are the same gene just popped out independently so the italian line and the ac line are just two lines!
now. this year i have done the first silk x silk, i believe it is the first time that it is done. i have done a controlled breeding: this mean that i was checking the breeding close and never letting them alone...well... the male just took few minutes!!! it was not a big work!!! i have repeated 2 times.
the females have no injuries, one had just a small injuries which recovered in few days, the same thing that can happen to a normal female.
i had a nice first clutch and the babies as expected they were all silkback.
i also noticed that when i breed the silkback with normal animals the result is a "cleaner" leatherback
ok i beleive this is enaugh for a start...don't wnat to bore anyone....
always available for question
alessandro
