Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I'm thinking about a VERY SMALL western hog breeding project. One male, one female. I love them but don't have time to do anything big. I'm looking at possible breeders now. Someone told me it's better to breed a visual to a het than two visuals. (I'm calling them the right thing right? If it's obviously an albino, it's visual?) Is this true, and why? And what does 100% het, 66% het and 50% het mean? Those are the three %'s I usually see, if someone lists the percentage at all. And does it make a difference which is visual, the male or the female?
Thanks SO much for everyone's time.

>>Hi, I'm thinking about a VERY SMALL western hog breeding project. One male, one female. I love them but don't have time to do anything big. I'm looking at possible breeders now. Someone told me it's better to breed a visual to a het than two visuals. (I'm calling them the right thing right? If it's obviously an albino, it's visual?) Is this true, and why? And what does 100% het, 66% het and 50% het mean? Those are the three %'s I usually see, if someone lists the percentage at all. And does it make a difference which is visual, the male or the female?
>>Thanks SO much for everyone's time.

Usually it's a better practice to breed visual to het with some genes (albino being one).

- You get 100% Hets from breeding a visual to a normal. 100% Het means the animal carries the gene for sure.
- You get 66% Hets from breeding 100% X 100% Hets together. Out of that breeding (with perfect odds, every 4 eggs) you would get 2 100% hets, 1 normal, and 1 visual. Since you don't know the hets from the normals you call all of the non visuals 66% Hets.
- You get 50% Hets from breeding a 100% Het to a Normal.
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Greg Bennett - Western Hognose Morphs
520.Hognose (520.464.6673) - www.bennettreptiles.com

Thanks Greg. That makes the % issue very clear. Why isn't it good to breed albino to albino? Does it weaken the line?