Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been looking at classifieds here and I dont understand words like "100% het albino" ot "50% het albino". What do they mean?

ok, here goes.

Albino is a recessive trait. This means that in order for that trait, like albinism, to be expressed, the snake must have 2 copies of the gene; one from each parent.
So let's say you breed an albino to an albino. Both albino parents have 2 copies of the gene, so they each give one to the babies, making the babies albino.

Now, let's say you breed an albino to a normal.
The albino passes on it's albino gene, and the normal passes on it's normal gene.
The babies are all het albino. This means they carry one albino gene, but since they need two to BE albino, they look normal. This means there is a 100% chance those babies are het for albino.

Now...if you bred a het albino to a normal...the het albino can pass on either it's albino gene OR it's normal gene. The problem is...you can't tell a het albino from a normal baby, so you would say that the babies from that clutch are 50% het albino...meaning each baby has a 50% chance of being a carrier of the albino gene.

Make sense?
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If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

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Good explanation
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Sed et serpens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terrae quae fecerat Dominus Deus...

As stated, the albino mutant gene is recessive to the normal gene. The following breakdown applies only to recessive mutant genes. The breakdown is different for dominant and codominant mutant genes.

100% (probability) het albino = a long way of writing het albino = looks normal AND had one albino parent. The other parent is either normal or het albino.

50% (probability) het albino = looks normal AND had a het albino parent and a normal parent.

66% (probability) het albino = looks normal AND had two het albino parents.

less than 50% probability het albino = had either one or two 50% or 66% het albino parents. Not worth paying more than for a normal.

Paul Hollander

Check out the link below for our FAQ on simple genetics, including some photo examples.
Pro Exotics FAQ on simple genetics

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robyn@proexotics.com

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