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Albino color question...

geckoejon Feb 19, 2013 11:22 AM

Hello, I have decided to finally break down and go for a new project. I have always liked the look of the bright red albino hogs.

I am looking for some info as far as being able to produce some bright red albinos. I was thinking about possibly getting a male albino and a couple of red females het for albino.

Is there any way to predict how dark of an albino the offspring will be. Are there certain lines / lineages that produce brother red albinos? Does it just depend on the particular animal?

Not sure if any of that will make sense. I have never kept hognose. I have kept a large variety of other critters over the years. I have done my research as far as husbandry goes. What I'm trying to figure out now is the direction to go with a new pair or trio to produce the bright red offspring. Any info or advice? Thanks...
Jonathan

Replies (1)

Rextiles Feb 20, 2013 01:03 AM

I am looking for some info as far as being able to produce some bright red albinos. I was thinking about possibly getting a male albino and a couple of red females het for albino.

Is there any way to predict how dark of an albino the offspring will be. Are there certain lines / lineages that produce brother red albinos? Does it just depend on the particular animal?

It depends on many factors actually because the red color seems to be considered a polygenic trait meaning that several different genes affect the outcome of the red coloration, it's not as simple as, per se, a Mendelian single recessive gene mutation such as Amelanism "Albinism".

The best you can do is to get the reddest animals you can get your hands on and just breed them together in the hopes that the line stays red which will then become a line bred trait as you will usually need inbreed your animals to help maintain or deepen the red color or you can try to keep bringing in red animals to outcross your bloodlines which can aid in strengthening the line as well.

Often times you will see things said like "het red Albino" which is actually an incorrect statement as there is no "het red" part of the "Albino" factor. That animal would just be "het Albino" so the correct usage should actually be "red het Albino" instead.

The thought is if it's red, it might have a higher probability of producing red offspring but if it comes from red parents and isn't itself red, then it might produce some red offspring but the probability could be a lot lower or the offspring less red. There's really no sure fire way of determining either way what you might produce or just how red the offspring will be though either way. I've produced red animals from brown parents and vice versa. Producing nice deep red animals can sometimes take several years of inbreeding until you really instill that trait into your lines but for many it's worth the time and effort.

Hope that helps and good luck!
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

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