Wanted to share some interesting insights on the origin of this litter, first described in this post http://www.reptileinsider.com/showthread.php?30693-New-Line-T-Columbian-proves-out!&highlight=albinorosy, and the recent DNA analysis conducted by Dr. Warren Booth.
After some exhaustive investigative due diligence it would seem that the two original hets sold to Chuck Gibbs by a third party, and represented as unrelated Double het Snows were most likely littermates produced by Scott Seavy in 2004. Scott authenticated the receipt showing the sale of these boas. When making his original purchase, Chuck was concerned about breeding related offspring. To satisfy this concern he was told by the seller one of the baby DH snows originated from Pete Kahl, the other from Scott Seavy. Scott never purchased animals from Pete, and Pete did not sell Dh snows at this time. Scott also verified that he did introduce hog island genetics into some of his animals but could not verify that these were offspring of that lineage. As Scott explained, he sells hundreds of boas a year and in addition to direct sales, also wholesales his animals all over the country. This revelation leads to our next revelation.
After completing his DNA analysis study using sheds from my adults and babies, and comparing them to sheds from the “Desert Boa” line, Dr. Booth has confirmed that the T+ albino gene in the two lines is identical. Here’s where the story gets even better.
The “Desert” Line was produced by Jace of AZ Morphs in Phoenix. Jace told Chuck in person at the Tucson reptile show that he purchased his hets from Pets Inc. locally in Phoenix (since closed). This conversation was confirmed by Nate of San Tan Reptiles who was also present at the time. Scott said he certainly could have sold animals to Pets Inc. in 2004. Now, I didn’t do all that well in statistical analysis in school, but I have to think the odds of Scott Seavy’s yet to be discovered T+ gene showing up in two places in Phoenix and developing independently had to be some pretty amazing odds.
Jace’s Desert Line boas were subsequently sold to Rich del Bono of DaVinci boas. They were recently exhibited at Daytona and beautifully photographed and posted on this forum by Jonathan Brady (link http://www.reptileinsider.com/showthread.php?31269-Daytona-NRBE-2013-pics ). As seen on Rich’s website and facebook page, the Desert T+’s appear quite variable. This may be attributable to Jaces original male carrier being bred to multiple boas lines.
At this point our Gibbs T+ litters remain pure to the original (Het to Het, and Het to visual offspring). As such I will distinguish this line as the “Gibbs Desert line”.
If anyone is still with me after this very long post I thing it is worth mentioning the importance of establishing provenance when acquiring any new animals.
There was no reason for Chuck to believe he hadn’t purchased “unrelated” animals. The seller figured either way his buyer would make the expected morphs upon breeding. Everyone would have been happy and no further background history necessary, had not the anomaly T+ popped up. Bottom line, know your sources well!
Serious thanks go out to Dr. Warren Booth without whom this discovery could not have been possible. To have taken the time and expense to have done the testing is truly a testament to the Dr.’s dedication to our hobby.
With obvious bias, I think this T+ gene really is quite beautiful and will be fun to manipulate further with other morphs in the future.
For any other T+ lines that have been subject to question with regards to their possible relation to other T+ lines, science has your answers.
Respectfully submitted in the spirit of full disclosure,
Mike Goldbarg
On a related side note…my work on this project is now complete and I will be focusing in the coming months on a recent health issue. If anyone is interested in working with the “Gibbs Desert” line further, all of the adults and offspring are now available.
