Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well,ive been offered a 66.6% het albino male,but i want to know whats the deal with stuff like this,i remember a website that explained it but i cant find it.do they not definatly have the albino gene?or is it just not as strong as in others?thanks

Here's a site with info.

Genetically Speaking
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1.1 Python regius (Monty Python & Cheetah)
1.1 Gerrhosaurus major (Falkor & Gizmo)
0.0.3 Cordylus tropidosternum (Rocco, Senna & Zoë)

There is a 66% chance that the snake is carrying one half of the pair of genes that codes for albinism. In order for the snake to be albino, it needs to have the full pair of genes to get that wonderful lack of color. A 100% het for albino bp for sure carries one of the genes for albino, although it will look like a normal snake because the gene for albinism is recessive.

66% het for albino bp are offspring from breeding parents that are both 100% het albino. If you breed two 100% het albinos, the odds for the offspring are 25% normal, 50% het, and 25% albino. So theoretically if you had 4 offspring, you should have one albino with 3 normal looking snakes. You don't know for sure which of the normal looking snakes are hets, so you give them all a title of 66% het albinos, because theoretically 2 of the 3 should be hets.

Confused yet? So if you do buy a 66% het, remember that it can also be 33% normal. However part of the fun of breeding bps is proving them out right?

Mark

thanks,i see.

(im new to ball python keeping, i have one high gold female, nearly 4months old, shes quite big though, 2 and a quarter feet long) so, for me to get an albino, i would have to buy this 66.6(assuming it has the albino gene) and breed it with my normal female, and theres NO chance of any offspring being albino, so i would then need to take two of the offspring,raise them, and then breed them with each other(in breeding i know..) and then its possible that some of their offspring would be albino?

> (im new to ball python keeping, i have one high gold female, nearly 4months old, shes quite big though, 2 and a quarter feet long) so, for me to get an albino, i would have to buy this 66.6(assuming it has the albino gene) and breed it with my normal female, and theres NO chance of any offspring being albino, so i would then need to take two of the offspring,raise them, and then breed them with each other(in breeding i know..) and then its possible that some of their offspring would be albino?

Right. If you bred this 66% probability heterozygous albino snake to your normal female, there is no chance any offspring would be albino.

For best results, you would raise ALL the offspring. Because if the father actually is heterozygous albino, then there is a 50% probability that any given baby is also heterozygous albino. If you only keep two babies, there is a 75% probability that at least one of them is not heterozygous albino. And both must be heterozygous albino before any albinos would appear.

Of course, if the 66%er is normal instead of heterozygous albino, none of the babies will be heterozygous albino.

Mate the father to all the female babies. Get at least 11 normal looking babies without any albinos from each female before quitting with that female. That will give you a 95% probability that a given female is not heterozygous albino. Do this with at least five females. If no albinos pop out among all those babies, there is a 95% (or better) probability that the male is not heterozygous albino.

Once you find some heterozygous females, they can be bred to their brothers or unrelated possible heterozygous albinos to find heterozygous males.

Starting with a snake that is known to be a heterozygous albino might be a better way to go unless you are getting a good deal on the 66%er. Good luck.

Paul Hollander