Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's been a busy summer and I've been away from the forum for a few weeks but I had to share this...

After scanning the last few pages of the forum one might think twinning is more common than it is, but in reality it's still a rare occurence.

Some of you may recall last year I bred my female het ghost to a friend's butterscotch ghost male and we produced 3 het ghost offspring. This year I bred the same female to my butterscotch ghost male (different bloodline), got 8 fertile eggs and hatched out 9 babies. Of the 5.4 hatchlings, one egg produced 2 females. The mass of the 2 hatchling females is about equal to any one of the 'non-twin' siblings. But how many GHOSTS did I produce? Not a one out of 9 babies. My male butterscotch ghost is a Doug Beard (Fauna & Flora)-produced animal. According to Doug it should be compatible with just about any het ghost except possibly green ghost hets.

So is my 100% "het" ghost really a het? Evidence certianly suggests otherwise. So now I have to update the seller of this supposedly "proven" het and decide on a course of action. It's definitely put a crimp in my ghost-producing project. It's simple math determining the lost income from not seeing what should be about 2.2 ghosts in this clutch. But on the flip-side I'm grateful to have produced even hets with the ghost market being what it is. Odds are pretty good I'll hang onto 2 of the 4 females. It would seem that's the only way to assure of future compatibility with my male ghost.

Anybody experience any similar ghost/het ghost situations?

Scott J. Michaels DVM

Congrats on the twins. This has been an odd year twin-wise.
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The Voices have won!

jeff pfeifer

Scott,

That's tough to say. I'm no expert on genetics but it is my understanding that not all hypo lines are compatible. I think line-breeding in your case might be best to prove out your het.

Is it possible though, that out of 9 babies non produce the trait you are looking for even though both parents carry the gene? Yes, even if unlikely. Remember, it's a "chance" - even if the percentage is high.

I would contact the seller just in case. And document the exchange. It's tough getting an unknown. I have a 2500 gram 100% het albino female that I have bred the past 3 seasons. She has not delivered one egg. And yes she's female and my male is a proven producer. I paid a lot of money for this girl. I would contact the seller just as an update but it seems M. Gembenski fell off the face of the earth. Just keep plugging away.
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Jay A. Martin

I had twins occur in two of my three jungle carpet clutches. I find this odd and maybe the twinning thing runs in my male's genetic background. He bred all three females, they are all unrelated to eachother(including the male).

DM Exotics

Hey, congratulations on the clutch of balls.I`m sure getting that extra baby was a nice unexpected bonus! As far as your ghost genetics go, zero out of 12 with two different males over 2 different years is more than unlucky to me.I would contact the person you bought the "het female" from and try and get some compensation.Not only are you missing out by not producing ghosts these last two years,but all the potential that you may never produce over the reproductive life of that female.Hopefully you bought your female from someone with some integrity,who will stand behind their promise and make things right with you.Just my opinion,Mark

np