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I was wondering if it was worth trying to breed a 66% het albino pair to get an albino, being as there is only a 25% chance in getting one breeding a pair of 100% hets?

Opinions?

I'll go back to my original answer - If you want an albino save for one. If you want to be a breeder - you wouldn't be asking this question you'd just do it and see what happens. Please keep in mind, these are living creatures they deserve some respect not they are not "means to an end". With that aside for 66's I'd get a trio just in case.
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Tosha

3.7.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I realize these are animals...all I was asking is if it was worth trying to use 66% hets I found that cost less than the 100% hets. Ive already decided I CAN NOT afford an albino outright, and this IS how I am going to go about it. I just wanted to know what the odds were crossing two 66% hets vs the 25% odds crossing the 100% hets, and if it was even worth it.

With 66's you have the possiblity of both snakes carrying the albino trait or one of them or neither of them. You won't know what you've got until you breed them. If you get an albino you'll know you have two snakes that carry the trait. If you don't get an albino, you may have 2 snakes with the trait, but they didn't show that first clutch or you may have one snake with the trait and the other doesn't or neither of them could have it. Thems your odds.
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Tosha

3.7.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I dont like those odds...I think I'll stick with the 100% hets then

thanks

Odds are just that.....odds. You'll get em or you won't, this batch, next batch or the one after that. That's why it's a no hurry situation. If you want em now you need money now. If not be patient. Everything happens in it's own time.

Quig

so 66% will produce albinos eventually for sure, or its a will or wont kind of thing? guess i must be confused

a 66% poss het albino is either het or it's not. It does not mean part of the animal is het or part of it will be albino. It's just a percentage chance that the animal carries the het gene. The higher the percentage, the greater your chances that the animal carries the gene. If it is het, then chances are very good that you can produce an albino (eventually). If it is not, it will not produce an albino.
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Jay A. Martin

OK, then I assumed right that a 66% may not even have the albino gene. I found a male 100% het albino for a good price, but he's young so I will get him and let him mature and either buy a female 100% het later down the road or if the prices drop on albinos enough, I may buy a female one.

Thanks
Neal

neal, just looking at the time frame. if you are wanting an albino as soon as possible you should go for the female first - it usually takes twice as long to get them to breeding size. so if you get male now and wait a year to get female, it is going to take an addl 2-3 years unless you can find a 1500 gram plus for a reasonable price. top shelf exotics may still have some 1.1 100% albino hets for $550 or so.

i'm in no hurry to get one, just so long as i do. i found a place, i think its top shelf exotics actually that has pairs of 100% het albinos for $650 shipped, and if they still have some available, i am going to go for that deal. i havent been able to get them to reply to any of my emails though

neal

If possible I would save at least for a female 100% het and raise he up. Then buy a het or albino male. The female will take longer to raise up. If you go with the male and raise him up you will have trouble finding a mature female for any price. Save for a female.

Kevin

No - Breeding hets in general is a slow process because even with 100% hets, it's quite possible that you won't get an albino for a clutch or two. When you're working with 66ers and theres a chance that you may have one or two that don't have the genes then it may take even longer to find out. Unless you get lucky on the first try you'll have to keep breeding them out to either an albino or a 100% to find out their genes. If the genes are there then there's an inevitablity but that's if the genes are there. There is also always the possiblity that you get two snakes that don't care to breed to each other. Breeding is not as easy as throwing them together and getting what you want, you need to understand that going in.
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Tosha

3.7.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I'm in the market for a few extra females. I came across someone selling 50% poss het albino females. Since I needed females anyway, I thought "why not". If any turn out to be het, I've done very well. If not, I've still done well as I need the females. And since I already have a proven male albino, I can test these with confidence.
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Jay A. Martin

I think if you breed 100% male to 66% females , that would be your best bet . Atleast the offspring would be possible hets and you can always raise your females to breed back to your 100% Het male. I produced my first albino in 2000 with a 100% het male to three 66% Het females , but the females were purchased from the same person all from the same clutch which made my chances better ..

Each female would have a 66% chance of being heterozygous regardless of whether they were clutchmates or not. The fact that they were clutchmates does nothing to increase your odds.

Just A Thought,
Chris
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"You ever heard of those? They're called parents. We have parents who love us. You don't 'cause you're a little orphan." -- Roy O'Bannon

A pair of 100% Heterozygous Albinos Breed , 4 eggs layed 4 eggs hatch ... One will be a visable Albino .. Two will be 100% Heterozygous for Albino .. One will be absolutly NORMAL but all considered 66% or 33% ... You can not determine which two of the three NORMAL looking Littermates are 100% Heterozygous for Albino But TWO ARE DEFINITLY 100% HETEROZYGOUS FOR ALBINO SO HOW ARE YOUR CHANCES NOT BETTER BY BUYING LITTERMATES .. I understand a 66 percenter is a 66 percenter but when buying littermates I feel your chances or odds are definitly increased then buying one 66% het. from joe shmoe and another 66% het from bob smith .. Dont you agree

The Punnett square is the chance for each individual egg. It's like a coin toss. In theory you should get 5 heads and five tails if you flip a coin 10 times, but that just doesn't always happen. View each egg as a coin toss and you will see each one has a 1 in 4 chance of being albino, a 2 in 4 chance of being het, and a 1 in 4 chance of being completely normal. Since you can see the diff between the albino and the normal-looking ones, that takes the chance for het in the normal looking ones to a 2 in 3 chance of being het, hence the 66%.
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Edited on February 14, 2005 at 21:21:56 by phwyvern.

It's the misapplication of the Punnett's square to clutches rather than a representation of the independent odds of each egg that makes this confused idea that it's better to buy a whole clutch. As long as there is no way to identify het from non het (a big "IF" now days, i.e. pied het markers) then any selection of possible hets is random with respect to being hets or not. The selection of possible hets that just happened to be born in the same clutch is random too and you aren't guaranteed that there are any hets in the clutch to start with.

I also think the idea of selling whole clutches together was a way around having to decide which customers got the markered possible het pieds and which got the ones without the marker. Since the clutch is a random pick the breeder didn't feel responsible for making the pick for the customers who didn't know about the marker yet.