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I am not a geneticists but I do have some rudimentary understanding of it. My understanding is that Jaguars are a co-dominant trait, so about half the offspring are going to be Jags and the other half will be normal coastal. The half that are “normal” don’t carry or pass the Jag trait. If this is true, then why do I see people trying to sell Jag sibs for two to three times the common market value and claming they are brighter and better than common coastal!?!

IF they are brighter or different in any way from the common coastal parent, then they must have some genetic trait associated with the Jag trait. Maybe a morph that goes along with the Jag trait. Following that logic, has anyone tried to breed two Jag sibs (non related) together to see if this “brightening effect” is passed on?

Is this just a case of exaggerated marketing, or is it the reel deal? I would really like to know.

The Jaguar trait does in fact possess a co-dominant nature, therefore influencing approximately half of the offspring from each clutch with the jaguar characteristics.

It doesn't end there. The Jaguar trait doesn't seem to be carried to the next generation by the normal appearing siblings, BUT it does affect the appearance of some of them. You need to take a look at Jan Eric's site www.jaguarpython.com and view some of the siblings that urned out to look like jungles, although no jungle influence is in either of the parents. Also, go visit Soeren's site www.precisionreptiles.com and look at his siblings. Also, go to www.reptilicusreptiles.net and view his sibling page. Some incredible snakes have been produced with blinding colors and amazing eye colors. The pattern is somehow affected as well.

With all of this said, you are correct in assuming there is an affect on some of the normal siblings. It is attributed to the Jaguar gene. There seems to be two parts to the gene anyway. One that affects color, and one that affects pattern. If you ask me these are independent factors that work together to produce the jags, and only the color gene is affecting some of the sibs.

It is not a marketing scheme to rip you off. The entire snake market is founded on a grading scale. The higher quality animals, or shall I say more eye catching, are sold at higher prices. It is no different than the jungle market. You can pay $75 for a hatchling jungle with no background info and HOPE it turns out nice, or you can drop $300 and know you have a much better chance. Same thing with the jags a sibs.

Take a look at my sibling in the thread below. It is an amazing snake that came from a Red Hypo x Banded coastal pairing. I have yet to see any coastal hatch from a normal x normal pairing that has traits like that. Check out Will's site I posted above and you can see some more pics of sibs he produced. I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not they are different that normal coastals.

I’ve been to those sites and I agree, the sibs are hot looking. Yours is also exceptional! My question still stands, Can you breed two (non related) sibs together and get the same affect, or do you get normal looking offspring? Mind you they aren’t Jags, but what an attractive, and less costly, trait to breed for!

I know there have been some sibling to sibling breedings that yielded offspring with similar characteristics as the parents. To my knowledge they have been related pairings. I plan to breed some sib to sib sometime down the road, although it won't be soon enough! LOL. I am sure the sibling traits can be passed on to other generations somehow.

If you ever check out the kingsnake classifieds a guy has been offering some sibling to sibling offspring that originated from the red hypo line. They look pretty spectacular.

I was just reading Will’s site about his plans to breed siblings back to full Jags. VERY interesting! After looking at yours, I’m going to have to get on Will’s waiting list for my own Sib (and of coarse one of his fine JCPs)!

Well, I’m off to the classifieds to see if I can find those Sib to Sib babies! Do I look under Carpets treated with color safe bleach, or stone washed snakes?

Thanks so much for your help!

The topic of "normal" jag siblings still has many more questions than answers. Hopefully this posting will attract more and more jag breeders to provide us with their latest findings. I wish i could contribute with some answers about the Jaguar gene, but in the meantime I enjoy being witness to all the talk.

Either way, carpets have an exciting future ahead of them.

Joe

I too think the normals ask many more questions than provide answers.

I have seen some that I would call red hypo or hypo normal siblings. So are they indeed possessing a trait that is of a predictable nature than can be passed on, or is it a random occurence from the exchange of gene combinations?

Weird stuff.

Time will tell with those jag siblings. I wish i had the money to start my own jag project and find out for myself. One thing is for sure, the Jaguar gene will continue to produce never before seen color morphs long into the future.

- Joe