Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am playing with the idea of getting into Red Ear Slider morphs. I have a few questions first. (Keep in mind I'm completely new at this and have no idea how reptile genetics work?)

1. Why are female Albino's twice as much as males? -Demand only?
2. I have seen advertised 100%, 60%, 50% Het? How do they come up with this probability %?
3. I used to breed birds and with birds if you breed Albino to Albino your chances of getting deformities jumps through the roof. Is this also the case with Reptiles?
4. Does anyone know how to get the Caramel Pink morph? I think this is a type of Albino, but not sure if it's a hypo or melanistic gene thrown in???
5. The pastel sliders are beautiful, but I still havn't really found a reliable source that says how their produced. Is this genetic or the result of incubating temp?

...I think that's it, I'm sure I'll think of some more later though.

I've worked with ringneck doves and snakes to a certain extent. The principles of reptile and bird genetics are the same. Except, as far as I know, turtle sex is environmentally controlled rather than chromosomally determined as in birds. So if you have a good handle on bird genetics, you may be better off than most reptile enthusiasts.

1. Why are female Albino's twice as much as males? -Demand only?

Don't know for sure, but that's my opinion. After all, with males that mate with more than one female, the number of eggs is determined by the number of females in the breeding colony.

2. I have seen advertised 100%, 60%, 50% Het? How do they come up with this probability %?

Assume recessive mutant genes.
100% het. Looks normal, and one parent was homozygous for the mutant gene.
60% het. (Typo??? I usually see 66%) The animal looks normal, and both parents were heterozygous for the mutant gene.
50% het. The animal looks normal, and one parent was heterozygous for the mutant gene.

Whenever you see something like "50% het", what the writer meant was 50% PROBABILITY that the animal is heterozygous.

3. I used to breed birds and with birds if you breed Albino to Albino your chances of getting deformities jumps through the roof. Is this also the case with Reptiles?

In some cases. Yes in the boa constrictor, no in the corn snake. I don't know about RES.

I don't know the answers to the other questions. Sorry.

Paul Hollander

Thanks for your help - that clears up alot!

P.S. Just to express my excitment- I located a juv albino RES male today!!!