Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As I understand it,(from a news show) Epigenetics is basically the altering of the expression of DNA over an organisms lifetime...that can sometimes be passed on...but it is not as stable as permanent normal DNA...so you could become an alcoholic, or a body builder, or a high jumper in your lifetime which may possibly alter your genes accordingly and pass it on to your kids(or maybe not all of them)...

Knowing this, are there ways we can use this to advance the morphs? I always heard if you let a praying mantis egg sack hatch in a colored container the babies would adapt to that color. Could we trigger a camouflage response in dragons?

I wonder if there is a way to trigger more spikes for my spikeback/quillback morph dream/idea? hmmmm

any thoughts? anyone else heard of this? its on wikipedia as well
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Bearded Dragons(1.2 orange, 0.2 red, 1.1 citrus mix)
Uromastyx(2.3.9 saharan/nigerian and 1.1 philbyi)
Box Turtles(5.10 yellow and orange easterns)
Gargoyle Geckos(0.1 red retic, 1.0 normal)
Frilled Dragon
Leopard Geckos(normal, red stripe, bell, vegas, jungle)

I don't think they can perform gene therapy. That's science fiction mumbo-jumbo.... All these researches on curing genetic diseases is ridiculous and waste of money and time. They should be focusing on researches that treat these diseases and help make better drugs to treat patience.

I belive Epigenetics are theory. Environmental triggers are all they appear to be.

What in your captive environment could produce/trigger bigger scales? I would suggest exaggerated supplemental minerals and calcium to "trigger" larger spikes. Once the larger spikes are identified, then breed and support.

Steven Barnes

Beardeds color up or down according to their moods and stress levels. Ever hear the expression, "when fired up"? When they are angry or stressed they are darker, and have dark striations on their bellies. When they are happy and there is little stress they brighten up from their normal color. I don't think that this ability is intended to help keep them from predation (camoflauge), but more for socialization/interaction with other dragons.

I can't see the color of a bucket affecting the color of praying mantis babies. Its a genetic adaptation which evolved over thousands of years...green (and whatever colors Mantises may appear in the wild) makes them harder to see in their natural environment. Its the same for all creatures who have some sort of camouflage. Predators have a hard time spotting/finding them so they have a higher chance to survive to breed.

As for your hope for a super spike dragon morph...the only way you can do it is through many years of selective breeding...searching the internet and reptile expos to find exceptionally spiky dragons and breeding them together. Most developers of dragon morphs or any other morph did it through years of selective breeding. Some happened on a representative of that morph through pure chance or luck, but most just did alot of selective breeding.

One advantage you will have that earlier reptile breeders didn't, is the great resource the Internet is. Twenty years ago, there wasn't PC's in every household nor even great sites where reptile enthusiasts can get together to compare notes.

Bearded dragons have been bred in captivity for over 30 years now, maybe longer.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

forum princess... well said.

Steven Barnes

i never tried the praying mantis thing myself...its a story i heard...but i do know that when i was a kid, there was a brown praying mantis living on our wooden porch while there were green ones in the bush nearby...and a grayish/brown one in the cinderblock part of the hothouse...maybe there is something to it, or maybe they just found their niche....who knows. As for triggers....if it can possibly work at all, I think i would need to identify the main purpose of the trait in question, and increase the triggering mechanism(pardon me for brainstorming in text here) ...i would assume the spikes are to keep from being eaten or offer some protection from prickly foliage perhaps? if the leatherback and silkbacks exist is it wrong to assume a quillback is locked in there somewhere too? most ancient forms were heavily armored...
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Bearded Dragons(1.2 orange, 0.2 red, 1.1 citrus mix)
Uromastyx(2.3.9 saharan/nigerian and 1.1 philbyi)
Box Turtles(5.10 yellow and orange easterns)
Gargoyle Geckos(0.1 red retic, 1.0 normal)
Frilled Dragon
Leopard Geckos(normal, red stripe, bell, vegas, jungle)