WOW! i have purchased couperi from 7 different breeders since 2002 and have produced several handfuls of my own and i have never seen split scutes run that far up the belly. i'm floored. i have seen 4-5 anterior to the vent, and a few unsplit scutes posterior to the vent, but nothing like that. amazing.

i realize that many people are crediting these scutellation anomalies to inbreeding, but let me just throw out there that this hasn't been rigorously tested. there are other possible factors, and a big one (also untested) is diet -- especially diet of the mother. my guess is that those of us conscientious enough to try and get "unrelated" pairs are also paying close attention to diet, offering a varied diet and supplementing with calcium, other minerals, and vitamins. if this is the case, then those who believe we are producing indigos from varied stock are also providing a good diet. so how do we know for sure that these anomalous scales are the product of inbreeding?

we need to consider all the evidence and all the possibilities.

if the pictured indigo is the result of severe inbreeding, then finding a mate that is distantly related should produce more normal offspring. that would shed some light on this issue.

matt

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