Genetics of Poor Temperaments

I am working on a project that is focused on a Central American BCI with a nasty attitude. I will pair her with a tame male to try and compensate for her shortcomings. Anyone have any experience with breeding the nasty out of snakes? What was your situation and what results did you notice from the offspring?

Is a good temperment really a genetically inheritable trait? I put a little thought into the possibility when I noticed that most ads placed for anacondas say something along the lines of "typical conda attitude". I have a 6-7 foot female yellow anaconda that's literally the calmest most even-tempered snake I've ever met. In the next couple of years after I learn more I want to try to breed her to an equally calm male if I find one I like. I kinda joked to myself that I wanted to produce 100% het for NICE offspring. I pretty much thought I was being foolish..is that really how it works??

That's what I am trying to find out. It seems to me that most everything is genetic to some extent or another. I believe that it is entirely possible that temperament falls into the genetic category. Dispositions must be determined by something. You can selectively breed something into a line and you can breed something out as well.

I always assumed that among animals that rely more on instinct than reason, their temperment would be more a product of their environment than a genetic thing. My thinking was that wild snakes were "nasty" cause they had to be to survive and pet snakes were generally docile cause of handling and a lack of stress. Probably an over simplified view on my part.

I was recently in contact with a guy about his ATBs, and queried the temperament of his snakes and the ability to handle them. Was informed that ALL his current ATBs were handleable, as well as the several generations before that. Told me that his "line" of ATBs had a natural 'genetic' disposition to being calm-mannered snakes.

I definitely dont dispute it...but is this possible?

Everything we are as people is a genetic result of what our parents gave us. That makeup is then shaped by our environment and experiences. I believe it isn't any different for any living creature.

If we breed two nasty snakes together, the vast majority of their offspring will have a genetic propensity for nastiness. The opposite is true if two well manered and calm snakes are bred together. I suspect if a well tempered snake and a nasty snake are bred together the majority of their offspring will have an okay temperament. Some will be on the nasty side and some will be on the nicer side.

So, I'm looking for someone has has some hands on experience breeding a nasty snake and a well mannered snake. What did their offspring turn out like?

Art, I agree, I found when breeding Rottweilers that temperment was somehow in the genetics.

I bred a sweet but small female to a HUGE but not always so nice, over protective male, thinking I could incorporate some of his looks into her niceness. I had 3 puppies, 1 at 3 weeks started to growl and just be nasty, it took all I had to get that out of that puppy, left uncontrolled she would have wound up nasty likeher dad.

I later bred that same female to a sweet HUGE male and had 6 puppies, all were angels.

I am 100% POSITIVE that I am just like my dad, bullheaded, hot tempered and very emotional.

I think that genetics plays into the temperments and emotional parts of for all living creatures.

Interesting, but how then do you explain two siblings with total opposite personalities. Same genes, same environment..totally different personalities.

Well unless they are twins they do not have the same genes they have 1/2 from each parent, does not mean that each sibling gets the exact same genes from each parent, if that was the case there would only be one sex between all siblings.

... hit submit too soon

It has been proven that environment plays a part with twins, but that is something that happens after the genetics.