how does the motley gene work

Originally Posted by chris1968

So the hypo pair I have would produce hypo's and possible "super" hypo's, correct?

and normals

Originally Posted by hhmoore

I'm running these off the top of my head, so I'm not calculating odds for each:

hypo het albino, super hypo het albino, sunglow, super sunglow, motley het albino, motley albino, hypo motley het albino, motley sunglow

As above, minus the hets...sunglow, super sunglow, motley albino, motley sunglow

Albino, sunglow, albino motley, motley sunglow

Keep in mind that the odds/percentages for each are statistics, and that they pertain to each baby individually. (For the last case, each baby has a 25% chance of being albino, 25% chance of being sunglow, 25% chance of being albino motley, 25% chance of being sunglow motley.) The number of each actually found in any given litter can vary greatly because the sample size is not "statistically significant" (which just means that it is too small to apply statistical values). Applied over a large enough sample size - it will average out, and be similar to the per baby percentages.

i gotta say for a " tired and cranky moderator " youre the most helpful moderator ive ever come across on any forum site!

THANKYOU!

Grrrr - this is the third attempt at getting this post to go through....fingers crossed:

Originally Posted by chris1968

So the hypo pair I have would produce hypo's and possible "super" hypo's, correct?

I should probably clarify, since my previous response to this was short. Hypo x hypo will yield normals, hypos, and super hypos.....hypomelanism (in boas) is considered an incomplete dominant trait - not quite the same as codominant, because you can't always reliably tell the difference between the heterozygous and homozygous form. That's where the "possible supers" come in to play....you can have a spectacular hypo that looks like a super, but isn't; or a less than spectacular homozygous (super) hypo that you wouldn't be able to call. A lot of people just label supers by look; and, if they stick to the "obvious"ones, they'll probably be right much of the time. But they'll still be wrong part of the time. It's no big deal labeling a super as a hypo - the customer lucks out on that one....but mislabeling a hypo as a super screws the buyer out of time and money (both in terms of initial cost, and not producing the babies that were anticipated). For that reason, I wouldn't label anything a super unless it is proven....or it is from a pairing of two proven supers.

Appreciate the info Harald :*)