# Yes or not to breed albinos??



## Marc2013 (Aug 5, 2013)

Just been told today that albinos should never be cross bred and why is this??

Reason i ask is i just bought a blazing blizzard female and plan to mate with my male hypo which is het for tremper albino 

What would happen if say my blazing blizzard is bell or rainwater??


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## paulh (Sep 19, 2007)

Different albinos should not be crossbred. Because it screws up the genetics in the pedigree.

Bell albino x het Tremper albino:
all babies are het Bell albino
AND approximately half the babies are het Tremper albino.

het Bell albino het Tremper albino mated to het Bell albino het Tremper albino produces the following babies:
normal looking. May be het Bell albino, het Tremper albino, both, or neither
Bell albino. May or may not be het Tremper albino
Tremper albino. May or may not be het Bell albino
Both Tremper albino and Bell albino

As all the normals look alike and Bell and Tremper albinos look pretty similar, you can't guarantee what mutant genes are in a given animal. Someone who only wants Tremper albinos is likely to avoid your animals and go to a seller who will guarantee his stock is Tremper albino. And someone who only wants Bell albinos is likely to avoid your animals and go to a seller who will guarantee his stock is Bell albino. So getting the two mutant genes in one breeding line is bad economics.


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## Marc2013 (Aug 5, 2013)

Thank you


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## matty (Feb 17, 2007)

Albino to albino pairings in boa constrictors have been known to throw up deformities such as kinks, blindess & one-eyed neonates. Potentially this could be why you've been told that they shouldn't be bred together? I've only heard of this in boas though, so I'm unsure as to whether it's something to do with albinism in general, or specifically albinism in boas.


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## paulh (Sep 19, 2007)

That sort of deformities only seems to affect Kahl albinos in boa constrictors. And even with Kahl albinos, there are plenty of albino x albino matings reported that do not produce abnormalities in the litters.


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## sharpstrain (May 24, 2008)

breeding any genetic weakness increases risk of negative effects - i am afraid you wont know for sure if there will be a problem until after you have done it.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

We recently had a litter of boa babies out of 2 het albino parents and all the babies were deformed. I would like to say it was genetics but tbh i think its just one of those things that can and will happen from time to time. The thing is is people often see it as a taboo subject and im pretty sure a lot of breeders will hide these deformations from public view to avoid criticism or embarassment


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## paulh (Sep 19, 2007)

selina20 said:


> We recently had a litter of boa babies out of 2 het albino parents and all the babies were deformed. I would like to say it was genetics but tbh i think its just one of those things that can and will happen from time to time. The thing is is people often see it as a taboo subject and im pretty sure a lot of breeders will hide these deformations from public view to avoid criticism or embarassment


This sort of thing interests me because I've produced my share of slugs and babies with birth defects. None in boas, but only because I've not bred boas. So I have no room to criticize others. I do have a thing about vitamin deficiencies and birth defects, though.

Would you share (either here or by pm) the number of non-albino babies and some details of the deformities? I'd like the number because statistically, 1/3 of them are expected to be genetically normal, at least as far as albino genes go. And 20 non-albino babies is more significant than 2 non-albino babies.

And Kahl albinos are supposed to be susceptible to eye defects. If all the defects are spinal kinks, that could mean something.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

paulh said:


> This sort of thing interests me because I've produced my share of slugs and babies with birth defects. None in boas, but only because I've not bred boas. So I have no room to criticize others. I do have a thing about vitamin deficiencies and birth defects, though.
> 
> Would you share (either here or by pm) the number of non-albino babies and some details of the deformities? I'd like the number because statistically, 1/3 of them are expected to be genetically normal, at least as far as albino genes go. And 20 non-albino babies is more significant than 2 non-albino babies.
> 
> And Kahl albinos are supposed to be susceptible to eye defects. If all the defects are spinal kinks, that could mean something.


We had 3 slugs, and 3 still births which were a mix of albinos and normals. 8 surviving all with deformities ranging from missing eyes, severe kinks, overshot jaws and deformed heads. Out of the 8 we had 3 euthanized. 1 then died of natural causes leaving us with 4 babies now all normal. All of them both normal and albino were effected in the same way with no difference to type of deformation or severity. We actually compared all the babies to see if it was due to the albino factor.

Female is a 100% het kahl normal and male is a DH hypo salmon 100% het kahl.


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## paulh (Sep 19, 2007)

Thank you!!!

I think the deformities are due to something other than the Kahl albino factor, too. 

One more question. Has the mother shown any reluctance to feed or difficulty finding the food? If she has been offered food.

By the way, here's a bit of data that I found interesting. Studies in swine show that vitamin A-deficient females sometimes produce piglets with missing eyes. Coincidence? Your guess is as good as mine.

Thanks again!


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

paulh said:


> Thank you!!!
> 
> I think the deformities are due to something other than the Kahl albino factor, too.
> 
> ...


Oddly we had given up on her dropping a litter because she wasnt showing any signs. The only sign we did see was the fact she regurged a breeder rat a month before and then after that could only take smaller meals and wouldnt strike feed and only drop fed which is a 1st for her. 

The size of the babies was odd too because they were pretty large for newborns.

2 of the surviving babies have shed so just waiting for them to decide to eat now


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