# genetics of the sunset boa.



## ant16v

hi all. i wanted to ask the process of getting sunset boas. i am aware this is the process.

1. hogg island boa + hypo boa = dh sunset boas
2. dh sunset + dh sunset = sunset boa

however there is a thread i jus read where a fello has some stunning unknowns that a percentage should be sunsets. all the boas in question are stunning and n e one can see they more than just standard hypos. they were produced by the second combination above. so in theory a percentage should be sunsets i thought.

i have 2 questions for u.
1.what are the percentages from both of the options above.( and why is it this fellos boas are not sunsets)

2. what would change if the original hypo bred to the hogg turns out to be a super hypo. and how would it affect the offspring.

many thanks.


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## paulh

ant16v said:


> 1.what are the percentages from both of the options above.( and why is it this fellos boas are not sunsets)


hogg island boa + hypo boa -->
1/2 salmon (AKA hypo)
1/2 normal
All the babies would be somewhat lighter than would otherwise be expected because of the influence of the hogg island parent.

A dh sunset is not double het. Hogg island appearance is not the result of a single gene. It's a salmon with a hogg island parent.

salmon with a hogg island parent x salmon with a hogg island parent -->
3/4 salmon (33% probability two salmon genes, 66% probability a salmon gene paired with a normal gene)
1/4 normal
Many of the babies would be somewhat lighter than would be expected because of the influence of the hogg island snakes in the ancestry. Some of the homozygous salmon boas (with two salmon genes) could show an extreme version of the salmon appearance. 

IMO, the best sunsets would be homozygous salmons with the extreme salmon appearance combined with a considerable lightening effect from the hogg island ancestry. There may be an influence from pastel boas in the sunset ancestry, too. 

I don't know why the other poster did not call at least some of his snakes sunsets. Perhaps you can ask him.



ant16v said:


> 2. what would change if the original hypo bred to the hogg turns out to be a super hypo. and how would it affect the offspring.


All the babies would be salmons (AKA hypo). Otherwise, no change.


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## DJ Villa

So a sunset boa is a hypo (common?) x hog island
The lighter ones from this litter with the hypo gene would be called sunsets?

Would the better sunsets be created by breeding out the common influence i.e. pick the best sunset from the above pairing and breed to another hog island?
: victory:


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## ant16v

great answer thanks. i understand most of it. so if the hypo turns out to be a super. all the babies will be a lower % het sunset. but the whole litter would be hypo.

and when u say normal. do u mean normal common boas with the influence of the hogg parent.


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## paulh

There are three things needed to make a sunset boa.

1. The snake has to have a pair of salmon (AKA hypo) mutant genes. In other words, they must be homozygous salmon or salmon//salmon.
2. The snake must show the extreme salmon appearance.
3. The snake must show considerable influence from the hogg island parentage.

Most salmon boas on the market are mainland snakes that have not been crossed with hogg islanders. Most of these mainland salmon boas have a salmon mutant gene paired with a normal gene (salmon//normal or heterozygous salmon). From what I read, sunset crosses are salmon//normal with hogg island influence. They can be from a mainland salmon mated to a hogg island snake or from a sunset mated to a sunset cross.

Salmon boa breeders have posted on these forums that they often cannot tell a homozygous salmon from a nice heterozygous salmon. Some homozygous salmons do not show the extreme salmon appearance.

To make a salmon//salmon, two salmon//normal snakes must be mated. From their babies, pick out the most extreme salmons, raise them, and do a breeding test to a normal boa.

Hogg island snakes have an unknown number of color genes that make them lighter than mainland boas. Selective breeding of the sunsets and sunset crosses to hogg island snakes make better sunset crosses because the mainland (common) influence is being bred out.

Pastel boas are mainland boas that have been selectively bred to be lighter and pinker than most mainland boas. Many of the nicer mainland slamon boas have been crossed with pastel. If such a salmon is used to make sunset crosses, some pastel influence also comes along. This would be enhanced by the same selective breeding used to enhance the hogg island influence.


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## paulh

ant16v said:


> great answer thanks. i understand most of it. so if the hypo turns out to be a super. all the babies will be a lower % het sunset. but the whole litter would be hypo.
> 
> and when u say normal. do u mean normal common boas with the influence of the hogg parent.


If the hypo is a super (salmon//salmon), then all the babies from a super x hogg island mating are salmon//normal and are sunset crosses. The young may show varying amounts of hogg island influence in the coloration. That is not predictable.

When the hypo is salmon//normal, we expect approximately half the babies from a hypo x hogg island mating to be salmon//normal and be sunset crosses. The young that are normal//normal (no salmon gene) are just mainland x hogg island crosses.

Sunset crosses are salmon//normal plus hogg island influence. I would not expect to be able to see a difference between sunset crosses from a salmon//salmon snake and from a salmon//normal snake.

When I used normal in my previous posts, I meant that they did not have the salmon gene.


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