Ralph Davis Reptiles - The Martrix

HETS...WHAT_ARE_THEY? (Part 1)

This is for all of you guys and gals out there in snake land who do not quite understand what a "Het" or a "Possible Het" is................and all the other terms used............... I'm going to explain this in easy to understand terms for you........in Ralph's words...........as I see it.......some may disagree & & &..

List of terms used off the top of my head are.........( I will touch each one in more detail after I set up the list ) & & & &this is all "from the hip" tonight & & &.I felt like writing & & & &..so here is fifteen minutes worth for you & & & & &J

1."Het"........this is short for Heterozygous &.plain and simple & & & &..

2."Poss Het"........this means Possible Heterozygous...........it can be 50% poss het..........or 66% poss het........

3."Probable Het".........this term is not used much.........but usually is referring to a 66% poss het animal......meaning it is "probably a het" & & & &lame description in my opinion & & &..

4."Poss Poss Het".........yes.......this is also a term used.........this to me means a 25% possible het animal.........."it is possibly a 50% possible het" & & &LOL

5."Homozygous"...........this means that the animal is "showing" it's mutation or trait.......like the animal IS a Piebald or IS an Albino or IS Axanthic etc..............short for this would be Homo & &

Ok.......there is your small list of terms we Breeders use to identify our snakes......now I will talk about each one in more detail........remember ..........this is not clinical........this is just the way it is........no bells or whistles...........Ralph's words...............

1. Het......short for Heterozygous.........so when you see snakes for sale that are being called "Hets"........this means that they are normal looking......."wild type"...........but they are carrying a gene for a simple recessive trait........like albino ,piebald, axanthic etc............. To be a "Het"........the baby snake had to have at least ONE parent who was Homozygous.........meaning.....anytime a Homozygous animal is bred to a normal or a Heterozygous animal ..........Hets will be produced...........so if I was a Piebald ball python.........and my wife was a normal ball python...........we breed........our baby is Het for Piebald......"my trait".......because I'm Homozygous for a simple recessive trait.....our baby would not be PIED like me..........it would be normal looking like mom.........but carry my PIED gene..........it is a baby Heterozygous for PIED........... Ok.......enough human comparison.......you want to know what the heck to do with a het now...........

Hets.......when bred to each other will produce some Homozygous offspring............

Example..........a het for albino bred to another het albino will produce Homozygous , Heterozygous and normal offspring.........easily said ........in 4 eggs...........1 baby should be visible albino ( yellow and white )..........2 babies should be Het for albino.........and 1 baby will be normal.......the 2 that are het and the 1 that is normal will look completely normal........out of the 3 you will not know who is het.........all you know is you hatched out 1 white and yellow baby and 3 normal looking ones..........the 3 normal looking ones are all 66% possible het for albino..........easily said..........this means that out of those 3 baby normal looking ball pythons...........2 of them are HET...........1 is NOT..........66% of the 3 babies are het ( 2 ).........33% of the babies are NOT het ( 1 ).....this is all according to the genetic rules and squares yada, yada, yada...........

I myself have had much better odds.........but this is an average and will explain things more......

Rules of the "het" are simple.....you can not produce babies that will be labeled 66% possible het unless you breed 2 hets together.....period!!!!!.......a 66% possible het better have shared incubating space with a baby who visibly showed the recessive trait you were looking for.......this means that if you hatch out 4 eggs from a het for pied x het for pied breeding......1 of the 4 babies better had been a pied!!!!.....now you know that you were in fact breeding two animals with the same gene because you produced a baby pied.....so now you know that the other normal looking ones are 66% poss hets.....not 50% or het or anything else.....they are just 66% possible hets.....

So to follow up this section.....het means the snake is carrying a gene inside a normal looking body.....the gene needs to be bred out of it to produce the final product.....which is HOMOZYGOUS!!!.....this is done by breeding hets together.....or hets to homos.....bottom line is that you can not get what your after unless you have bred the TWO genes together.....

Het is so simple.....the gene is "ON" or it is "OFF".....someone selling you a het will be selling a "ON"gene.....someone selling you a poss het 66% or 50% will be selling you a "???"gene.....possibly "ON" or possibly " OFF "..... you will have to prove it out your self.....play "find that gene".....its soooooooo much fun!!!! ( That "rant" is on this board.....further below.....on how to work with poss hets )

Het X Het breeding = 25% homo ,50% het and 25% normal produced.....this adds up to 100%.....take out the homo and you are left with 75%.....these will ALL be normal looking but most should be hets.....remember.....odds may vary according to what cloud your under.....Ralph's cloud has been good to him.....I have bred het x het.....4 eggs.....3 albinos.....yep!!

Het x Homo breeding = 50% homo and 50% het produced.....that's right.....4 eggs.....2 should be albino and 2 should be het.....worst case.....ALL will be het.....a homo was involved.....so ALL the babies are at least HET.....

Homo X Homo = ALL Homo's.....albino x albino produces all albino babies.....every last one!!! ( I like to use albino in most of my examples.....it is a popular simple recessive trait......simple recessive to me means that the trait does not show up on the first breeding.....it must be bred back or within itself to be reproduced )

Possible Het.....means that the animal could "possibly" or "probably" be carrying a simple recessive gene.....You can NOT produce possible hets when a Homozygous animal was one of the parents.....they would all be hets...... Possible hets are normal looking offspring.....be it pythons or boas.....they all will be normal looking.....just like a "Het".....the difference is.....there is no guarantee of them carrying a gene other than a 50% or 66% chance.....TRUST YOUR BREEDER PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!! Lets do the 66% possible het first.....we talked about this above.....this is a normal looking snake.....it HAS to have two parents who BOTH were HETS..... Rule is.....a 66% poss het was produced from a het x het breeding.....this is sometimes a "probable het".....meaning that it has a 66% chance of being het.....and a 33% chance of NOT being a het ( Normal ).....66% chance the gene is "ON".....33% chance the gene is "OFF".....so some people will say that it is "Probably a het".....I say 66% is better than 50%.....that's that.....66%er's are more valuable and expensive than 50%er's.....this is because the odds shift in the favor of the 66%er's of actually being het.....thus you are playing better odds.....

A great combo that I like is breeding a HET male to several 66% poss het females.....you know his gene is "ON".....you do not know which of the girl's genes are "ON".....so you breed the het male to the poss het girls and hope to produce baby "homos".....which ever 66% girl produced homo babies is now a "true het".....she is no longer a cheep poss het.....she is now a way expensive het that you proved out yourself.....and at a bargain price compared to a Het price!!!.....remember this though.....het x het does NOT have to be nice to you.....it may not give you baby homos.....it can happen.....and has happened to people I know.....it is called bad luck!!!!!!!!!.....keep trying.....try to get the egg count higher.....this will increase your odds!!!.....

That is why it is important to breed your girls when they are bigger.....it is well worth the wait to get more eggs out of a large female than to risk bad odds with a smaller female.....remember.....het x het will only produce 25% homo.....out of 4 eggs.....this is 1 homo.....this is easy to miss in 4 eggs..... Now lets do the 50% possible het.....this means that one parent was a HET for sure.....and the other was normal..... Het x Normal = 50% het and 50% normal.....4 eggs......ALL will be normal looking.....2 will be het.....2 will be normal.....who is who??????????.....you do not know until you breed them.....so that is what the 50% means.....50% of the litter should be heterozygous.....

Rule of the 50% poss het is this.....ONE of the parents was a Het.....the other was a normal.....you CAN NOT produce HETS or 66% poss hets this way.....yes.....some are indeed hets.....but there is no way to tell.....definite hets can only be labeled when a HOMO was evolved!!.....and 66% poss hets are from het x het.....

QUICK FLASHBACK!!!!

Het x Het.....66%er's and homos, Het x Normal.....50%er's.......Het x Homo.....homos and hets.....NO 50%er's or 66%er's will be produced.....ALL HOMOS OR HETS here..... Homo x Normal.....all 100% het.....all will look normal.....but ALL will be gene carriers...... Homo x Homo.....ALL will be homos!!!!!.....albino.....pied.....axanthic etc.....

Move on to part 2...