A Bit Confused...

[Dark_Angel_x322]

Ok I am a bit confused about a morph/coloring things in my leo Amazon. I asked Colonel SB a question about his SHT leo...

I also noticed that Tang has a orangish stripe going from its nose towards it's eyes... Is that normal for all leos or is that something special? from post Warning Warning Leopard Pics (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20673)

He replied that it was a feature that was part of the Tangerine color. I am confused now because my Amazon has that same stripe, but I would not call Amazon a Tangerine because he is yellow in my opinion. Colonel SB also said he would call Amazon a tang but he wasn't sure. So I was wondering if I could get some more input on this... I have upload pictures of Amazon that were taken yesterday to my gallery. What do you think?

Also does it look like Amazon will get spots on his head or will it mostly stay as it is?

Thanks!

[Colonel SB]

Well the tangerine colour is not a genetic trait that can be passed on...It is a line bred trait. I have a female hypo who is mostly yellow but has tang highlights to her back so technically she could be called a low end tangerine get me? Just like there are hypos & super hypos. It's all subjective also there are varying degree's of Tang some have lots some have very little on thier body. So it's not like albino where it either is or isn't...Hope this anwsered your question.

[Dark_Angel_x322]

Ok so if I ended up breeding Amazon and Baby their babies will be an orangish color inbetween the 2 right? Also any ideas about Amazon's head? he just looks a little odd compared to Baby and I just want to know if he will get spots... if he doesn't is that considered a baldy or does that get into a complicated maybe yes maybe no genetic thing? All these morphs and mutations are confusing...

[Colonel SB]

You are right on that one you breed a Tang with a Normal and you get a mix of the two not normal but not fully tang either. As for the head spots each leo is different the spots are like finger prints. To be a badly they has to be no black spots on the head what so ever! I hope that cleared things up for you Erika...if you have more questions let me know okie :)

[Clownfishie]

From the pics, it looks like Amazon's back legs are orange-ish -- tehcnically a tangerine leo is any leo with orange on the body anterior (in front of) the tail. So he/she could end up being a tang... If it also doesn't develop any spots on it's head, then it would be considered to be a baldy as well. Baldy is another line bred trait... At this point, it does look as though Amazon will turn out to be a hypo anyways :) Possibly a tang, maybe a baldy... you'll just have to wait and see! :D The orange tinge to his head is a fairly decent indication that he could end up a tang...

[Dark_Angel_x322]

A hypo is very few spots right? can you tell that by how light he is getting in the dark areas? I guess I didn't do too bad when picking my babies from petco...

[Colonel SB]

Your right on that one I got my female hypo/tang from a pet store :) some times they don't know what they have he he he he :D

[Clownfishie]

Yup, a hypo is a leo with reduced spotting... a good sign that a leo will probably be a hypo (other than knowing that the parents are) is when the dark bands are fading, with little/no evidence of spots showing up... He could still develop spots, but the fact that he doesn't really have any yet is a pretty good sign that he could be a hypo.

[Dark_Angel_x322]

Is hypo a line bred trait too? If Amazon is an abberrant hypo tangerine baldy and I bred him to my normal(?) tangerine, Baby, what kind of babies might I get?
normal light tang medium baldys or something like that?

[Dark_Angel_x322]

Any ideas?

[Rich]

Hello,
Hypo is a term referring to the lack of melanin. It is normally a selective breeding trait.
When mixing different morphs and phases together, certain charecteristics will be more pronounced than others, but there should be a mix of each. Here is an example:

albino x normal = some albinos and normals het for albino

[Dragon_Slave]

What is it called when a leo has so many spots they almost look black? Isn't that called ''melanistic''????

[Rich]

Hello,
Yes, thats called melanistic. Thats because they have an excess amount of melanin.

[Clownfishie]

Rich, that info is incorrect -- breeding an albino to a normal will NOT result in any albino babies -- all babies would be normals 100% het for albino. Albinism is a recessive trait... in order to produce babies that display the trait in question, both parents must carry the trait (either display the trait, or be het for the trait).
When dealing with selectively bred traits (line bred traits) however, that is when you get babies that are a mix between the 2 parents.

Angel, yes, hypo is a line bred trait. If Amazon ends up being a tang and/or baldy, if you were to breed the 2 together you would most likely get tangs (since both parents would be tang), although some would be more tangerine than others. With at least one parent being hypo, some of the babies would likely be hypo too (although again, some to a greater extent than others). As for baldy, a leo either is, or isn't -- you can't have a "medium baldy"... it's either got spots on it's head, or it doesn't :) You might or might not end up with some baldies from that pairing...

Melanistic leos do have an excess of melanin -- however these shouldn't be confused with normal leos, who also have a large amount of spotting compared to all of the designer morphs that are being produced today.

Hope that helped a bit :)
Jen