Cal King genetics?

[snakelet]

Anyone have a good website that explains Cal King genetics? I know the terms and stuff, just wondering what colours are phases, and what are genetic?

For example, what would I get out of these breedings (hypothetical questions here :) ):

Coastal x Desert
Striped x Banded

And also, why do albino kings always have yellow bands when the majority of Cal Kings seem to be Desert phase? If you breed two Desert het albino, shouldn't you get snakes with the removed black (white) while the stripes are still white, therefore, a pure white snake?

Thanks!

Leanne

[vanderkm]

I was hoping you would get some responses on this thread as I have had similar questions about cal king breeding and genetics, but have not had any luck finding any breeders sites with much information. I will offer a few thoughts but I have not bred Cal kings - just based on what I have seen from various other sources.

It is my understanding that coastal and desert are not single gene recessives, but are variations that have been selected for by different envirnoments - so likely many genes involved in how they are inherited. My impression is that breeding coastal to desert will result in a range of color intensity in the offspring. Same applies to width of bands - while wide banded to wide banded is more likely to produce wide banded, it can produce narrow bands.

The striped gene in corns is a sort of single recessive and seems to me that stripes in corns and kings are genetically compatable, so the banded pattern should correspond to the normal saddled appearance in corns. My impression is that banded by striped in cal kings is much more likely to produce intermediates between the two patterns - partly banded and partly striped, or what are called 'crazy kings'.

The issue of yellow bands in albino kings is interesting because the same seems to be the case in albino milks - the bands that would be white end up appearing yellow in the albino form, where what was black is now white. I would be most interested in the explaination, but I suspect it hasn't been fully worked out. Maybe it relates to yellow pigment being more able to develop without a melanin interference.

So - sorry I don't have answers - only more questions - but maybe someone else out there will see this thread and respond.

mary v.

[Ed_r]

I surely dont have answers, but have also noticed that cal Kings are getting similar to cornsnakes, as in you never know whats going to hatch out. Thus my recent interest in colubrids.