Genetics and Breeding

[rustie]

Ive decided to breed my corns. first things first. i definatly have a male and a female, but i have a snow i bought 2 years ago as a female. I took her to a local pet shop, they said shes a he by looking at the length of the tail. after a little reasearch im not sure tail LENGTH is a tell tail sign. the mail amery motley i bought with the snow is noticably larger and more docile. so... is there a positive way to id them with out probing, and where can i get them probed. im in orlando fl if anyone know someone relyable.

next issue. ok so i understand some basic genetics. snows are amel and anery double expressed recessive traits. but i heard that motley is a dominate trait. is it? and if so is it autosomal dominant leathal? are there any autosomal lethal traits in corns? (autosomal dominant leathal is how achrondoplasia (dwarfism) is in humans... 2 dwarfs (Aa) have a 25% chance of AA which is leathal, 50% Aa dwarf, and 25% aa avg human. ) i dont quite understand hypo's, butters, bloods,... or what ever else is out there (i only know about what i own... it pertains to me so i remembered). could someone give a rundown on the genetics if they could.

last issue i promise. ive kept the males and females seperate. how should i go about breeding them? do i need to be there? oh i have a 100+ gallon tank i crafted. it has a sliding plexyglass door and the rest of it is wooden. the males share it and the females have a 20 long, but i plan on partitioning the 100+ in half. top and bottom. i guess one side will be for breeding. i live in FL and was wondering since there really arnt but a week of winter if cooling them here is important.

well, any advice you experienced breeders or geneticists can provide will be exteremly usefull. btw im taking genetics this fall at UCF. im looking to get some bonus between the corns and the rats i breed to feed them. thanks for the help.