As most chondro fans know by now, the first captive-produced albino chondro was hatched in January of 2002 by Damon Salceies of Albuquerque, NM. Considering that this was Damon's first success with breeding chondros, the production of the albino was an incredible combination of luck, ability, and timing. The parents were first generation (F1) offspring from wild collected, Merauke-locality Chondros, produced by Tracy Barker in 1996. Being an ardent advocate of true locality reptiles, Damon was working with these chondros because of their documented locality status. There were two albino babies, but only one survived. Both (and all siblings) were yellow.

Speculation immediately arose as to the possible heterozygous status of other chondros related to the albino. Some (including myself) felt it was premature to begin assigning specific hereditary status to the new trait until more evidence was obtained, especially in light of some of the prices that were being thrown around for "possible hets". It should be noted that an unproven parent and an unproven trait do not produce offspring that can honestly be represented as possible hets - see comments below.

Happily, the assumption that this albino strain is, in fact, the result of simple recessive genetics was greatly strengthened in the spring of 2005 when Trooper Walsh hatched a second yellow albino baby. In another fortuitous occurrence, Walsh had also purchased an F1 Barker Merauke offspring and now that decision paid off in spades. Walsh crossed his Barker male with one of the its own female offspring, producing the second live albino in the project and proving the het status of both patents. As with the Salceies clutch, two albinos were produced but one died soon after hatching.

A word about recessive genetics may be in order here. When two animals that are heterozygous for a trait produce offspring, the mathematical odds state that 25% of the offspring will show the trait, 50% will be hets, and 25% will be normal. (This is why it was assumed that the parents of the first albino were hets, and that their siblings were possible hets.) Crossing a proven het with a normal parent will produce 50% possible hets. That is, all will appear normal but approximately half of them will be hets also. The only way to prove the het status of a possible het animal is by obtaining albino offspring from it. There are other variables and possible percentages, but this simple explanation covers most of the discussion. As was noted, special traits (including albinism) are not necessarily the result of simple recessive genes.

The news about the Walsh albino gladened the hearts of all those who had the good fortune to have purchased Merauke outcross offspring from the Walsh male in the previous 3-4 years. The newly-demonstrated het status of the male elevated all his past and future offspring to being 50% possible hets. As an owner of a 2001 Merauke outcross male, I was of course elated to become an official participant in this project. My male has sired two clutches to date (2004 and 2005) and all the offspring are potential hets. Please note that I did not refer to these offspring as "possible hets". As noted above, it takes a proven parent to get offspring that can be ethically represented as possible hets. Some refer to offspring such as mine as "25% possible" but I am hesitant to use this terminology. This is because 25% implies that one out of four of these animals will be a het and this simply is not accurate. These offspring are either 50% possible hets, or they are normal, and we won't know which is the case until my outcross male is proven. I am now in the same position as Walsh was before his male was proven, and I will be crossing my male back to his female offspring in an attempt to prove the status of both.

If I am successful, there is a high probability that my albino offspring will be dark babies. Personally, this is where my own interests lay...in the production of albino designer morphs from dark albino offspring. I don't know if the presence of the albino trait is responsible for affecting the appearance of offspring in other ways, but I can tell you that my 2004 Merauke Outcross x Pepper clutch contained some of the most unusual red and brown offspring I have ever seen. One of these, "Ella-Diablo" (GM-04-47) has developed into one of the most beautiful and desirable designer chondros in the world. She is a prime candidate for this project, and one can only begin to imagine what an albino with her coloration might look like! I am hopeful of breeding her back to her father in 2006-2007. Two of her female siblings are also being raised up, and I have also acquired other F1 and F2 offspring from the Walsh male.

It is only a matter of time...