How Can You Tell...

[corvettefan]

...what kind of Gecko a hatchling will be? I read a post that said that they had two geckos breed. The female laid four eggs and there was a 25% chance of a certain morph, different each egg and they turned out to be right. How do you figure out what kind of leopard will come out of an egg?

 

[LizMarie]

Don't they use the Punnett Square?

 

[BlackDiamondGeckos]

Ya, you use the genetics of the adults to find out what the offspring will be.

 

[corvettefan]

Ya, you use the genetics of the adults to find out what the offspring will be.

So is it a big guessing game, or is the Punnett Square accurate? I've only used them in school.

 

[LizMarie]

So is it a big guessing game, or is the Punnett Square accurate? I've only used them in school.

Is the Punnett Square 100% full proof? No but it helps predicts all the possible outcome of what the off spring may turn out to be using their parents dominate and recessive traits/genes and stuff like that.. At least I think thats how it works.

Once they get into 3 or 4 genes I dunno, lol. That crap seems to get complicated.

 

[acpart]

The punnett square is 100% foolproof because it only gives you statistics, not actual results. I imagine that sounds kind of cryptic, but I can't figure out a way to say any more that will be useful.

Aliza

 

[ajveachster]

I think I know what thread you are referring to, and that person was impressed that the statistics matched the offspring. Basically you have an educated guess using the punnett square and the genetics of the parents. A lot of times people are still surprised by what they find. What can get you are the hets. Many times you will see people saying they have to prove something out. They are waiting to see if a gecko is carrying a specific recessive trait that you cannot physically see, and won't be able to tell unless a baby pops out with that trait. Confused even more? Don't worry. It takes a long time for some of us. Right now I've only made it in the life raft, and still have to paddle my way to the genetics cruise ship.

 

[BlackDiamondGeckos]

The punnett square is 100% foolproof because it only gives you statistics, not actual results. I imagine that sounds kind of cryptic, but I can't figure out a way to say any more that will be useful.

Aliza

Aliza is exactly right. Punnet squares are 100% accurate if done correctly. Will the breakdown be right after 2, 4 , 10, 20 eggs? No, they're just percentages. It just tells you the percent chance that any given baby will be any given morph combination.

It's like a quarter. Two sides- 50% chance each right? Well if you flip it twice are you always going to have 1 heads and 1 tails? No, but as you do it and gain a larger sample the closer it will be- and over an infinite number of trials it will regress towards that percentage.

Same with genetics. Over an infinite number of eggs the percentages will be exactly as the punnet square shows. But of course that's not the case here. Variance can work against you or with you. You just hope you get lucky and beat the odds.