[Hurley]

Well, looks like I have more proof...not sure if I'm happy or sad about that, but it's always better to know the status than to not in my book.

Mattie is "S factored" for lack of a better term. She's carrying the star-gazing gene. I've got 3 hatchlings here that are gazers in this first clutch, 2 Okeetees and 1 Sunkissed. They show the exact same signs as the others I've seen, fresh out of the egg. They're perfectly normal at rest, curious, responsive. Get them excited, though, and they're uncoordinated. I'll try to get some video today or tomorrow for documentation and to give any of you who have never seen a neurologic snake an idea of what they look like.

I'm curious to see final ratios on this clutch as well as see if there's in difference in whether gazers hatch out early compared to siblings or if it's just coincidence that several of the first ones out are gazers.

This provides me with some information on my own stock, at any rate. Chances are great that Strong Bad, my male sunkissed that bred Mattie last year, is not "S factored". I've now got a proven pair of "S factored" adults that I can use to test cross any potentials in the collection and prove out their status. Since I've got several of Mattie's kids around here, I'll be busy testing for a few years, lol.

With this information, I now know that progeny out of Mattie's previous clutches have a 50% chance of carrying the gene, if it is in fact a recessive gene (which it looks more and more likely to be.) I'm going to make a post on that in its own thread to notify people of this fact so they're aware, though I consider any sunkissed decendent a possible "het". I'd rather everyone is kept up to date on everything to do with this condition. Knowledge is our best weapon.