What is a Het?
Heterozygous (het) is having a dissimilar pair of genes for any hereditary characteristic. A sugar glider can be het for more than one color gene. The recessive genes in sugar gliders are:
A heterozygous sugar glider may be standard grey in color but carries a recessive gene, or it may be a color glider which can also be het for another recessive color (example: Leucistic, 50% Creamino het).
A 100% Het sugar glider means it definitely carries the recessive gene; one labeled any percentage less than 100% (66%, 50%, 25%, etc.) means it has that percentage of a chance it inherited the gene. Technically, they either are, or are not a het. The recessive genes the glider community uses percentages for are:
For example, a sugar glider labeled as 66% het has a 66% chance it inherited the recessive gene and a 33% chance it did not. The only way to know is by correctly breeding. To produce a recessive color, both parents must have the same recessive gene. Percentages are simply used for genetic identification of what the sugar glider may have inherited so they can be properly paired to achieve color offspring.
To determine the percentage het of your glider, you must first know the color and percentages of the parents. Once you have that information, refer to the Percent Het Chart. Find the color or percentage for the father going across the top, then find the color or percentage het for the mother going down the side. From those points, go down and across staying in the proper rows until you meet, the percentage listed in red on the chart is the percent het for the offspring of those parents.
When figuring the percentage, do each color individually (example: if a sugar glider is Leu Het, and Creamino Het, do one color at a time). The only recessive colors relative to one another are the Platinum and Leucistic genes. To understand more about the interaction between the Plat and Leu genes, please refer to the Plat & Leu Page.
Please use the following examples as a guide on using the Percent Het Chart. Assume all offspring are standard grey in color even though color offspring may be possible in some examples.
1) Dad: Leucistic
Mom: 50% Leu Het
2) Dad: Leucistic, 25% Creamino Het
Mom: 25% Leu Het, 66% Creamino Het
3) Dad: Creamino
Mom: Standard Grey
4) Dad: 100% Albino Het
Mom: 100% Platinum Het
5) Dad: 100% Albino Het, 66% Leu Het, 25% Creamino Het
Mom: Standard Grey
Answers:
1) 100% Leu Het
2) 100% Leu Het, 33% Creamino Het
3) 100% Creamino Het
4) 50% Albino Het, 50% Platinum Het
5) 50% Albino Het, 33% Leu Het, 12.5% Creamino Het
A heterozygous sugar glider may be standard grey in color but carries a recessive gene, or it may be a color glider which can also be het for another recessive color (example: Leucistic, 50% Creamino het).
A 100% Het sugar glider means it definitely carries the recessive gene; one labeled any percentage less than 100% (66%, 50%, 25%, etc.) means it has that percentage of a chance it inherited the gene. Technically, they either are, or are not a het. The recessive genes the glider community uses percentages for are:
- Leucistic
- Platinum
- Creamino
- Albino
- White Tip (percentages are not used for WT)
For example, a sugar glider labeled as 66% het has a 66% chance it inherited the recessive gene and a 33% chance it did not. The only way to know is by correctly breeding. To produce a recessive color, both parents must have the same recessive gene. Percentages are simply used for genetic identification of what the sugar glider may have inherited so they can be properly paired to achieve color offspring.
To determine the percentage het of your glider, you must first know the color and percentages of the parents. Once you have that information, refer to the Percent Het Chart. Find the color or percentage for the father going across the top, then find the color or percentage het for the mother going down the side. From those points, go down and across staying in the proper rows until you meet, the percentage listed in red on the chart is the percent het for the offspring of those parents.
When figuring the percentage, do each color individually (example: if a sugar glider is Leu Het, and Creamino Het, do one color at a time). The only recessive colors relative to one another are the Platinum and Leucistic genes. To understand more about the interaction between the Plat and Leu genes, please refer to the Plat & Leu Page.
Please use the following examples as a guide on using the Percent Het Chart. Assume all offspring are standard grey in color even though color offspring may be possible in some examples.
1) Dad: Leucistic
Mom: 50% Leu Het
2) Dad: Leucistic, 25% Creamino Het
Mom: 25% Leu Het, 66% Creamino Het
3) Dad: Creamino
Mom: Standard Grey
4) Dad: 100% Albino Het
Mom: 100% Platinum Het
5) Dad: 100% Albino Het, 66% Leu Het, 25% Creamino Het
Mom: Standard Grey
Answers:
1) 100% Leu Het
2) 100% Leu Het, 33% Creamino Het
3) 100% Creamino Het
4) 50% Albino Het, 50% Platinum Het
5) 50% Albino Het, 33% Leu Het, 12.5% Creamino Het
updated 1/1/2016
