Well I got three absolutely gorgeous DG breeder females and I got them a nice Super OD male with loads of traits and hets but he got here and he’s not ready yet. He is only 600 grams. I may be able to get him up to weight but I’m not going to count on it. I’m open to other options for a back up male. What would you suggest for these ladies?
Thank you!
-Pearl
When you say tons of traits and hets on the Super OD, what are they? Unless he is at least Super OD het DG then I would consider a male that does carry DG.
As far as whatever other hets, if you were planning on holding any back you will need to shed test the offspring to see which ones have the het or just hold them back and test them.
It all basically boils down to what you are hoping to see. I assume with Super OD and Desert Ghost those are what you want in your mix. You can possibly consider adding another recessive. Otherwise Enchi or YB are nice traits to add to OD.
Thank you for your input! Ah yeah he’s a Pastel OD black head yellow belly phantom/Mojave het clown. I was going to get him a couple of OD clown females as well. I’ll def look into Enchi and Yellowbelly combined with DG and see what those look like. I’m really looking for nice colors that don’t fade as much as many do.
Have you tried the 600 gram male yet? It’s so early in the season i wouldn’t give up on him being ready. He may well already be ready to breed but if not I’ve seen quick weight gains feeding young males moderate sized meals twice a week. Could easily be 800 grams by late October if he likes to eat.
While not putting all your eggs in one basket depending on a young male is good i wouldn’t recommend picking up just any male you aren’t excited about for using this fall. Keep in mind if the females do go for 2026 with another male it reduces their odds of being ready again for 2027 if you really really want to use the 600 gram male then. So even if he isn’t ready until say March you might see his babies a lot sooner if you just leave the girls growing unbred until he is ready to breed them.
As far as an alternative/backup male I would recommend something with an axanthic gene based on how well axanthic and DG work together. Also preferably clown and DG at least het to get some visuals along the way. But that’s based on my goal to axanthic DG all pattern mutations and see if they are all as nice as the clown axanthic DG. Might not be everyone’s goal of course and assuming the females don’t have axanthic or a pattern gene would require testing and an extra generation making it a long term expensive project.
Likely to be an unpopular opinion for you but… Entirely too much of this hobby seems to run on the MLM mindset that you HAVE to breed to be a “real” keeper and this just encourages people to breed without putting real thought into it
My strong recommendation to you would be to become significantly more versed on what it is you really want to make for yourself, what combos you could make to get there, and how to properly identify everything you make. After that, think about how you are going to to care for all of the babies you produce, how you will house them, how you will feed them, and how you will get rid of all the ones that you do not want to keep (and “I will just put them on MM and they will sell no problem” is not the correct answer)
I am not saying all of this to be a jerk. This is coming from my multiple decades of being in this hobby. I also freely admit that I do breed some of my animals. However, I have answered all these questions for myself and I know my limits and my boundaries. The way you have phrased a few things in your post makes me feel like you have not really put that same thought into the matter
There is absolutely nothing wrong with going slow and taking your time. Learn your animals. Become a ‘student of the serpent’. After that, then think about whether or not you want (or need) to breed