Cream Shelled Fulica?

[Kevin]

Just found this on ebay, Ive emailed the seller only to be told that the cream shelled ones are all gone (already, despite 80 lots still available)

The seller told me that they are all Fulica and came from the same batch of eggs, so is unsure if more will be available, how rare is Fulica with shells like this? I would jump at the chance to get some of those

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7703553762&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

[Leah]

Theres some picyures on the russian site of fulica with cream shells. They're called Achatina fulica rodatzi. Is it the same thing?

[Kevin]

I had thought that, but the person selling them said they come from the same batch of eggs as regular coloured Fulica, wouldnt there have to be Achatina fulica rodatzi adults to produce baby ones? or are they the same species as Fulica? and just a different colour

[Leah]

maybe. If they are the same species and both could breed then there could be the cream coloured gene in there from parents or grand-parents or great-grand-parents etc....that would result in cream coloured babies from regular coloured fulica.

[Kevin]

eric said:

maybe. If they are the same species and both could breed then there could be the cream coloured gene in there from parents or grand-parents or great-grand-parents etc....that would result in cream coloured babies from regular coloured fulica.

so the ones left could be heterozygous for achatina fulica rodatzi?

[fredrik]

I keep a few fulica's with cream coloured shells. They are from "real" fulica's.
I have kept them to try to breed a more "creamy" strain of fulica's.
Achatina fulica rodatzi is something completely different

/Fredrik

[Kevin]

fredrik said:

I keep a few fulica's with cream coloured shells. They are from "real" fulica's.
I have kept them to try to breed a more "creamy" strain of fulica's.
Achatina fulica rodatzi is something completely different

/Fredrik

How many creamy Fulica have you got? have you got a picture of them?...If you ever have some available, please let me know

[Leah]

They are very pretty. I'd quite like some to but even if there were any I'm really running out of room. But was I right that the cream colour would have come from older generations of those snails if not from the parents and thats why there was a mix batch? Even if not rodatzi, I didn't know you could get other colour fulica.

[fredrik]

Kevin, I have 4 at the moment.
They are still quite small, so I'm looking forward to see if the colouration stays or if they turn darker with age.
No photos I'm afraid.

Leah, snails can have more or less colouration/patterns within the same batch of eggs.
And that's the beauty having "babies", no one is exactly like the other.

Paul, or anyone else, can you help me explain genetics as simple as possible in English?

Best wishes
Fredrik

[bookitten]

hehehe, good luck telling me! i have to have things translated in toddler talk for me

[Paul]

Ok, here is a simple description of genes, assuming that one trait is controlled by one set of genes.

Traits depend on genes. There are dominant genes and recessive ones. Dominant genes overpower recessive ones.

Brown hair is a dominant gene indicated by "D" below
Red hair is a recessive gene indicated by "r" below

So:

DD would be someone without the red gene (Brown hair)
Dr would be someone who carries both (Brown hair)
rr would be someone who only carries the recessive red trait. (Red Hair)

Ok, so this is what would happen if they bred.

DD + DD would mean all children have DD (brown hair).

DD + Dr would mean you get a variety of DD or Dr (both Brown hair).

Dr + Dr would mean you get DD, Dr and rr. (brown, brown and red hair).

So basically a recessive trait shows itself when dominant genes are absent. If a dominant gene is present any recessive traits get squashed. But it means people with a dominant trait can carry recessive traits. Future breeding with the right partner can allow these to come out in some of their offspring.

Of course any number of genes can have an effect on traits, which obviously makes things more complicated. I hope that explains it a little.

[natrat84]

Thats simple? lol Only joking, I did that in biology

Does food (type and regularity) and amount of calcium taken have an effect on shell colour?

[fredrik]

Food for sure, but how much, that I don't know yet...
(I'm doing some experimenting about this, but it's still to early to tell. I'll tell you all the results when I think I have enough to post about it)

[Leah]

lol. I just did my GCSE's I wish I could forget that! My biology teacher would always forget what he had taught us so we did the same every lesson and it just happened to be genetics so I know it inside out and back-to-front. So, I'm asuming the cream colour is the resesive gene so thats why its so uncommon but, why is that uncommon because humans have many traits that come from the resesive gene that are still common. Have they just not been breed, hardly at all?

[Paul]

I assume it's because in reality the genes which affect things are more numerous and the results more diverse because of it. Also, you can cross white flowers with red and get pink, but crossing the pinks together will produce 50% pink, 25% red, 25% white.

So, multiple genes can actually cause intermediate stages, like inbetween colours etc. For plants the strains are standardised by self-fertilsation, something much more uncommon in animals.