Q: What is Stargazing?
A: It is a recessive gene that causes neurological problems in cornsnakes - it affects a cornsnake's sense of balance and coordination. It is also known simply as "SG". (Though the term "Stargazing" is also used to describe a snake's lack of balance or odd behaviour which is caused through genuine illness and not from the Stargazing gene)
Q: What are the signs of Stargazing?
A:
Homo Stargazers (cornsnakes with 2 Stargazer genes) move fine on flat surfaces, but once they raise their head off the surface, they swing their heads about and move wildly. They may also lay with their head in the air looking up at nothing. If flipped onto their back it takes them a few moments to realise this and right themselves. They also have problems feeding as the more excited/agitated they become, the more uncoordinated their movements are. Otherwise these snakes are healthy and mentally fine - they still eat, shed and poo like any other cornsnake.
Het Stargazers will show no visible signs of carrying the Stargazing gene.
Q: Where did it come from?
A: It was first noted to crop up sporadically in an Okeetee line here and there and presumed to be incubational stress or something at first. It became apparent after some years of seeing these show up that the condition appeared to have a heritable cause. Review of the records did indeed show a definite pattern to certain individuals producing the effect, a pattern of recessive gene inheritance.
The Stargazing gene was really discovered in the year 2000 in America, in the first Sunkissed snakes. The breeder claimed that more than 50% of the Sunkissed carried the Stargazer gene.
Q: What morphs does it occur in?
Q: Through breedings back and forth with Sunkissed projects and Sunkissed snakes, Sunkissed has a higher chance of producing Stargazing snakes as the original gene pool for Sunkissed was quite small. But any snake with a Sunkissed decendant has a chance of carrying Stargazing, so Stargazing has spread to many other morphs. Without knowing the exact parentage of your snake, there is a chance of it being het Stargazing. Also,
any snake from the original producer of Sunkissed snakes (Rich) has a high chance of being het Stargazer as he outcrossed a lot of his snakes.
Q: How can I find out if my corn snake is het Stargazing?
A: If you know your snake's pedigree, and read up on who was breeding what, you can estimate how likely it is for
older snakes to be carrying Stargazing.
With snakes that you don't know the pedigree of (back to 2000), you'd have to breed your cornsnake with a Stargazing cornsnake. This may seem wrong, breeding FROM a Stargazing cornsnake, but Stargazers have a PAIR of Stargazing genes. This means you can be 100% sure that the clutch outcome (from a large clutch) proves that the cornsnake being bred to the Stargazer is clear or het Stargazer.
Here's a couple of
punnet squares to explain this : "
s" is 1 Stargazing gene and "
S" is 1 normal gene.
Stargazer (
ss) x Normal (
SS)
.....
s |
s
S |
Ss Ss
S |
Ss Ss
Because all of the clutch is
het Stargazer, none of them will show signs of Stargazer.
Stargazer (
ss) x Het Stargazer (
Ss)
.....
s |
s
S |
SS SS
s |
Ss Ss
50% of the clutch will be
homo Stargazer, and so will show signs of being Stargazer. The odds are 50% per egg, so the chances are good that you would get Stargazers from a Homo Stargazer x Het Stargazer clutch.
A Het Stargazer (
Ss) x Het Stargazer (
Ss) clutch has much slimmer odds though ...
.....
S |
s
S |
SS Ss
s |
Ss ss
There's a 25% chance per egg of a
homo Stargazer, so only a quarter of the clutch should be visual Stargazers. 50% chance of het Stargazer, and a 25% chance of Stargazer free snakes.
Q: What if I've already found Stargazers in a clutch?
A: This means both parents are het Stargazing.
Q: What happens to the offspring of testings?
A: When testing for Stargazing, there are several things that can be done with the offspring. Whole clutches can be killed, even if there is a chance of clean snakes. Stargazing snakes can kept in the collection to test breed with other snakes. Possible clear snakes can be kept to breed when they are mature enough, to prove that they are clear. This way the line can still continue - just without the Stargazing gene.
If offspring are sold on without informing the new owner of it's possible Stargazer status, it will continue to spread when these snakes are then bred from in future.
Q: Why is it important to get rid of Stargazing?
A: It's best for cornsnakes, and the hobby as a whole. Especially as it is proven to be a simple recessive gene, so it can be removed from the hobby with relative ease (compared to the neurological problems which occur in royal pythons and carpet pythons), if people are honest and open about this gene instead of ignoring it.
Several breeders are already in the processes of testing their lines to clear them of Stargazing, with some putting the priority on Sunkissed lines and Sunkissed projects. There is expected to be a premium on the cost of snakes from clean lines, to encourage people to keep them clean.
Hope this helps / is useful and informative
Stargazing
Linear Mode
