Sister brother breeding

Well i have eight axolotls and they're just about ready to breed, but they're all ( but one) brothers and sisters and i was wondering if their babies will grow up with deformities.

Breeding closely related animals tends to concentrate the gene pool. So, traits are expressed more often they would be in a random, non-related crossing. This is sometimes a way that negative traits show themselves. It's also a way breeders consolidate positive traits.

Most breeders would probably agree that it's best to breed unrelated animals.

What is your purpose for breeding these animals? The answer to that question would determine whether or not it's a good idea to breed them.

It will definitely not benefit the next generation at all. Axolotls have already suffered a great deal of endogamy, which has empoverished captive genetics substantially. People breed close relatives together because they want a particular color mutation, or are hoping for a new one (hugely unlikely). Also, people tend to think, hey it´s caudates, they tolerate inbreeding well, so they allow them to do so for generations. The results are never good for the animals.

If you care about your animals and their future offspring i´d make an effort in trying to avoid breeding with such close relatives. However, finding unrelated blood (or at least somewhat distant) can be very difficult.

It´s unlikely you´ll get little monsters if you go ahead, although depending on the genetics of your animal, problems may arise, but even if they appear healthy, you´d be contributing to deminishing the genetic quality of future generations. I think it´s important to realise that endogamy has a price, even if it´s going to be paid 6 or 7 generations ahead.

From a practical standpoint, it's very unlikely that you'll have problems due to breeding sibs. It's not the ideal situation, but it's unlikely you will notice a higher rate of deformities than you would from any other cross. Axolotls are already so highly inbred, that getting an animal from anther source will rarely make much difference.

bayhicoach said:

What is your purpose for breeding these animals? The answer to that question would determine whether or not it's a good idea to breed them.

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I think that's the more significant question.