>i wanting to know about ball python genetics. I wnating to know all the steps in how to get an expressive out of a het.

If the mutant gene is dominant or codominant to the normal version of the gene, then the heterozygote already shows the effect of the mutant gene. Example -- pastel and spider in the ball python.

If the mutant gene is recessive to the normal version of the gene, like albino in the ball python, then the heterozygote looks normal. Only the homozygote (which has a pair of the mutant genes) shows the effect of the mutant gene. Both parents must contribute a copy of the mutant gene to produce a homozygous baby. In other words, to get a homozygous baby, either both parents are heterozygous for the mutant gene, both parents are homozygous for the mutant gene, or one parent is homozygous and the other parent is heterozygous for the mutant gene.

If you start with only one snake that is heterozygous for a recessive mutant gene, then the heterozygote is mated to one or more normal snakes. Some of the babies are also heterozygous. The possible heterozygotes are mated to a known heterozygote or homozygote, and 20 babies are produced from each possible. Eventually one of the possible heterozygotes will become a known heterozygote by producing a baby homozygote.

Clear as mud?

As I wrote before, the principles of genetics are essentially the same even though the species are different. The breeding results are exactly the same for amelanistic, a recessive mutant gene in the corn snake, and for albino, a recessive mutant gene in the ball python. So if you learn to handle recessive mutant genes in the corn snake from Serpwidgets' genetics tutorial, you will also learn how to handle recessive mutant genes in the ball python.

Paul Hollander

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