cfresh79 wrote:
"is this a morph of some kind? the python we picked up at the expo yesterday is a 3 year old male 66% axanthic, this is our first python so I am completely unknowledgeable about morphs. did we get something special."

dougle replied:
"Yes you did, you can read all about morphs on this great site,what HET means is that your ball pythons carries a portion of the gentic gene to be a axathic excatly 66% to produce the axanthic morph if bred to another het axanthic, it is actually alittle bit more complex than this but if you just surf this site you can learn what it really means with know time at all , its just simple genetics, enjoy your ball python."

dougle isn't wrong, but I think I can explain this for you a little better.

If you are not familiar with the terms we use in genetics, first off, you need to understand some of the basics we are discussing. In snakes, we commonly talk about "morphs" that typically involve "simple inheritance" which means that the trait is caused or carried in only one gene. Each autosomal gene (that's every gene that does not involve the sex chromosomes) is made up of two alleles, one inherited from each parent.

If a creature has a gene made up of two identical alleles, it is called "homozygous" for the trait in question. If a creature has a gene that is made up of two different alleles, it is called "heterozygous" for the trait in question - which gets shortened to "het" in this trade.

The axanthic morph is a recessive trait. What that means is that only a creature that is homozygous for this trait will display the trait or "morph." Animals that are het axanthic will look the same as a "normal" Ball Python.

The best way to explain probable outcomes of any given breeding involving simply inherited traits is to use a Punnett Square. What many only loosely understand is that the Punnett Square tells you what the statistical chances are of each (in this case) egg turning out to be a specific genotype (homozygote, heterozygote, etcetera).

What a Punnett Square will tell you, among other things, is that if a female het axanthic is bred to a male het axanthic, they will statistically produce the following genotypes:
1/4 Axanthic (homozygous, shows the morph)
2/4 Het Axanthic (heterozygous, appears normal)
1/4 Normal Ball Python (not heterozygous for axanthic)

...where the fractions refer to the chance of producing each genotype from each egg, and statistically where the proportions of the clutches as a whole would pan out if you were to look at a significantly large number of identical breedings - there is no guarantee that any one breeding won't produce all axanthics or all normals.

Since nobody can visually tell the difference between the statistical 1/4 normal, and the 2/4 hets, the resulting babies from a het X het cross are only identifiable as:
1/4 Axanthic (or whatever other morph may be involved)
3/4 Normal-appearing Ball Pythons

Since it is statistically probable that the 3/4 of the clutch that appear normal consist of 2/3 hets and 1/3 normal, all of the normal-appearing babies are referred to as "66% POSSIBLE" het for the recessive morph in question. In reality, each of the normal-appearing babies is ONLY either het or not - there is no such thing as a partial het! A lot of people do not fully understand this. The "% possible" het notation has its roots in statistics and nothing more.

cfresh79, since you probably bought your male to keep as a pet, don't let this get to your head. Keep him as a pet. Love him and keep him healthy. After another 5 or 10 years, when the price of axanthics drops to more affordable levels, and after you've had plenty of time to experience keeping your pet to know if you want to take on more of this hobby, then you could try your hand at "proving him out" with an axanthic female. This crossing would be most beneficial to you, because a het X Axanthic cross would statistically yield:
1/2 axanthic babies
1/2 het axanthic babies (KNOWN hets - NO % possible)

...and this would be pretty easy to recognize. Additionally, if your male turns out to not be a het, all of the babies he would produce when crossed to an axanthic female would be KNOWN hets.

Conversely, if you were to cross your 66% possible het male to a het female, IF he were in fact a het, you only have a 1/4 chance of seeing that proven (hatching a morph). If he isn't het axanthic, and he is bred to a het axanthic female, then all of the babies would appear normal, and approximately 50% of them would be het axanthic. These would have to either be marketed as "50% POSSIBLE" het axanthics, or as "normals" to save yourself the headache of trying to explain it.

By no means am I trying to dissuade you from getting hooked on this hobby and buying more snakes, but I say "don't let this get to your head" because you could also burn up a lot of money trying to prove out your little male if you were to turn around and start trying this year. (And females have to reach about 3 years of age before they are ready to breed with healthy success).

Best of luck to you, and enjoy your new pet!!

~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons



0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

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