The word 'het' is short for 'heterozygous'. All animals that sexually reproduce receive one set of chromosomes from its father and one from its mother. An individual that is heterozygous for some trait would only have 1 chromosome coding for the trait. The individual would have received the trait from either its father or mother. Another important term used less often in the reptile bizz is homozygous. A homozygous individual would have 2 chromosomes that code for the trait. The homozygous individual would have received 1 chromosome from its mother and 1 from its father. Genetics is fascinating and I could ramble on all night. There exist many sites online and other printed resources that explain ball python genetics. You should spend some time doing research.

Brad Ratliff

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