Hey Ben,

I don't think it is a stupid question at all.
Actually I kinda feel the same way.
I would be willing to go as far as including some lines of Ghosts or Albinos in the same category.

Several years ago a friend of mine had a bunch of baby het. Ghosts/Hypos in his collection. While this friend was out of town, his son was caring for his collection. His son accidentally mixed the baby Het. Ghosts in with the normals. When my friend returned, he called me and I came over to look through the babies with him.

We selected what we thought appeared to "resemble" het. Ghosts.
My friend kept all the babies...because he could not sell them as true hets. with any real certainty.

He has since proven 7 out of 10 of those snakes to indeed be true hets. (The other three have not yet bred for him.)
Not too bad for just eyeballing it! Often Het. Ghosts just have that look to them. Perhaps it was just luck??? I think there is more to it than merely luck. Not saying I could do it every time....but it brings up and interesting point.

I often wonder if there are other "recessive" traits that have pheno-typical het. markers that we are just not keen enough to pick up on yet. I am also familiar with the Albino strain that produces the hatchling hets. which appear to be Axanthic.
(the appearance soon fades) But, it is a great indicator of those snakes that carry the gene....so essentially they are just like "co-doms".

Has anyone else noticed any pheno-typical het. markers in any particular recessive traits? Please share your thoughts.

Perhaps "Co-Dom" or "Recessive" depends on how you really want to categorize these critters. The pattern of inheritance is really the same when you come right down to it. Perhaps some are just easier to notice....so we label them as co-doms.
Just a thought.

Great topic by the way, Ben!
Take care,

Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
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