There is good evidence that SOME het granite Burmese pythons show the puzzle pattern and SOME het green Burmese pythons show the leopard pattern. Both the puzzle and leopard patterns are intermediate between normal and their respective pattern mutations. Why some hets show these markers while some hets look perfectly normal I don't know.



Early this spring someone posted a pic and indicated that some breeders where looking for white bellies with thick black stripes lining the edges as a sign for het piebalds. That thread no longer seems to be available however the discussion lead to plenty of people pointing out that they have for sure het piebalds which do not show this marker. Given the sporadic nature of the signs in Burmese pythons I don't think the fact that some hets don't have it indicates that it can't be an accurate sign when seen in possible hets. However, there are also apparently some for sure non hets with similar bellies so it does get confusing.



Time will tell if it is an accurate sign when seen in possible het piebald ball pythons or not. It is a touchy subject because it affects the marketing of possible hets so information has been slow to emerge about it.



This year I bred two 50% possible het pied males with varying degrees of the marker and almost exactly half of their 20 babies had the marker. It did vary from individual to individual as to how clear it was. The best ones have totally white bellies and the thick black edging in the last 3rd or so.



Since I have not yet proven the 50% chance males much less done breeding tests with lots and lots of possible hets I really can't prove that the marker is accurate, but I’m getting pretty optimistic about the possibility.



I've heard rumors of markers in other pattern mutations but haven't seen good evidence yet. I'm even more skeptical of markers in hets for color mutations but now consider anything possible.

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