First I'd recommend reading the book "Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution" by Raymond & Lorna Coppinger.



Our communication problem starts here: you are comparing ball pythons today with dogs today. I'm comparing ball pythons today with the first few generations of "domestic" dogs. I'm saying we are the foundation for the problems that will occur in the future (and they will, because we have no waying of knowing what is possible, much less what to look for).



O.k. What makes dog breeds different? Color, texture of fur, size, demeanor, and a few other details, like whether or not their ears stand or they have long tails.



Moving along. "Wild" or "Village" (Coppinger) dogs, which our domesticated companions descend from show a suprising uniformity worldwide, despite whether they themselves may have descended from wolves, or some other canid. They adapted to best fit their niche, which is scavenging around human settlements.



Take it back one more step to their "roots". We'll use wolves here because they have a popular affiliation with dogs. How much do wolves vary? Color, size, demeanor? There are black wolves, gray wolves, browish wolves, even white ones...I'm sure there would be more if they had more than just melanin to work with. Size varies little, correspondent with sex and bloodline, the later of which usually came about as an adaptation to their environment. Demeanor is individual and it's highly likely, although unproven that some behavior is genetic.



Ball pythons: granted, they have no ears or fur. Color: yes, that's obvious at this point. Size...not so dramatic as dogs, but certainly comprable with the "roots", varying genetically within a relatively small range. Demeanor? Absolutely...snakes certainly have individual dispositions, we're a little early on to determine if it's hereditary.



Wolves and Village dogs, on the other hand, do NOT vary in shape. We are already seeing this development pop up in ball pythons---stub tails.



I know I am not very good at explaining things, but I hope this clarified my point.



Now, I can understand why you would say "That stuff simply won't happen in Ball Pythons". I'm sure anyone would have said the same if someone had told them 10,000 years ago that a chihauha would descend from a wolf.



This conversation can go WAY farther than this, if you like. I'm game....







Doesn't mean the species is less than a 100 years old. Who cares if dog "X" is 20 years old if it came from stock that had 1,000 years of inbreeding?



I don't get your dog analogy. It simply doesn't apply to snakes. Dogs have been bred for hundreds of years and look at the results. Balls only have color morphs. They don't have the variation in size and demeanor like dogs. Great Danes vs Poodles?? That stuff simply won't happen in Ball Pythons. You are comparing apples and oranges, or, in this case, dogs and pythons.



Confused..........

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