Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to the forum and I'm having a little trouble understanding some of the terms of the different morphs and what they are. I'm specifically interested in the P.c. affinis morphs, like rusty, ghost, hypo-melanistic, blizzard, etc. and also what does het or double het mean. I have had 1.2 affinis normal for quite awhile and am just recently deciding to start a breeding program for them. I would like to add another female of one of the above morphs, but I would like to know a little more about them before I go all in.

Het is short for Hetrozigous ( sorry for wrong spelling )which means a normal looking snake that carries receive genes for color and pattern mutation like albino , anerythrisic and other as well . Double het is 2 color or pattern morph genes .
Single het animals can produce normals and 1 other color or pattern morph , where double hets can produce normals and 2 other color or pattern morphes and a combo of both morphes.
I'am really not good at explaining but some of the other guy on this forum can help better them me .

Jason

Genes come in pairs. If the two members of a pair are the same, the animal is homozygous. If the two members of a pair are not the same, then the animal is heterozygous. If an animal is heterozygous for two gene pairs, then the animal is called double heterozygous. Heterozygous for three gene pairs, then triple heterozygous.

If a heterozygous animal has a normal gene paired with a mutant gene (such as albino) and looks normal, then the mutant gene is recessive to the normal gene.

If a heterozygous animal has a normal gene paired with a mutant gene (such as striped in the California king) and does not look normal, then the mutant gene is either dominant or codominant to the normal gene.

A heterozygous dominant mutant produces the same appearance as the homozygous dominant mutant or cannot be reliably distinguished from the homozygous dominant mutant. The appearance of a heterozygous striped California king overlaps the appearance the homozygous striped so that the two cannot be reliably distinguished. It should be called a dominant mutant rather than a codominant mutant gene.

A animal with a heterozygous codominant mutant can be reliably distinguished from the homozygous codominant mutant.

The vast majority of mutant genes known in snakes are recessive to their normal counterparts.

Can't help with the different mutants in Pits, but the above is standard genetics.

Paul Hollander

Thanks for the great info guys. It brings me back to high school biology. I guess the only question I have left is in P.c. affinis where do the Rusty and the Ghost patterns come from. These are the types that I would be most interested in. Also, does anyone know who has these morphs available. I've looked at a few breeders online, but no one seems to have these right now.

Ghost and Rusty Sonorans are really hard to get and even harder to get this time of year .
It took me 3 years just get some Rustys . Both of those 2 color morphs are produced in very limited numbers and most dont even make it to the Classified ads , breeder sell out quickly . Your best bet is to get on some one waiting list.

Jason