Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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delbalso

Morphs are the result of one or more changes from the normal DNA in the genome.

First you find an animal that looks different from the normal. For example, one that doesn't have any black pigment (an albino). Then you mate it to a normal and see what the babies look like. If the babies look normal, you mate the babies to each other and back to the albino parent. Some albinos should start appearing by this generation. However, sometimes the odd-looking animal dies before breeding, or the condition is caused by the environment instead of a mutant gene. Then you are out of luck.

Albinos (AKA amelanistics) are produced by a single mutant gene. Perhaps you want to combine two different mutant genes (for example, amelanistic and striped, in the corn snake). Then you mate an amelanistic snake to a striped snake and mate their babies together. You will start producing amelanistic, striped snakes in the second generation.

The hardest part is finding a snake that looks significantly different from normal. The odds of finding one in your backyard are very, very low. That rarity explains why the first few to come on the market generally cost many times as much as a normal snake of the same species.

Paul Hollander