Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Since I've had my BP's (which I kinda rescued from someone who was grossly mistreating them) I've done alot of reading about them. I understand what makes them a morph (extreme pattern/color etc.) but I was wondering if someone could explain more to me about markings for these traits, and more specifically if normals carry any of those genes for morphs? Also I know the best way to sex them is by taking them to vet, but I've read that there are physical tell-tales also, like plugs. I was wondering if anyone had good pix of the difference b/t a male and female? Thanx in advance for any replies.
J-G

Congratulations on your new Ball Python. I'm sure he/she appreciates the new home. =)

Can Normals carry the traits? Well...the more accurate question would be "can normals carry the gene for these traits." Yes. These Normals carrying the genes are called Hets (short for Heterozygous). They look like plain ol' Normals, but they secretly carry a morph gene that when bred to another Het can produce wonderful morph babies.

Sexing the snake by visual characteristics alone is quite impossible, unless of course sperm plugs are present. And a comparison photo of both a male and female wouldn't do you any good.

But there are ways to place odds on the sex. For instance...I have an unsexed Ball Python. I believe it's a female. Why? Small spurs. Spur length can vary greatly, but I'd say the odds were a little more in favor of it being a female. Still...there are certainly no guarantees. Also, this animal is a couple years old at @ 1000 grams, and never any sign of sperm plugs. Again...this doesn't guarantee it's a female. It just means that it may be more likely to be a female. I'd bet on it being a female, but I wouldn't bet too much. Maybe a penny. =)

But sexing your ball Python is best left to the experienced herper.

Umm...I forget...did I leave out any questions?

Chris
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

You hear of unexpected hets for recessive traits from time to time. I know I have heard of several cases where a known het or albino male was bred to a presumed normal girl that turned out to be a het albino and produced albinos. As many different mutations as there are I would expect that there might be a fair number (a few percent) of normals that are het for something. It's just not very likely anyone will breed them to the right gene carrier to discover it. Still the odds are that your one normal looking ball python doesn't carry any genes for recessive morphs. I guess you could line breed it to try to find out but if it turns out to be a female you would be better off to buy a het male for your favorite morph and line breed him, at least then you would know that you have a gene you want to start out with.

Some of the pattern morphs might show through in some hets and this could help you narrow down the presumed normal hets considerably. However, yours doesn't appear to have the marker we have been talking about for piebald and I've not heard good evidence or descriptions of markers for any other morphs yet.