How do you prove a morph?

[shelliebear]

I'm wondering if one of my BP's is maybe a vanilla. She looks a LOT like every vanilla picture I have ever seen, right down to the faded mark on top of her head.
So, my question is this: without buying a vanilla, how could I find out if she is vanilla?
Would breeding her to a normal, then breeding one of the babies back to her work? I think vanilla is co-dom, so would all of the babies be vanillas?
If not, is it just luck of the draw which one you breed back to the mother? Like you kinda just pick one and cross your fingers that if it looks like her, it might be the same?
Also, is inbreeding them, i.e. son to mother, a bad idea? Will this produce any abnormalities down the line? I understand that this is where the morphs come from (inbreeding), but I am just double checking.
(And I wonder why in people it causes defects, but doesn't seem to in snakes?)
Thanks guys. Sorry I'm such a noob at genetics.

[steveboos]

Inbreeding isn't bad for snakes, it's been done for dozens of generations with no ill effects.

You want to breed your Vanilla to a normal and see if you get vanillas and normals. You wont get all vanillas since it's a Co-Dom mutation.

The only way to prove out if she is a vanilla is to breed her a few times to normal males and see if the babies come out looking like her, but you will get normals in the clutch also.

You can also post some pics of her so we can take a stab at seeing if she is a vanilla or not.

[DemmBalls]

As stated above...Breed her to a normal. If she produces any young that look similar to her...Breed them back to her in an upcoming season. If it is a vanilla...you should eventually produce a super vanailla. Once you have produced a Super Vanilla...That is what would produce all Vanillas. She will take several seasons to either prove out or be declaired a pretty normal.

PICS!

Good luck!

[shelliebear]

Faded mark on top of her head:

Some of her pattern:

More pattern:

Mark on head:

pattern

Green eye (in person it looks green ><)

Some flames (I think that's what these are) on her sides:

have more photos, gmail is not cooperating, am trying to upload. Might have to take new ones. ):

[anatess]

I'm wondering if one of my BP's is maybe a vanilla. She looks a LOT like every vanilla picture I have ever seen, right down to the faded mark on top of her head.
So, my question is this: without buying a vanilla, how could I find out if she is vanilla?
Would breeding her to a normal, then breeding one of the babies back to her work? I think vanilla is co-dom, so would all of the babies be vanillas?
If not, is it just luck of the draw which one you breed back to the mother? Like you kinda just pick one and cross your fingers that if it looks like her, it might be the same?
Also, is inbreeding them, i.e. son to mother, a bad idea? Will this produce any abnormalities down the line? I understand that this is where the morphs come from (inbreeding), but I am just double checking.
(And I wonder why in people it causes defects, but doesn't seem to in snakes?)
Thanks guys. Sorry I'm such a noob at genetics.

I'm not an expert on genetics but my understanding is - inbreeding in snakes is the same as inbreeding in dogs and the same as inbreeding in humans. It increases the risk of a weak/defective offspring. That doesn't mean that EVERY incestous mating, even in humans, would produce abnormal children. It just means that it increases the chances of producing children with abnormalities.

[shelliebear]

belly photo:

[JLC]

This thread here might help you get a more confident understanding of how the basics work.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Basic-Genetics

[shelliebear]

(does she look like one? ;-; )
should I dink around with her when she gets older??

[JLC]

(does she look like one? ;-; )
should I dink around with her when she gets older??

If you're asking me...I couldn't say. I'm not very good at ID'ing either vanillas or fires...mostly because I haven't played with any in real life. Once I get my hands on a subtle morph, I can usually see them easily. But just going by internet pics (which rarely ever capture the true look of an animal) I can't judge yet.

Should you "dink around" with her? Sure...why not?

[DemmBalls]

(does she look like one? ;-; )
should I dink around with her when she gets older??

You're going to breed her anyway...Right? See what she produces and breed any interesting males back to her. That's fairly common practice.

From what I see in the photos...It's going to be difficult to ID with them. The only certain way is to dink with her.