Het Pied Marker - always there?

Hey guys,

I've got a girl I bought earlier this year as a 100% het pied (the guy told me he got a piebald out of her the season before). The problem is that he also made some claims about other morphs that I've since learned were way off (claiming that a pastel was a pastel butter, for example), so I'm starting to doubt. I went in and looked at my girl tonight, and didn't see the typical het pied marker (unless I'm mistaken, it's striping alongside the belly scales).

So here's the question now: Is that marker always there for het pieds? Can you have a het pied that doesn't have the marker? :confused:

I've since picked up a het pied boy that I'm sure of (he's been proven out, has the marker, and I got him from a breeder I trust), and they locked for the first time this last weekend. I'm just hoping I didn't overpay for a good sized normal.

Thanks for your help! :bow:

No, they don't always have a marking on them. I have a pair of Het Pieds right now and the male is the only one with belly markings, or tracks as some call them. I got both from a friend that i trust and i have seen the parents and the whole breeding facility, no worries on my end. It's just something to help you out, but tracks or markings don't mean that it's a Het and it goes the same for snakes that look like complete normals.

The biggest thing you can do is be hopeful and if she turns out to be a normal, which could take a couple seasons, cause you might be all hets doing het to het pairing. You need to breed at least a couple times to see if you get a piebald, since you only have a 25% chance.

As stated above not all HP have the track markings, I have 2 girls sold to me as normals that have the track markings. Bottom line is know & trust who you're buying from.

If they all had markers, it wouldn't be a recessive trait.

I think het Pied markers are a line trait. Certain bloodlines are known for having them. For example, 100% of the het Pied animals I've produced over the last 5 years have the markers, even my Pastel het Pieds. All of the pos. het Pieds I've produced with markers have also been proven as being 100% hets. As I've stated before, it's not only the stripes that make them different. I think the "marker" thing came into play when buying pos. hets back when they were still fetching a high price.

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

If they all had markers, it wouldn't be a recessive trait.

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Exactly, it would then be a visual het. I have seen het pieds with nice tracks not prove 3 years in a row when paired with a visual pied so I believe it can work both ways, always be sure you trust your source.

I ONLY purchase hets from 100% trust worthy people that I know personally or know 100% from their rep that they are trustworthy people like BHB or equivalent. Hets are only as good as the person you purchase them from.