What is the true definition of a ....

...DINKER? I'm new to the BP Morph world and was at a show yesterday. There was a nice looking BP with the tag dinker on it and the guy selling it was a complete MORON and acted like he didn't have time to inform me. So, I walked away from his table with all my money!

Dinker usually refers to a normal snake where someone sees something that looks like it could be a morph, something special that they want to see if it breeds true or not.

I think a dinker means that there is a gene in the animal that the owner doesn't know what it is and they plan on proving it out. I'm not 100% sure. I'm pretty sure someone more experienced than me will comment soon.

Hope this helped

A "dinker" is an unusual looking animal that has not yet been proven genetic yet. (IE, it looks unique or interesting, but has not been bred to produce offspring that look like the parent)

The GHI ball is an excellent example of a dinker that proved out to be genetic.

Dinkers are almost always unique looking normals with interesting pattern or color variations. Typically, you'll see someone who is working a dinker project talk about why they think it might be. For example, a reduced pattern normal with high blushing, a faded head, and clear belly would all be "markers" for that animal which may mean it's genetic.
Until the animal is proven out, however, it's still just a normal. The typical way I've heard people discuss the "proving out" part would be to breed the unique snake to a normal, see if any the offspring resemble the unique parent, then breed one of the offspring back to the unique parent. This would determine what type of genetic variable it could be i.e. recessive, dominant, if co-dom, what super might look like, etc.

Dinkers are fun because it could mean discovering a new morph, but with all the proven morphs out there and all the yet to be seen combos, it would have to be a really visual outcome to make a big impact on the industry. Probably something like the vanilla - 2 very cool, yet pretty normal looking BP's, but when bred to each other, make an awesome super version. That's what I'm trying to get at. Of course, it's just my opinion. I have a dinker girl who is gravid right now, so we'll see! My guess is that she's a pretty normal, but you never know! That's what makes it fun and exciting.

I hope this was helpful!

Jim