What is a line?

On occasion I have seen the name of a morph followed by it's "line" and was wondering what the hell it meant. Is it just the company saying "oh we bred this one!" or does it actually matter? The reason I'm confused is because I always thought a morph was a morph, so why would it matter who breeds it? Anyways I'm obviously confused. Clarification is appreciated xS

This is a bare basics answer, but it's a snakes lineage. This matters, because depending on how the breeder got to that morph (thisxthat) can make some animals incompatible or unadvised to breed with certain other morphs.

Plus, if a big breeder, well known for good strong healthy stock breeds a... Idk a candy. Let's use candy. If they breed a candy and I breed a candy, as a new unknown breeder with who knows what stock.... The well known guys candy has a higher price tag.

To my understanding, it indicates who originated that version of the morph. Which might prove important, if it turns out there are some differences in the mutation of that line, though it's unlikely. So if Jo Blow and John Doe both bought captive-hatched snakes, and they both ended up being a new morph that looks the same, and both Jo and John decided to call it what I'll randomly call a Snark morph, then one would be a Blow Line Snark and the other would be a Doe Line Snark. They may be the same, and act the same - or there might be slight differences that turn up eventually, making them different morphs.

I could be wrong - but that's my understanding.

Thanks for the response. Btw that is a big BP in your avatar! Is it yours?

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Interesting. Thank you for the response :)

some lines of certain morphs are not compatible with each other. Like the axanthic ball python has a few different lines 2 being vpi and the snake keeper line. They are not compatible with each other. In boa constrictors you have kahl albino and sharp albino lines which are not compatible with each other either.

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Originally Posted by Mysnakeislong

Thanks for the response. Btw that is a big BP in your avatar! Is it yours?

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Interesting. Thank you for the response :)

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Heh! Not so very big... that's my Super Pastel female, Miqula. She's a '15, and just reached 640g recently. Just the perspective that makes her look big!

Lines can also refer to a line bred trait, in ball pythons one that comes to mind is Brian Gundy's 'Gold Blush Mojaves' it's the standard Mojave morph but his 'line' has certain high color characteristics, when you breed from a certain line, it's more likely that the offspring may inherit those traits. There are quite a few line bred traits in boas.

Just some marketing ploy from bigger breeders

I feel deceived! lol

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Originally Posted by stickyalvinroll

Just some marketing ploy from bigger breeders

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What a crazy marketing ploy it is to clarify which similar looking animals are in fact incompatible with each other.

Are there some morphs that lean that way? Yes. Can you put all morph lines in that same marketing bucket? No way.