Picking up some sub adults to breed in 2017. I have a question about morphs

Hi, I was directed here from another website. I was told if I REALLY wanted to get into breeding ball pythons, you were the people to talk to.

So, I'm getting 2.2 ball pythons. Between any male and female combo there will be 7 genes. When I try to see what the possible outcomes are on the breeding wizard, there are a lot of possible morphs without pictures. I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to know what genes went into certain snakes. I'm told you pretty much have to be an expert to produce a 5 or 6 gene snake and be able to eyeball what's in it.

I was also told that if I still wanted to do this, there are people on this forum who are skilled enough to eyeball gene combinations from pictures. Is it true that there are people on this forum who can do that?

Also, is there any good reason why not to try and cram 7 genes into a clutch?

Hi and Welcome!

There's a lot of experienced people on here that can help you - But identifying 7 genes can be challenging. What turns people away from that many genes is it usually tends to result in a snake without much pattern because of all the genes it's expressing. If you're looking to make some powerhouses to keep, it's a great idea. Selling them also shouldn't be hard, but you may have to advertise as "possible _______" because you don't know for sure if it really has that gene in it.
If you're not finding pictures of the snakes that you want to produce - it could either because they've never been produced, or searching for that many genes that can have many different names depending on what's in it can skew search results. Also a lot of people do not post photos of the snakes they have produced.

So you're picking up two 3 bang snakes and two 4 bang snakes? What are the genes, and in what distribution per animal?

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Originally Posted by Zeusophobia

Also, is there any good reason why not to try and cram 7 genes into a clutch?

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Looks and quality.
I am not saying you cant have quality in the mix but many of the 5+ genes are ugly plus you better be right when selling the animals too.

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Originally Posted by Slim

So you're picking up two 3 bang snakes and two 4 bang snakes? What are the genes, and in what distribution per animal?

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Yellow belly soul sucker male. Sherbet Fly male. Bumblebee mystic female. Pastel Mojave Enchi female