please explain all the terminology

what is the difference between a het, morph, hypo, etc?

Het - heterozygous gene carrier.

Morph - visible color/pattern variation from the wild type/"normal."

Hypo - literally means "a reduction of" - i.e. hypomelanistic means reduced black.

That's it broken down into very basic layman's terms.

Het - short for heterozygous. Means the animal carries ONE copy of a mutant gene.. if the gene is recessive, the animal will appear normal.. as in a het albino. HOMOZYGOUS means it carries TWO copies, and therefore will actually exhibit the trait (ie look albino)

Morph - hobby name for a genetic mutation that is bred for.. ie albino, or different colors/patterns.

Hypo - means 'less'. In the snake breeding world, it can mean 'hypomelanistic' or less black.. as melanin is the black pigment. There is also hypoerythristic (less red) and others.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules...._content&eid=1

Hypo is from the Greek and literally means "under" as in hypodermic "under the skin." It is commonly used to indicate less of something, or a reduction in color, activty, hormone levels, etc. Like Hypomelanistic, hypoactive (opposite of hyperactive), hypothyroid, hypoglycemic, etc.

Finally, all those years of studying ancient Greek pays off! Woo Hoo!