Brighter Normal

Hello,
I have a ball python that I've named Boxas (great name rite?) and I know he's 100% het lavender and 50% het pied. The breeder told me and I noticed that, even though he looks like a normal, he's somewhat brighter than other BPs. I remember watching a breeder or two claim that one of their ball pythons are brighter because they're het for a morph.
Is this true for normals or is it bull, and if it's true then which gene would make him slightly brighter? (I know that 50% het means that it's possible het).

Thanks in advance.

It is not bull. It is true that animals that are het for certain genes are often brighter than their non-het counterparts. Same can be true of patterns. Some genes in the het condition will disrupt the pattern such as train tracks for het pied, and extra white edging on the alien heads for het clown. It isn't 100% of the time defenite, but it is often enough that it is looked for when selecting from possible hets.

The level of expression between Hets can vary greatly from individual to individual. Some Hets are more obvious than others.

Pictured below are three single gene Het VPI Axanthic Females (sisters). All three are Het for VPI Axanthic even though the one in the middle is obviously brighter. :)

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...atermarked.jpg

Edit: In your case the Het Lav Albino *may* brighten the snakes color.

I wouldn't say its the het's alone, but also the selective breeding that went into previous generations.


The intensity of any given morph is a poly-genetic trait, there are millions of genes in the background effecting the quality of any given specimen of a particular morph.


So if a lavender pied that has been selectively bred over several generations for the highest intensity color saturation produces a normal offspring, that normal will likely look much different than a wild type because it has still inherited the linebred traits for intense colors.