What exactly is a het albino?

I should know these things, Im somewhat new to snake keeping. Almost a year. They seem to look pretty normal, if not a little bit more yellow. Im asking because the coloration looks a lot like mine. He isnt as dark as my baby ball, and keeps getting lighter every time he sheds. He looks blonde.

Anything that is "het" will look like a normal BP. It means they have a heterozygous gene for a particular morph. A het for albino means they have the heterozygous gene for an albino morph--when paired with another het albino, you have the chance to produce albino babies.

I'm pretty sure I got that right--if I'm wrong, someone correct me, please :)

Bingo!

ok that makes sense. but can anyone tell me why my ball is getting lighter in color every time he sheds? He didnt used to be like this. He is aging beautifully :)

You got the terminology right, Kim...I'm just gonna try to simplify it a bit. ;)


In the case of some morphs (recessive ones) an animal must inherit two genes in order to show the trait...one gene comes from each parent. If the animal only inherits ONE of those genes...then the trait will not present itself and the animal will look "normal." However, because the animal is carrying the gene, it may pass it on to its offspring...and if the other parent also passes the gene along...you will get the recessive trait you're looking for.

~hoping I succeeded in my attempt to "simplify"~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sourgirlmx

ok that makes sense. but can anyone tell me why my ball is getting lighter in color every time he sheds? He didnt used to be like this. He is aging beautifully :)

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He's just being a pretty ball python! They are highly variable and can go through some color changes as they age. Some can even be somewhat radical...but not necessarily a genetic trait that is predictably passed on to offspring.

http://www.ballpythons.ca/genetics.html

http://www.ballpythons.ca/what_get/recessive.html

:gj:

cool good to know! Thanks

I think that was a great simplification of basic genetic inheritance Judy!

The simplest definition of heterozygous is:

Hetero- = different
-zygous = forming pairs; joined

Meaning that the pair of genes (remember, one came from each parent) at a specific location on the chromosome are different, while homozygous means they are the same. Homozygous can refer to having both normal genes, or both morph genes. Hope that helps! :D

-Evan

brings me back to high school biology