Are these possible het pied markers?

[ShamelessAardvark]

Hey guys, sorry to bother you with another, "Is This A Morph?" post, but I'm insanely curious.
So, very soon, I'll be coming into possession of a 3 1/2 - 4 foot female who the owner believes may be het pied. She says that the breeder who she got the snake from never said anything about the parents/possible genes, but the snake has what she believes to be markers on her tail. Are these markers, or is the only way to tell for sure done by breeding and seeing what she throws?



Her tail markers:


Other side:


This is a comparison of her normal (right) and her possibly het pied (left):


So what do you guys think? Her owner wants $80 for her, do you think she's worth it?

[Maddumpling]

markers don't tell you that much. Some hets have it and some dont. You should ask the person for papers.

[ShamelessAardvark]

You should ask the person for papers.

I'll ask, hopefully she'll have something to help confirm this.

[Ash]

They look like het pied markers, for sure. However, I'd be willing to bet that this person knows it's normal and just happened to notice the belly looks het-pied-ish and thought they could get away with selling it for more. The fact that she's saying the guy she got it from didn't say anything about parentage makes me suspicious that she's just gonna play dumb when you find out it isn't het pied after all. If a breeder was aware that pied genes had anything at all to do with the clutch and saw the train-track-marks, there's no way they would just accidentally fail to mention it and sell it to somebody for normal price. If you want to gamble, go ahead, but be aware that you might be paying 80 bucks for a normal snake.

[EverEvolvingExotics]

There are a ton of normals with "het pied" markers. The only way to tell is to breed them out. I wouldn't buy a pair without the breeder providing papers of such.

[ShamelessAardvark]

They look like het pied markers, for sure. However, I'd be willing to bet that this person knows it's normal and just happened to notice the belly looks het-pied-ish and thought they could get away with selling it for more. The fact that she's saying the guy she got it from didn't say anything about parentage makes me suspicious that she's just gonna play dumb when you find out it isn't het pied after all. If a breeder was aware that pied genes had anything at all to do with the clutch and saw the train-track-marks, there's no way they would just accidentally fail to mention it and sell it to somebody for normal price. If you want to gamble, go ahead, but be aware that you might be paying 80 bucks for a normal snake.

I was reading back over my emails between the owner and I, and she said, "...Also has a het pied marker on her belly down by her tail but I have no idea about her history and from what she was produced by. If you are interested in her as well I can send some pics."

Perhaps I could take the snake, breed it, and if all I get are normals, maybe I could talk her into giving me a refund. I sent her another email asking her for some papers, because she said she orders snakes from time to time. I have my fingers crossed that maybe she ordered this one too, and has something to help prove if it is het-pied. But she said she didn't know who the parents were, so I'm beginning to think this was a pet-store buy.
If she's not het-pied, and I can't get a refund, I could always sell the hatchlings and then sell her.

[EverEvolvingExotics]

If the breeder said "she didn't know who the parents were" then they are not het pied. This is a scam. Back away, back away fast!

[loonunit]

Yeah, they're markers, but the belly isn't clean between them. Plus what everybody else said about unreliability.

It's a female? Looks healthy and size-able. If you can get the sex confirmed, $80 is a fine price. If it's a boy, I wouldn't pay more than $50.

[ShamelessAardvark]

Yeah, they're markers, but the belly isn't clean between them. Plus what everybody else said about unreliability.

It's a female? Looks healthy and size-able. If you can get the sex confirmed, $80 is a fine price. If it's a boy, I wouldn't pay more than $50.

Yeah, she's a female. I'll double check, though.
Even though she may not be truly het pied, that's okay. To me, snakes are beautiful regardless of their genes (not to say I don't love me some morphs!). I'm just happy to be surrounded by them. And besides, she's almost up to breeding size, which is another plus. My girl that I have now still has a few years to go, and honestly, I can't wait to breed.

[loonunit]

Honestly, I don't mind paying $80 for a big healthy normal girl like that. And yeah, they're beautiful---I took a het male to a party on Friday, and he got mucho compliments on his looks. Nobody there knew what a piebald was or that he might be het. They just thought he was a gorgeous animal.