How can a male snake be a "female maker" or "male maker"?

[kaitala]

I've seen ads for male snakes as "female maker" or "male maker".

If the females are the heterogametic (zw) gender, how does the zz of the male determine sex?

[ajmreptiles]

Its a genetic anomaly with the Banana/coral glow gene. visual males produced from banana/coral glow females will produce around 95% female visual offspring and are called female maker males. Every so often it will produce a visual male and will have the same statistics in its offspring but will be predominately males and is called a male maker. Its weird and confusing

[kaitala]

Thank you for that, but I'm still rather confused.

The female determines the sex, as she is the one that would throw the z or the w. The male has no choice but to throw Z's.

Wouldn't the female be the "female maker" or the "male maker"?

How is this proven?

If Banana is co-dom, aren't all bananas visual?

[paulh]

Right. The female determines the sex, as she is the one that would throw the Z or the W. The male has no choice but to throw Z's.

As far as I know, all bananas are visual. "Male makers" and "female makers" are in banana male x normal female matings. Both male and female babies occur. But with male-maker males, there are both normal and banana male babies while almost all the females are normal instead of banana. Female-maker banana males produce the reverse. Someone correct me if I am wrong here.

All this confuses everybody. My own guess (and it's only a guess) is that the banana mutant gene somehow affects the sex hormone levels as well as color.

[OhhWatALoser]

It really isn't that confusing. If the male banana came from a male banana, it will make mostly male bananas. If the male banana came from a female banana, it will make mostly female bananas. Sex ratios don't change. Female bananas produce as expected. At least that is the conclusion we can come to with the current info.

Mechanics behind it are unknown, it is an anomaly never seen before. Z's and W's might play some sort of factor, but the gene is not sex linked. Otherwise we could say it is linked to Z or W.

[kaitala]

Okay, so let me see if I got this:

when the male carries the one codom gene for banana on his W, he'll be a "banana male maker" and when bred to a normal, she'll throw normal females (from his normal Z gene) and banana males from his W gene which carries the banana... reverse for females... The few exceptions of visuals have to be created during gene transfer in meiosis, and are necessary for the super forms....

Are there differences in appearance between the two?

Wouldn't this be true of all co-doms?

[TessadasExotics]

It really isn't that confusing. If the male banana came from a male banana, it will make mostly male bananas. If the male banana came from a female banana, it will make mostly female bananas. Sex ratios don't change. Female bananas produce as expected. At least that is the conclusion we can come to with the current info.

Mechanics behind it are unknown, it is an anomaly never seen before. Z's and W's might play some sort of factor, but the gene is not sex linked. Otherwise we could say it is linked to Z or W.

Actually it is not something never seen before and the mechanics behind it are quite obvious. This is the first in ball python genetics that we have seen, but definitely not the first sex linked gene in the animal kingdom.

[OhhWatALoser]

Okay, so let me see if I got this:

when the male carries the one codom gene for banana on his W, he'll be a "banana male maker" and when bred to a normal, she'll throw normal females (from his normal Z gene) and banana males from his W gene which carries the banana... reverse for females... The few exceptions of visuals have to be created during gene transfer in meiosis, and are necessary for the super forms....

Males have homozygous sex chromosomes, usually represented as ZZ. Again it is not sex linked. It is a never before seen anomaly.

Are there differences in appearance between the two?

no

Wouldn't this be true of all co-doms?

They sit on one of the other chromosomes that are not described as sex chromosomes.

[OhhWatALoser]

Actually it is not something never seen before and the mechanics behind it are quite obvious. This is the first in ball python genetics that we have seen, but definitely not the first sex linked gene in the animal kingdom.

How many years are you going to be saying it despite glaring evidence of it not falling under the definition of sex linked?

Even though we have done this before in other places, why not on bp.net.... please enlighten us Tess, tell us how it works.

[TessadasExotics]

Little run down of sex linked traits/bio_4.htm

another cool link on the subject


More sex linked and linked genetics

all really good reading.