Effects of different morphs on gene stacks.

[Hagar]

Good day ladies and gents.

First of all before I start just asking questions.

I use to have a small collection of BP. Had 14 BP's and 40% of them I bred myself for the age old reason I wanted certain morphs but just couldn't afford the ones I wanted so I bred the ones I wanted.

But a few years ago due to a particularly cold winter and a unfortunate powerfailure while I was on a fishing trip. I lost about 90% of my collection. We have something called loadshedding in south africa and when the power came back after my areas loadshedding time, the breaker tripped.

I want to get back into the BP hobby since my son's have now started to show some interest in the 2 I still have with me. And when they saw the pieds, superstripes,coral glows ect now as with thier father they want them all lol.

Now back then I bread the ones I wanted but this time round I want to focus a little more on the quality of the BP instead of just breeding a ghost for example, breed a echi ghost so that I get the finer outline and the colour of the BP will be enhanced and stay vibrant when the BP gets older. That is if what I read it correct.

So I have been doing some research to see what genes allow for what to happen when they are added to the gene stack of the snake your producing.

But I have had some trouble locating a website or thread here answering my questions.

For example I understand that a enchi would enhance the colour and also define the patern more on the BP. Lesser and butter and fire helps with the BP keaping it's colour as the BP ages. From what I have read so please correct me if I am wrong.

What I would like if there is someone on here that has the knowledge to help me out with just a basic idea of what morphs to add to my future breeding projects to get the best quality BP.

Hope this makes sence lol

And thanks allot for in advance for the information. I have seen the way people here have no problem helping out fellow hobbiests and it's truly amazing to see.

[Lord Sorril]

Check out Morphmarket and see what they have for combos in the photos--they usually have a nice selection.
https://www.morphmarket.com/us/c/rep...-pythons/index
Take the more complicated combos with a 'grain of salt' because some of the breeders are just guessing and/or 'bending the truth' a bit.

[rlditmars]

Hagar,
Welcome back to the hobby. It's difficult to answer the question with any specificity, as there are so many different opinions and directions that one can go in the hobby. Starting with the simplest questions is do you prefer bright colored animals or dark colored animals? Do you prefer reduced or busy patterns? Do you want to work with Co-dom and Dominate genes or recessive genes? What is you budget like? What is your patience factor or timeline for completing a project?

If you've done this before then you probably realize that you want to get a couple/few females first so that you can get them to size and ready to breed. Single gene animals are typically the least expensive to start with, and allow you to see the the single gene isolated. This means you can select the best example, (in your opinion) of a gene to start stacking. However, it will also take the longest to get to a result of multi gene animals. Maybe the best place for you to start is to go on MorphMarket and look at the various combos. There are literally thousands of animals to look at to get ideas, as well as determine your budget.

I know much of this doesn't answer your question so I will leave you with this. If you are looking for animals that stay brighter even as adults, then you may want to look at examples of Hypo/Ghost and also Desert Ghost. They are recessive so it takes longer to achieve but they are pretty stunning coming out of the egg and can even get better with age. Best of luck to you.

[Hagar]

Thanks .

I have been looking around on morphmarket. And there is allot out there lol.

But I want to make the best possible BP I can do and that's why I wa looking into what morphs enhance the BP genetics.

For example. If I start with a yellow belly x suoeratripe I know I will get some super stripes, ivories and then the obvious specter, yellow belly and normals.

Now what should I add to the superstripe to enhance the colour and have the BP keap it's colour as he gets older. Enchi would help clean up the patern and enhance the colour from what I understand but will it last when the BP gets to 5 years or 10 years. Now I know almost none of the BPs ever really hold thier colour forever but if I can get it to hold most if it then I would be happy.

Not in this to breed to sell. What to make the best I can for myself.

I don't really mind if it's co doms, doms or recesive. Will just make sure to have atleast one visual in the pairing with another het so the clutch will all be atleast 100 percent het.

I have looked into the Ghost morphs and it looks promising aswell.

Just wanted an idea of what the main genes are rat help with making a BP better in appearance.

Like what does the fore gene do exactly and the butter ect. I found some info but nothing concrete.

Thanks

[rlditmars]

Hagar,
I'm not trying to be difficult but "Better" is so subjective. Remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Fire, YB, OD, even Pastel are all genes that can brighten or enhance the look of a snake. But you may not prefer the enhancement they make compared to something else. I can give you an example with a clutch that I produced a couple years back. I bred a Mojave Pastel to a Leopard Pinstripe. I hit 1, 2, 3 and even a 4 gene animal. However, I felt the 4 gene animal, while powerful and interesting looking, was not as "Nice" as some of the 2 and 3 gene animals. The color was muted and the pattern was pretty much obliterated. Here are pics to help. So when you look at these, what do you think is "Better or Improved". As I had said earlier, most BPs fade with age except for Desert Ghost and Hypo/Ghost and even Hypo/Ghost fade some. On Morph Market you can filter what your looking at by, specific genes, specific ages, and you can even select "All" so that you can look at all of the examples that have ever been on the site, including the Sold animals. So decide what you think might want to start on and see if there are any examples of adult animals to look at. Then if you still like the look, start looking for the pieces to build the beast of your dreams. Best of luck to you.

Pastel


Mojave


Leopard Mojave


Leopard Pinstripe


Pinstripe Mojave


Pastel Pinstripe


Leopard Pastel Pinstripe


Leopard Pastel Mojave


Leopard Pastel Mojave Pinstripe


The whole Clutch

[Hagar]

O I agree, with you. I don't want to add as many genes as possible this is not my intent.

For example looking at the pics you posted. Your leopard pinstripe is gorgeous. But just adding the pastel made all the difference in the 3 gene snake.

But I seem to have found the base line from what I have been able to rasearch the following lines are the ones that make the biggest differences when added to a 2 gene stack.

Enchi refines pattern and also adds pattern on pieds for example and makes colour more vibrant. Fire yb and OD enhances the colour mostly it seems.

So will do more research on individual genes and see what else I can uncover lol.

Thanks allot for the help and info bud