Blade or No Blade Gene present?

[Lord Sorril]

So: I hatched out a clutch from a Pastel/Blade/Het Clown x Fire/Het Clown
This is my first clutch from this male with Blade. It is my understanding that the gene should function like Enchi by reducing the pattern, but, unlike Enchi: not altering the color.
5/6 of the eggs for this clutch have hatched as of 30JUL2024
-2 Pastels (66% Het Clown) with no remarkable traits
-1 Firefly (66% Het Clown) with clean patterning (#1) (shown below)
-2 Firefly Clowns-with one much brighter (#2) than the other (#3) (shown below)

Questions:
-Do you see Blade in any of these three?​
-Does anyone know if Blade makes the clown morph brighter or darker?

#1

#2

#3


I have also included an image of a standard Firefly clown below for reference below, but, it is much older:

What do you think?
I'm a bit puzzled, and in the back of my mind I wonder if any Blade representation is here at all.

I do have another clutch incubating which is Pastel/Blade/Het Clown x Pastel/Het Clown---so we may have more samples to compare in the future.

[Lord Sorril]

I spoke to another breeder and he suggested that both #1 and #3 may be low-expression Blade.
He said that the black pigment in Blade usually pulls together around the dorsal band and the edge of the alien heads and without Blade the banded pattern would be uneven, blurry, and broken like #2.
He also mentioned that some people are selectively breeding Blade in Clowns without being aware of the genetic component-so pictures of non-Blade clown specimens with reduced patterns are often poor reference.

I've seen significant reduction in patterning by one-copy of the Blade gene, but, I acknowledge that there are often low-expression versions of morphs that are unidentifiable by the untrained eye.
Until I produce a high expression: I'm not convinced.

Side Story:
The breeder at the expo who I bought my Pastel/Blade/Het Clown male from had assured me that the snake had Blade when I asked (I did not see much pattern reduction)-but, he claimed it was offspring of a Super Blade Clown (which he also had for sale)... When I mentioned off-hand that I was a small hobby breeder and was planning my breeding projects for the future-he became very nervous. In response: I left the table and searched the rest of the expo and did not find a ball python with Blade that was not already incorporated into clown (For less than $600 at the time). My gf asked me why I did not buy the one I had seen earlier and I had mentioned that the vendor seemed 'off'. She said I was being paranoid as he was clearly working with Super Blade Clowns...so I went back and dealt with the odd vibes and I paid him and he reluctantly handed me the snake. I literally saw his hand hesitate for a split-second while handing me the snake bag and his mouth opened slightly as if he wanted to say something, but, didn't. From that point: I have been suspicious, I'm happy he proved to be Het Clown so far, but, now I'm still suspicious whether or not he has Blade...*eyes narrow*

[Lord Sorril]

Update: My second clutch by my so-called Pastel/Blade/Het Clown male is in the process of hatching.

I recently spent hours looking at photos and watching the latest videos about the 'Blade' gene.
I have now developed 'Blade Vision' and I can tell you that NONE of my offspring in either clutch have Blade. My original male I purchased AS Blade is NOT Blade.

If you are an optimist: My male Pastel/Blade/Het Clown could have been 'accidentally' labeled as Blade by the breeder even though he said it was from a Super Blade cross-because he may have been unknowingly been working with a different pattern reduction gene.

If you are a pessimist: My male Pastel/Blade/Het Clown was deliberately mislabeled as Blade because the breeder thought there was not enough information to prove it one way or the other at the time and he wanted to make a sale.

Given the breeders hesitant reaction when I deliberately asked him if he was certain that the snake was 'Blade' and he said 'Yes'--I have to go with the more pessimistic option.

Even though the snake does not possess Blade...it was produced from a different Clown bloodline, and I can still use this diversity to strengthen my gene pool.