Mate For Gemini

[Aosoth]

Hey guys! I bought a female 7 month old normal morph ball python a couple weeks ago. I've been looking into different morphs and I'm trying to find one to breed with her to produce some axanthic morphs. Could yous guys suggest any to me?

This is a picture of my scale baby Gemini. My first BP!

[Eric Alan]

Axanthic is a recessive morph, so you wouldn't produce any visual Axanthic babies in the first breeding (they'd be carrying the gene, but not show it visually).

Here's what you'd end up with in your first breeding season (which could be 2+ years away), assuming you buy a visual Axanthic male:

Male:	Axanthic (VPI)
Female:	Normal
Percent	Fraction	Traits
100%	1/1	Het Axanthic (VPI)
View Results Page

Then, assuming you stick with only the snakes you have, it'd take at least 2-3 years to grow up a female het Axanthic from that clutch before you bred her with your visual Axanthic male to produce the following:

Male:	Axanthic (VPI)
Female:	Het Axanthic (VPI)
Percent	Fraction	Traits
50%	1/2	Axanthic (VPI)
50%	1/2	Het Axanthic (VPI)
View Results Page

Look, finally visual Axanthic hatchlings! Yes, recessive projects take awhile if you start with only a normal female ball python.

[Lizardlicks]

Yeah, if you want axanthic combos I would start with an axanthic and the morph you want it in combination with, not a normal (unless your end goal is just more axanthics in which case...)

Just my opinion, but personally I feel like normals should not be bred to just anything. They do have their place in breeding projects, but you can find normals, hets and now even some common co-dom morphs that practically can't be given away. With the market over saturated with under par versions of common morphs, I feel a responsible breeder looks toward improving lines, not just pumping out more snakes of a particular morph. All normals are beautiful pets, and of course we like to think all our snakes have a certain special something, but when it comes to breeding, about 90% of the time, a normal is just a normal.

So, is there something you feel this girl will add to an axanthic line? Is there some quality about her that you want to see perpetuated in her offspring that only she can provide? Think very hard about what your breeding goals are, and how you want to go about achieving them.