Quote Originally Posted by Clurin View Post
Assuming that a significant number of breeders would be willing to share their data from any pairings where both animals carry the spider gene AND any pairings where one or both animals do not carry the spider gene, would we not be able to statistically prove that there is a higher rate of bad eggs (or no difference) in the spider pairings?

It would still take time, but would not need to rely on one person's breeding experiences. I understand how unlikely this is to happen, both motivation and the desire to keep pairings secret would likely make this project fall short of the needed data. Theoretically it should work though, right?
With accurate data on enough spiderx spider breedings we should be able to determine whether there is a homozygenous form or it is a lethal combination just from hatch rate vs hatch rate of spiderx (anything else).
If it is a lethal combination we would see a 25% lower hatch rate in spider x spider breedings.

This is an excellent project; Does anyone know someone working in the field of genetics??? this would be a great thesis for a paper on the genetics of ball python morphs.