Morph Longevity

[PaseQB]

I never see this topic raised so I figuered i'd throw it out. I love morphs and as more and more designer morphs are made I wonder if any of the genetics will have an effect on lifespan. A normal can live 20+ years and obvously none of the morphs with the exception of Albinos have been kept for an extended period. I just think with the limited original gene pool of a lot of the base morphs and the mixture of abarant genes there could be a inpact down the road.
Any thoughts?

[Hock3ymonk3y]

I do not think any morphs are even close to 20 years old, so I do not think that question can be answered

[Haydenphoto]

I don't see a reason for it to effect there life span ! There are Dom / Co-Dom that are wild caught so those should have no effect but i dont see why there would be with any other morph.

[RandyRemington]

I was told that the original spider and at least one of the original clowns came in in 1989. Can anyone confirm that? If true, there might be three 20 year old morphs. Of course ball pythons without mutations messing with their chemistry might well normally live twice that. Isn't the record in the upper forties and there couldn't have been all that many ball pythons in captivity 50 years ago to test against.

[PaseQB]

I don't see a reason for it to effect there life span ! There are Dom / Co-Dom that are wild caught so those should have no effect but i dont see why there would be with any other morph.

there are a bunch of reasons that this could effect lifespan... The genetics of most morphs arent fully understood much less how those genes work in tandom with other mutations. Also again for most morphs you have a very very small initial gene pool. (All "Lessers" originate from 1 animal right?). There is an assumption that these genes only impact color/pattern but the truth is nobody actually knows for sure. Not to mention "hidden" attributes

I know only time will tell, I was just wondering because I've never seen the issue talked about.

[PaseQB]

I was told that the original spider and at least one of the original clowns came in in 1989. Can anyone confirm that? If true, there might be three 20 year old morphs. Of course ball pythons without mutations messing with their chemistry might well normally live twice that. Isn't the record in the upper forties and there couldn't have been all that many ball pythons in captivity 50 years ago to test against.

Thats interesting about the clown and spider. I thought the only morph approaching 20 years in captivity is the albino.

Sometime some of the designer morphs have that "too good to be true" feel to them. Maybe I'm just jaded and expect a catch... or two.

[RandyRemington]

I wouldn't worry so much about limited gene pool, at least not with the dominant/co-dominant mutations. Even the recessive get outbred and crossed. It's the possibility of unknown effects other than skin deep that might cause shorter lifespan. Apparently the spider mutation causes the spider appearance AND a tendency for wobble. A tendency for kinking seems to be part of the caramel and cinnamon/black pastel mutation. Hopefully most of the mutations are only skin deep but maybe there is a morph out there that causes a tendency to tumor or internal organ failure within 10 years.

I actually worry about the ones that are still rare and expensive after a long time. I was starting to wonder what was up with caramels not being more common so long after they first showed up before the kinking issue came out. But looking at how stripes have dropped in price recently I'm figuring they are likely a very robust easy breeding animal. Probably the market is not the best barometer for morph health but without connections maybe something to look at.

[PaseQB]

I wouldn't worry so much about limited gene pool, at least not with the dominant/co-dominant mutations. Even the recessive get outbred and crossed. It's the possibility of unknown effects other than skin deep that might cause shorter lifespan. Apparently the spider mutation causes the spider appearance AND a tendency for wobble. A tendency for kinking seems to be part of the caramel and cinnamon/black pastel mutation. Hopefully most of the mutations are only skin deep but maybe there is a morph out there that causes a tendency to tumor or internal organ failure within 10 years.

I actually worry about the ones that are still rare and expensive after a long time. I was starting to wonder what was up with caramels not being more common so long after they first showed up before the kinking issue came out. But looking at how stripes have dropped in price recently I'm figuring they are likely a very robust easy breeding animal. Probably the market is not the best barometer for morph health but without connections maybe something to look at.

Well wobble and kinks came to mind right way, I just can't help what may pop up down the road.

[dr del]

Hi,

there are a bunch of reasons that this could effect lifespan... The genetics of most morphs arent fully understood much less how those genes work in tandom with other mutations. Also again for most morphs you have a very very small initial gene pool. (All "Lessers" originate from 1 animal right?). There is an assumption that these genes only impact color/pattern but the truth is nobody actually knows for sure. Not to mention "hidden" attributes

I know only time will tell, I was just wondering because I've never seen the issue talked about.