Lesser vs. Butter?

[Crawly's Mom]

They can't be the exact same thing. There is almost a 400 price difference between a lesser and a butter. If they were exactly the same then you could theoretically buy a lesser and call it a butter and nobody would be the wiser. Why would there be two names for one morph with two different prices? That is just... crazy. :\

[JulieInNJ]

So this is what World of Pythons say about butters:

Description

Butters are quite similar in appearance to Lesser Platinum ball pythons, yet descend from a different, wild-collected bloodline. These are beautiful snakes, with soft yellow markings on a velvety caramel-brown background. The "Super Butter" homozygous form is also a Blue-Eyed Leucistic.

NERD

http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/butter/


I have one of each, but I can't fairly compare them - my lesser is a 4 year old and I got him recently, and my butter is a baby.

My lesser:



My butter:

[Crawly's Mom]

Thanks Julie. I actually think I can see a difference between your butter and your lesser, but that might just be age that's influencing the color difference. The definition helped though. I think I will just keep an open mind and look at the quality of snakes offered rather than just going in search of a particular morph. They both have the same super and both are capable of making beautiful babies. I will just look for the best representation of the morph and go with that. Thanks guys for all the input.

[mainbutter]

They can't be the exact same thing. There is almost a 400 price difference between a lesser and a butter. If they were exactly the same then you could theoretically buy a lesser and call it a butter and nobody would be the wiser. Why would there be two names for one morph with two different prices? That is just... crazy. :\

I'll be honest, your post made my lol.

Either you're being sarcastic, or you don't understand marketing and basic human psychology, and you don't realize that the "hypothetical" situation you have just mentioned has been happening for years.

[Crawly's Mom]

Well I am sure it has happened in the past. If butters and lessers are so similar I am sure someone has bought a lesser and called it a butter so they could reap the benefits financially, however, it's very dishonest if they are different morphs and I don't like that. While people might have done it in the past, I would NEVER do that. I want a good name in the community and buying one thing and calling it another would definitely not help me in any way.

[mainbutter]

On butters vs lessers:

MY personal opinion is that it definitely seems that the allele that causes a snake to be a lesser and the allele that causes a snake to be a butter are identical.

You need to understand, however, that a snake's appearance is determined by more than just a single allele. The complex polygenetic causes of coloration, pattern, shape, and size of a snake are probably much more numerous than you imagine.

In many cases, I'd probably agree with the sentiment that "butters look better than lessers". However, the reasoning behind such a hypothetical situation can be simply explained even if the allele causing the two conditions is identical:

Go back to 2008. Both traits were around. People had already figured out that the homozygotes of both traits were beautifully clean BELs. Lesser platinums had been around for longer than the butter line had, and were being mass produced by everyone wanting to make a pure white snake. Butters, being "newer", were more expensive simply because of a lack of supply. They were in the hands of people with more money, and therefore the prettiest versions of base morphs.

Those prettiest versions passed on some of their "good looks" genetics that went beyond simply being a particular morph, and in the end made really nice looking butters.

Lessers were starting to be mass produced by people who wanted the cheapest route to a pure white snake. In many cases, this was to find a cheap male and pair it with whatever female was available, with no regard to what kind of looks the female had. This has resulted in a downward spiral of average looks of a particular year class of any particular morph.

Now almost four years later, butters have seen the same thing. Take a look at most lessers and most butters produced this year. They are compatible with all of the BEL complex alleles. They produce some extremely white homozygote BELs. They look extraordinarily identical. Why would you think they are something different just because the lineage as traced back to africa is different?

A better question is why would you pay more for identical looking animals?

Frankly I haven't seen a price difference in butters and lessers in over a year. Any price difference can easily be explained more because of a particular animal's quality, and not the name associated with its morph lineage. I've certainly seen some lessers that seemed to outshine 90% of the butters available at the given time, and were priced accordingly.

[JulieInNJ]

The funny thing is this - I picked up my butter from an expo. He was in a display case with a lesser, but the butter absolutely caught my eye because of his wild neck pattern. The butter was actually cheaper than the lesser, much to my great, great, great delight!!!

Frankly, if my butter had been the more expensive snake, I still would have bought him because he was amazing.

[rabernet]

Those who know my collection and know the answer - don't answer.

Tell me - which of these two are butter and which are lesser? Or are they both butter? Or are they both lesser? And don't cheat by looking at the name of the file either! Give your honest reaction looking at them.

I maintain that they are the same thing.





Together

[Kinra]

Those who know my collection and know the answer - don't answer.

Tell me - which of these two are butter and which are lesser? Or are they both butter? Or are they both lesser? And don't cheat by looking at the name of the file either! Give your honest reaction looking at them.

I maintain that they are the same thing.





Together

I don't care what they are, I want them both.

I already said I can't tell them apart, but I would guess the first one is a butter and the second one is a lesser.

[JulieInNJ]

I don't care what they are, I want them both.

I already said I can't tell them apart, but I would guess the first one is a butter and the second one is a lesser.

X2 on both fronts!!! Those are some awesome looking snakes. And I can't tell them apart either, lol!!!