Odd Hatchling.....What is it???

[Vasiliki]

How is this possible? I though they only have one locus that determines the morph? If what you are saying is possible, we would see this a lot more often as we see genetic flukes all the time. Therefor, we would have seen this already. My bet is the fact that there is something else going on. Two snakes in the clutch have this "bleaching" going on. Is it possible that this is the Eclipse gene at work? Has you buddy bought any animals from Mike Wilbanks?

I'm certainly no expert, but I have heard theories in regards to animals that exhibit paradox traits. Some of those theories including a 'merging' of embryos at very very early stages (cell clusters). Basically, two animals merging into a single animal with two different DNA markers depending on the area in question (pattern). Chimeras have been witnessed in various different animals and all pose unique visual traits.

Naturally, I'm not anywhere near qualified to delve into the specifics of that, but it was a topic that was brought up in relation to paradox snakes that would actually make sense. Two embryos, two different genetic make-ups (visual) that merged and the genetic information merged to create a paradox.

As far as I know, paradox animals do not pass on their visual traits. They do not create more paradoxes. So could this also be a case of being a chimera?

Genetics are a very neat thing, that's for sure.