Genetics is a very difficult thing to explain, and I am no science teacher. But I can try to break it down. You can PM or email me, and I can also give you a couple links to some good explanatories on genetics.

Ok, here goes. A "het" is short for heterozygous, meaning it carries the gene to produce the "morph" (like an axanthic, for example), but it looks like a normal. If it is homozygous, it is the visual morph. Like the snake pictured above is a homozygous, because you can SEE that it is an axanthic. If it is 100% het for axanthic, that means it came from breeding an axanthic with a normal. Now here is where it gets tricky. If it is 50% het for axanthic, that DOESN'T mean it carries the gene for axanthic. The reason for this is when you breed a 100% het axanthic with a normal bp, the WHOLE clutch of babies will be normal looking. You won't get any axanthics. Now, statistically (and according to the punnett square) 1/2 of the clutch will have the gene (and be 100% het) and half of the clutch will be completely normal, and not carry the gene at all. So, since you cannot tell which are normal and which are het by looking at them, the entire clutch is stated as "50% het for axanthic". That is why you may see 50% het axanthics selling for peanuts, because they may not carry the gene; they COULD be completely normal. Confusing? It took me awhile to grasp it.

If it is a double het, it carries genes to produce two different morphs. For example, to produce a "snow" ball python, you must start with a pair consisting of an axanthic and an albino. The babies that are produced from breeding an axanthic and an albino are called Double Het (or DH) for snow; because it carries the axanthic genes AND the albino genes.

If I completely confused you, I'm sorry. But if you have any other questions, I can do my best to help you out.

Jennifer