Quote Originally Posted by goddessbaby View Post
From what I understand being a het for something can slighter alter the appearance of the "normal" is that right? Like some things you can recognize based on color variations and certain patterns?
That brings up the trickiness of classifying genes. By strict definition, a recessive gene cannot be identified in the heterozygus form. Also, as we Ball Python keepers have started to be more careful in observing our animals, we are starting to see more subtle traits that we missed early on. I believe what you are referring to are what people will call "markers". The problem is that some animals with markers prove to not be het for the recessive gene, and some animals without markers prove to be het for the recessive gene. The classic example of a marker is the "train tracks" on het Pieds. There are some het Pieds that have thick, black lines on the side of their belly near the last third of the body that look like train tracks and some het Pieds don't. Also, som non-het Pieds have the same "train track" markings. The debate about markers also brings up the question of "Where is the line between a Recessive gene, and a very subtle Incomplete Dominate gene?" Paint is a morph that some believe is so subtle in the het form, that it really should be classified as a Recessive gene, while others are confident in their ability to pick out the Paints from the wild types that they think it should remain classified as an Incomplete Dominate gene. There is not a set and established criteria for how reliably one must be able to pick out a het from a group of wild type animals in order to decide if it is a Recessive gene, or an Incomplete Dominate gene. People often feel that markers are best used for clutches that contain possible het animals, since the markers are not reliable enough to pick out the het animals from a larger group of wild type animals, but can be helpful in comparing animals from the same parents. The bottom line is that markers are not definitive.

Quote Originally Posted by Philip451 View Post
That's correct, perhaps a bit of an understatement

Do you think it is the het Genetic Stripe that made your girl turn dark? I think it is Genetic Stripe that she is het for based on this thread http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...7-My-dark-girl. If it is being het for Genetic Stripe that caused your girl to become dark, shouldn't others have had similar experiences with their het Genetic Stripes? Personally, I really like your dark girl, but I doubt it is the het Genetic Stripe that caused her to change colors. I think it will end up being something else that made her look so nice.