What's My Morph?

[KingWheatley]

Of what? Fancy = Pretty and doesn't imply anything more than that.

good point... Lol it's over before it ever started. Oh well...

It made me feel better thinking that I could have had some justice...


alright. So down to Woma and Normal.

im just stuck on spider being a possibility because of the stripy-black splotches... Could it be possible that he's normal-spider or normal reduced-woma parentage?

i only got a UPC code for my snake. I never got information from the breeder they got him from.

[redshepherd]

alright. So down to Woma and Normal.

im just stuck on spider being a possibility because of the stripy-black splotches... Could it be possible that he's normal-spider or normal reduced-woma parentage?

i only got a UPC code for my snake. I never got information from the breeder they got him from.

You can't have a mix of normal and spider or normal and anything, because normal isn't actually a morph. It just means lacking any genetic mutation.

Spider and woma are also dominant genes. So a snake can't be both spider and woma either, for example.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Spider and Woma are dominant genes so, No would be the answer

[KingWheatley]

You can't have a mix of normal and spider or normal and anything, because normal isn't actually a morph. It just means lacking any genetic mutation.

Spider and woma are also dominant genes. So a snake can't be both spider and woma either, for example.

Ah... With so many co-dominate genes I thought a lot of the normal ones would be co-dominate. Admittedly, I didn't think they were genetic mutations, I just thought they were like hair colors. Does that make sense?

[KingWheatley]

Spider and Woma are dominant genes so, No would be the answer

-throws hands up-

Im out of ideas then. The solution may be, as you suggested, to figure out the parentage... However I do not have access to that information.... So perhaps this is a lost cause...

Either way, normal or woma, he's a pretty snake, and I love him.

- - - Updated - - -

Still... Would be nice to figure it out.

[redshepherd]

Ah... With so many co-dominate genes I thought a lot of the normal ones would be co-dominate. Admittedly, I didn't think they were genetic mutations, I just thought they were like hair colors. Does that make sense?

Just need some more research on how BP genetics work, it's alright. Back when I first started looking into ball pythons, I thought "blushing" in pastels was something that just slowly started from "normals with a little blush". LOL

This would help and is fun to play pretend-breeding with: http://www.worldofballpythons.com/wizard/

[FossilFreak]

They do that to bearded dragons too at the petsmart I go to, they call the more colourful ones "fancy" and that "fancy" gives them the chance to double or triple the price, if it doesn't look normal, even if it is they raise the price

[Trisnake]

He is almost certainly a woma. There are a lot of similarities between the woma and spider genes but spiders always (at least in my experience) have a funky head pattern, which yours lacks. They also tend to have a lot more white speckling coming up from the belly, which yours (again) lacks.

I honestly dont don't think you got cheated at all. If he's a normal he's the most reduced, funkiest patterned "normal" I've ever seen. And personally I think a woma is worth more than a spider simply because of the market being flooded with spider morphs-- if you're worried about being scammed.

Also, in regards to the verbage "fancy"-- I've personally never, in all my trips to the pet store for whatever reason, EVER seen a normal ball Python being sold as a fancy. Maybe my local stores are better at differentiating, idk. Not saying that it never happens, because believe me I'm sure there are employees out there that couldn't tell the difference between a normal and a spider/pastel/whatever, just saying I've never seen it. BUT, like others have said, just because it's labelled a fancy doesn't mean there's any law obligating them to sell only morph ball pythons as fancy.

[the_rotten1]

I've never seen a normal sold as a "fancy" ball python either, but I have seen pastels sold for $250+ under the "fancy" label. (I'm looking at you, Petsmart.) Considering that you can get a pastel for $50 from a local breeder I feel this ought to be considered a form of highway robbery.

I'm not saying they're always horrible and unfair. Their albinos and bananas are around the same price, and considering what they're worth, it's actually a reasonable price to pay. I think someone knowledgeable about ball pythons must've been to my local store, because they keep their snakes housed separately with two hides and a water bowl in each enclosure (as opposed to shoving several snakes into one large display like other stores do).

But ultimately I wouldn't buy from a big box store. They aren't very knowledgeable about the animals. I've always found it suspicious that they'll slap a single label ("fancy") and a single price tag on a wide variety of ball python morphs. These aren't rats we're talking about.