Quote Originally Posted by cchardwick View Post
I know our snake genetics really don't line up with classical genetics. But I thought that if a snake carries one copy of the gene and it's not visual we call the gene 'recessive' and a recessive carrying two copies of the gene is called a 'visual'. If you can see differences in appearance when they carry one copy of the gene it's either 'co-dominant' (also called 'incomplete dominance) or dominant. As far as I understand it the dominant gene has no super form, it either does not exist or doesn't act as two copies of the gene where all offspring get one copy or it's a lethal combo having two copies of the gene, like the Spider gene.

Also, if two morphs have genes at the same genetic location you can get an 'allelic' pairing of the genes, basically two different genes at the same location that act as a new form of super, like the Super Stripe.

The coral glow male / female genetics is very interesting. The other gene that's very interesting is the purple / lavender / white albinos in reticulated pythons. In that case you can't get the purple gene separated from the albino gene. The purple is the super form, the lavender has one copy of the purple gene and the white has none, but it's linked to the albino gene, so you can't get a purple non-albino morph. That blows my mind!
Here is the difference between a snake with two copies of a dominant mutant gene and a snake with one copy of a dominant mutant gene. A snake with two copies of a dominant mutant gene mated to a normal snake give different results than a snake with one copy of a dominant mutant gene mated to a normal snake.

Two copies of a dominant mutant gene x two copies of the normal gene produce 100% babies with one copy of the dominant mutant gene paired with one copy of the normal gene (dominant mutant/normal gene pair).

Dominant mutant/normal gene pair x normal/normal gene pair produces
50% dominant mutant/normal gene pair
50% normal/normal gene pair (normal appearance)

Standard genetics uses the term "multiple alleles" when two mutant genes can make a gene pair. For example, the lesser gene and the mojave gene are different mutant genes that can make a gene pair. A geneticist would call a snake with a mojave gene paired with a lesser gene heterozygous because the two genes are not the same.

As far as I can tell from reading various forums, purple / lavender / white albinos in reticulated pythons is another case of multiple alleles. In mice and fruit flies, there are cases of over two dozen mutant genes in a set of alleles.