New Arrivals Question for a Simpleton

[Lord Sorril]

Greetings! Welcome to the world of ball pythons!

The genetics on ball python morphs is relatively easy compared to other species. You have primarily dominant and recessive traits. Banana is sex-linked-so that is a bit of a different story.

On the DNA strand: Most genes are paired and thus there are two copies. One copy is inherited from the mother, and one copy from the father to make the pair.
Heterozygous means one copy of a gene, and Homozygous means two. In Ball Python Lingo we only refers to Hets in terms of Recessive Traits that are not visible-everything else that is shown is given a name. We never use the term 'Homozygous' either...instead for certain morphs that are enhanced with two copies-we refer to them as 'Super' (e.g. Super Pastel, Super Fire, Super Enchi)-which usually produces a different visual effect (but, not always).

-Dominant traits and variations (e.g. co-dominant and incomplete dominant) only need one copy of a specific gene to create a visual 'morph'.
-Recessive traits need two copies of a gene.

For a Banana/Pastel/Piebald:
Banana = One Copy
Pastel = One Copy
Piebald (recessive) = Two copies (You can see it expressed)

For a Banana/Pastel/Het Piebald:
Banana = One Copy
Pastel = One Copy
Piebald = One Copy (Not visible)

For a Banana/Pastel/66% Het Piebald
Banana = One Copy
Pastel = One Copy
Piebald = 66% Possible Chance one gene is present. Which means there is a 33% chance that the gene is not in the animal.
The percentage is based on a Punnett Square genetic prediction model.

For a Banana/Super Pastel/50% Het Piebald
Banana = One Copy
Pastel = Two Copies
Piebald = 50% Chance one gene is present

We use percentages on Hets as a guessing game to determine the statistical likelihood that genes are present on recessive traits. If you are 100% certain that one gene of a recessive trait is present-then no percentages are needed, just call it a Het.

-Sex-Linked traits are controlled by genes on the chromosomes which also code for gender. These can result in offspring only of one gender carrying the gene, but, there is also a small possibility of genetic crossover...so a male specimen carrying a sex-linked trait will eventually a produce a female with this trait in low numbers. Likewise a female carrying this trait will eventually produce a male after producing many females. Bananas are often referred to by breeders as Male-Makers or Female-Makers for this reason. Crossover odds are low-so definitely don't plan on your Male-Maker producing a female carrying the banana gene.

There are some genes that can have multiple variations and can produce different results. These are known as 'alleles'.
Genes are sections of DNA, and Alleles are different versions of the same gene.
Blue-Eyed Leucistics are a good example of a morph with allelic versions: You can use different combinations of genes to produce them.

You can use an online morph calculator like this one to determine possible outcomes if you breed your snakes:
https://www.morphmarket.com/c/reptil...%2CHet+Piebald

Anyhow, this has been your super basic crash course in ball python genetics...I didn't give you a lot of specifics and I oversimplified some stuff, but, there is enough here for you to get the idea.