Genetic Defects

[MATTI]

Anyone want to explain further. I can't picture a duck beak on a snake. ...

Here you go:

http://www.exoticsbynature.com/daytona07/bhb23.jpg

[West Coast Jungle]

What's the derma ball?

Derma is a scaleless BP.
Really no scales, smooth like skin

[Schlyne]

What's the derma ball?

The derma ball was a normal ball python that was missing most of its scales. I believe it died after a few months though.

[LadyOhh]

The derma ball was a normal ball python that was missing most of its scales. I believe it died after a few months though.

It is still alive, from the last updates..

[rabernet]

It is still alive, from the last updates..

And bred - wasn't there another one? Or am I not remembering correctly?

[West Coast Jungle]

And bred - wasn't there another one? Or am I not remembering correctly?

I beleive so

[Ginevive]

I will try to describe the Spider "wobbling." Some look like they have Parkinson's disease from the neck up, with the head shaking. Others exhibit drastic backward corkscreweing motions when trying to move. Maybe try looking up "Spider, BP, Spinning" etc. on YouTube? I know that someone posted a video showing the corkscrew motions.
My Spider never exhibited much of this stuff. He does sometimes have a head wobble when he gets ready to lunge for a rat; otherwise he moves as normally as my other snakes.

[ViciousBliss]

Here you go:

http://www.exoticsbynature.com/daytona07/bhb23.jpg

i think that snake is absolutely adorable. it reminds me of a dragon. cuuute.

[DLawIII]

What is it that you want to know?

No I'm finding this all very helpful. I guess I just wanted to know if certain morphs tended to display unusual characteristics. I guess in some cases the answer is yes.

I'm still wondering if normal ball pythons with good blood are healthier, more active, better eaters, etc.... than the morphs.

I want to possible breed down the road and I just don't know if I want to get into the morphs. It doesn't seem like ANYOne breeds just plain vanilla BPs.

On a side note. Without knowing much about wild populations of BP's I guess I usually like the idea of captive bred snakes and not wild collected. But in the case of BP's, as the generations of these new morphs keep piling up, I think the gene pool will eventually become all muddled up and wild caught will be a necessity. Just thinking out loud.. Well actually still silently.

[kthulhu]

Is it really true that when the homozygous woma is mixed with other mutations that they thrive better? I know NERD as done pearl lessers, but I have no idea if any survived and alot of people seem hush hush about it. If the pearls all die because of some neurological defect (presumably because the homo recessive knocks out the function of some neuro gene) why would adding an unrelated mutation, like a lesser, compensate for the defect?