Quote Originally Posted by RandyRemington View Post
The part I don't like is that as soon as the initial cross was made the decision was already made for future herpers that they can't be sure they have a ball python. Only the 2nd generation the records are getting muddied (aren't these 3/4 ball and 1/4 blood?) and some of them could pass for pure balls. I'm sure in another generation if not this some of them will be lost completely into the captive ball population. A few years down the road one of their more odd decedents could be picked out as a possible new ball morph and years might be wasted trying to bring it to market.
This is EXACTLY the reason I don't like hybrids. Many of those on that page could pass for normal ball pythons but will still carry many genes from their blood python side and eventually throw a monkey wrench into somebodies breeding project who thinks they are working with pure ball pythons.

Also, there is no such thing as a 3/4 ball or 2/3 ball python. The hybrid parent will have exactly 50% of it's genes from the ball python side, and exactly 50% of it's genes from the blood python side. But when the hybrid parent produces sex cells through the process of meiosis, it's a 50/50 shot to determine what side each gene gets it's genetic background from. Each sperm or egg cell produced can get anywhere between 0%-100% of it's genes from one side or the other. It is possible though extremely unlikely for one sperm to have 100% of it's genetic material from the ball python side, and it's equally possible for the next sperm to have 100% of it's genetic material from the blood python side. When you're talking about the millions of sperms being produced, each one carrying half the genetic material for millions of different genes you can have any percentage from either half of the hybrid that you can imagine. That's why 2nd generation hybrids are so extremely variable and unpredictable. And if you do get something interesting, it's very likely that it will NOT breed true.