then the guy said if Im really sure that my python is a het for ghost, I can match it up with a pastel.. and get a higher chance of .. i dont know.. I dont get it..
Amazing looking ball python.
- Thread starter Honda12
- Start date
Alright Fishes...here's a quick run-down on genetics.
In ball pythons (and many other species), there are a few different kinds of traits.
1. Simple Recessive - these are your albinos, caramels, pieds, hypos, etc.
An animal needs two copies of the gene to be a visual carrier. If the albino gene can be represented as "a", then a visual (or homozygous) albino would be "aa." Now there are also normal looking carriers of simple recessive genes. These normal looking carriers (or heterozygous) commonly known as "hets", carry one copy of the gene. It would be represented as "Aa".
2. Co-dominant - pastels, lesser platinum, mojave, etc
These are genes that behave similarly to simple recessive genes, except that the heterozygous carriers actually do appear different than normals. So, a pastel is basically a heterozygous carrier of the pastel gene. What makes these genes special is that when you combine them, you create a "super" version that looks drastically different than the heterozygous carrier. A super pastel is pictures above, and "super" lessers and "super" mojaves are snakes that are all white with blue eyes.
3. Dominant - Spider, granite, dominant hypo, etc
These are dominant genes that show themselves the same way regardless of whether or not one or two copies of the gene are present. In these traits, there is no "super" version, but the animals themselves look amazing nonetheless.
So, in your example, a 100% het ghost male crossed with a pastel female would go something like this:
Normals that are 50% possible het for ghost
Pastels that are 50% possible het for ghost
or in other words, all are 50% possible het for ghost, and half of those should be pastels.
Go here for more on genetics:
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/genetics_intro.html
In ball pythons (and many other species), there are a few different kinds of traits.
1. Simple Recessive - these are your albinos, caramels, pieds, hypos, etc.
An animal needs two copies of the gene to be a visual carrier. If the albino gene can be represented as "a", then a visual (or homozygous) albino would be "aa." Now there are also normal looking carriers of simple recessive genes. These normal looking carriers (or heterozygous) commonly known as "hets", carry one copy of the gene. It would be represented as "Aa".
2. Co-dominant - pastels, lesser platinum, mojave, etc
These are genes that behave similarly to simple recessive genes, except that the heterozygous carriers actually do appear different than normals. So, a pastel is basically a heterozygous carrier of the pastel gene. What makes these genes special is that when you combine them, you create a "super" version that looks drastically different than the heterozygous carrier. A super pastel is pictures above, and "super" lessers and "super" mojaves are snakes that are all white with blue eyes.
3. Dominant - Spider, granite, dominant hypo, etc
These are dominant genes that show themselves the same way regardless of whether or not one or two copies of the gene are present. In these traits, there is no "super" version, but the animals themselves look amazing nonetheless.
So, in your example, a 100% het ghost male crossed with a pastel female would go something like this:
Normals that are 50% possible het for ghost
Pastels that are 50% possible het for ghost
or in other words, all are 50% possible het for ghost, and half of those should be pastels.
Go here for more on genetics:
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/genetics_intro.html
and in theory that is why the doms and co-doms would be less expensive, or if it is new, the price of the morph will go down quickly. However things are different with royals, especially when the doms and co doms can be used to create bigger and better things... then they are valuable breeding tools.
Fishes33;951078; said:so how can I determine if my het ghost is really het ghost or not? if they breed and you said 50% chance, what if all the babies come out to be normal looking?(a het morph looks the same as normal)
Breed and Breed till something different?
My local reptile store say, if i were to buy a female ghost to breed, the chances are 75% het ghost, and 25% will actually become ghost.. and if my male is normal, then no way I can tell which is normal and which is not.
Breed and Breed till some unique morph come out?
Hehe...don't listen to your local reptile guys...there's no such thing as 75% het anything.
Simple recessive traits work like this: Your best bet to create one is to breed a visual (homozygous) carrier "aa" to another one, "aa"
-- a a
a aa aa
a aa aa
Now, most of us don't have that luxury, so here's what happens when you cross a 100% het to a normal:
Aa is the 100% het
AA is the normal
-- A a
A AA Aa
A AA Aa
So, you see that half of the offspring would be 100% hets, the other half are normals. As a result, all animals have a 50% chance at being a het, so we call them 50% hets. The problem is they all look the same, so you don't know if an animal carries it until you breed it. That's called "proving out" a possible het.
Now, sometimes you'll see 66% possible hets. These are animals that come from 100% het x 100% het breedings. Here's a visual:
-- A a
A AA Aa
a Aa aa
If you notice, you get a 1 in 4 chance at making a "aa" or a homozygous animal, and of the remaining 3, 2 of them are 100% hets. Again, these all appear to be normal so you can't pick out the ones that don't carry the gene, so, 2 out of 3 equals 66%, thus the normal looking offspring from het to het breeding are referred to as 66% possible hets.
Hope that helps.
elevatethis;951104; said:
That means there are still (50% chance) the babies that gonna come out as normal looking but with het of 50/50 trait of a pastel and ghost? Right?
And the other 50% of hatchling will just come out as Pastel or Ghost but with 100% as a complete pastel / ghost morph or another 50/50 pastel/ghost of their trait? Right?
Fishes33;951135; said:
No, ALL of the babies that come out will be 50% hets. Now, because one parent is a pastel, half of these 50% possible hets will be pastels.
Fishes33;951135; said:
You will not create any visual ghosts breeding a het ghost to a pastel. What you'd do is keep the "pastel possible het for ghosts" you create, and breed them back to the orginal het ghost parent. As a result, you'd have a slim chance at producing pastel ghosts.
I can understand Miguel's concern though... especially with all the Ball-Carpet, Carpet-Burmese and Ball-Burmese crosses going on and traded among breeders.
Think of morphs like breeds of dogs. Every dog out there belong to one species, except we isolated those genes to create the breeds we see today. One person theorized that if we didn't have breeds of dogs, they would look like the village dogs found on African and Asian islands.
Think of morphs like breeds of dogs. Every dog out there belong to one species, except we isolated those genes to create the breeds we see today. One person theorized that if we didn't have breeds of dogs, they would look like the village dogs found on African and Asian islands.
elevatethis;951150; said:
Ty for the info, Wow, its gonna be years before a slim chance of producing a pastel ghost or something that look different than normal
and let say if i decide to buy a female ghost and breed with this het ghost male, what if this male turns out to be normal, will i still get a least 50% chance of visual ghost? or all of them become normal and het ghost?
