BP Gene Tutorial...?

[Will]

Is there anywhere on the 'Net that can explain to me the different morphs and genetics of BPs out there...? I've always liked and considered getting some, but when it comes to all the different morphs out there, I couldn't tell an ***hole from an earhole. I always see BP pics and think "Wow, that looks neat!" and that's as far as my thought process goes(which ain't too bad for me :p). Obviously I can tell what a Pied, Axanthic or Albino is, basic stuff like that where the morph's name pretty much explains the genes involved, but give me a Clown and a Pastel Orange Ghost and I'm lost. :D

What really got me curious was these 2 pics from Corey Woods' post here (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25215&highlight=ghost) (GREAT collection by the way!):
First Pic (http://coreywoods.com/PastelOrangeGhost/Pastel%20Orange%20Ghost%208298.jpg)
It was part of a longer post and was titled "Pastel Orange Ghost with Pastel Females". Now to the uninformed mind(Mine), they all look pretty much the same. The guy in the middle looks like he has a lighter head, but I'll deal with my Ghost guess later. Comparing them to what I know normals to look like, 'Pastels' seem to be "more" Yellow, which suggests some form of Hyper-Xanthic morph.
This second one was titled "Pastel Orange Ghost with 2001 female Pastel as well as a 2003 Pastel Females" :
Second Pic (http://coreywoods.com/PastelOrangeGhost/Pastel%20Orange%20Ghost%208305.jpg)
Now obviously the big female is a Pastel(the title gave it away;)), and 2 of the 3 youngsters are Pastels, but I might not be able to pick out the Pastel Orange Ghost if my life depended on it. The black parts of the baby in the the middle seems to be a lot lighter than the other 2, but what makes it a Pastel Orange Ghost(if that's even the right one, if not I'm in more trouble than I thought, lol)...? Is it a combo of Hyper-Xanthic(which I guessed to be the Pastel morph) PLUS some form of Hypo-Melanism...? I could be way off with those guesses, what the heck do I know, heheh...? Could someone maybe while they're at it, explain those 2 morphs, was I at least in the ballpark with the guesses....?

Anyways, is there something out there that can explain these different morphs and what is at play to create them...? Some morphs seem to be small variations and are tough to spot unless you know what to look for. As well as how these morphs breed out(dominant/recessive, co-dominant that kinda deal.). It would be much appreciated...

[mykee]

Easy. A co-dominant gene is one that is visibly passed down in 50% of it's offspring. Pastels and Mojaves for example. Which means if you breed a pastel to a normal, theoretically, half of the clutch will be pastel, and the other half will be normal. If you were to breed two pastels together or two mojaves together, 25% of it's offspring, again theoretically, would be a super-pastel/mojave.

A simple recessive gene means that a snake needs both genes in it to be a visible morph (albino, axanthic, ghost, etc.) This means that if you breed a visible recessive-gene morph to a normal, you will get 100% het babies, all the babies will carry one of the two genes needed to be a visible morph. You would need to grow out the babies and breed them back to the mother/father (morph)to hatch out visible morphs. I'll let someone else explain double het morphs and such. Hope I helped.

[Will]

Thanks for the quick reply mykee, but I was looking for more along the lines of which morphs are dominant/recessive or co-dominant not what those terms mean. I know how dominant/recessive/co-dominance/double hets work, just not whether the Pastel gene is dominant to say Mojave for example - I don't actually know if those two morphs would interact with each other it was just an example.

I do thank you for letting me know that the Pastel gene is co-dominant though, that answers one of my many questions.

[mykee]

In that case, go to NERD's website and check out individual morphs for their genetics. www.newenglandreptile.com

[Will]

Thanks, I'll go check that out.

[mykee]

No trouble.

[Will]

Oh Man! :eek:

I'm over there and counting 33 different morphs?!?!?

I guess I'll be reading for a while...

[mykee]

There's more every year...only 33? I'm assuming that those are not including double-morphs like pastel-orange ghosts and the likes...

[Will]

I only counted 33 on this page. (http://www.newenglandreptile.com/ball_gallery.html) That Angolan is a hybrid though(there may be other, I haven't gone through them all), not sure if that counts as a "true" morph or not.

[Ron]

Has someone proved the Mojave gene to be co-dominant and produced a Super Mojave?

[imp_star]

check out the snakekeeper.com or ballpython.com (same site)

shows that mojave is a dominant gene..

[Derrick]

http://www.reptimania.co.uk/ballmorphs.htm

heres some more readin

[Ron]

Kinda funny, NERD lists Mojave as co-dominant. The Sutherlands list it as dominant but say Supers are around the corner. I guess I'll stick with dominant till I see a Super, maybe one has already been produced but they're not letting anyone know yet.