How can individual morphs and combinations of morphs affect the overall functions of a ball python?

What are Snake Morphs? 

Snake morphs is the term for a genetic trait that affects the colour and/or pattern of a snake.
 

Terms to know:

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) - All of the genetic information that determines how an individual organism is to be

 

Gene- The specific instructions that makeup DNA

 

Allele- The different versions of each gene

 

Chromosome- The collection of genes 

 

Zygote- The mix of the two copies of chromosomes (when sperm and egg join)

 

Homozygous- When a zygote has two of the same allele for a specific trait

 

Heterozygous- When a zygote has two different alleles for a specific trait

 

Genotype- The alleles that a zygote has

 

Phenotype- The way the snake looks, determined by the genotype

 

What is a Dominant allele, Recessive allele, Codominant allele, and Incomplete Dominant allele?

Dominant- an allele that overpowers any recessive alleles in the phenotype. The morph affects the snake, and looks the same, whether the snake is heterozygous or homozygous.

Ex. Wild Type is dominant. Wild Type mixed with any gene that is not dominant (recessive) will still look like a Wild Type even though it is not homozygous.

 

Recessive- an allele that is only shown in the phenotype if the snake is homozygous, meaning it must have two copies of the allele to visually show its traits.

Ex. Albinism is recessive. In order to show the lack of melanin, the snake must have two copies of the gene (one from mom, one from dad). A snake is capable of having only one Albino allele but it will only show the dominant allele that it carries. Therefore, that snake with one albino allele and another dominant allele would look like what ever traits the dominant allele possesses, and it would be referred to as a “het” albino (het being a shortened version of heterozygous).

 

Incomplete Dominant- When two dominant alleles blend together into one consistent look. This is where a “super” form of some alleles can be shown. Super is when two of the same incomplete dominant alleles are mixed (homozygous). Super versions of morphs enhance the overall look of the snake. Usually making the snake a brighter colour. Supers are alway homozygous. (All supers are homozygous, but not all homozygotes are supers)

Ex 1.  Pastel is an Incomplete Dominant morph. This means that a ball python only needs one pastel allele to show the traits in its phenotype (heterozygous). It is a blend of pastel and the other morph (wild type in this example). The snake would appear with a lighter pattern, with more yellows along with the browns, and a slightly higher contrast between the colours.

Ex 2. Because pastel is Incomplete Dominant there is a way to get a “super” or homozygous version of the morph, where the traits of the snake are increased in intensity, brighter with more contrast between colours. If the ball python has two copies of the pastel allele the resulting snake will be homozygous. Its colouring would be nearly all yellow with a brown (instead of black) pattern outline. 
 

Codominant- When both of the alleles are fully expressed in the snake’s phenotype, but show up on different parts of the snake’s body. Codominant and incomplete dominant are often used interchangeably, but they actually have different definitions.

Ex. Scaleless head might be the only true codominant ball python morph because scaleless head snakes still have most of their scales and are missing just some of the scales on their head. There are two dominant traits but they still fully present themselves, just on different parts of the snake. A normal type-scaleless head, would have the same pattern and colouration as a just normal ball python, but the snake would also have a reduction of scales. This shows two traits that can fully express themselves side-by-side.

 

Colour Morphs in Snakes

Terms to know:

• Chromatophores- are the cells that produce the pigment in skin, hair, eyes, feathers, and scales, there are four different types

 

• Melanophores- are the cells that produce black and brown pigment. There are a few different types of melanin. There is: 

Eumelanin- brown and black pigments (the most commonly observed form of melanin). 

Pheomelanin- more reddish or yellow (seen in humans with red hair)

 

• Xanthophores- are the cells that produce the yellow pigment (Pteridine)

 

• Iridophores (Guanophores) - cells that reflect most light so they appear iridescent, green, blue, purple, gold, or silver. Produces guanine crystals which reflect the light.

 

• Erythrophores- produce red and orange pigments (Carotenoids) 

 

Examples of Basic Colour Morphs in Snakes

• Normal/Wild Type- The normal colouration of the snake as seen in its natural habitat

 

• Hypomelanism (Hypo)- Less melanin than is typical for that particular snake species. Is often confused with albinism because the resulting snake appears lighter and often a little more yellow. The difference between the two is that albino snakes completely lack melanin, whereas hypo simply reduces the amount of melanin shown in the scales. Another difference is that nearly all albino snakes have red or pink eyes because the only colour produced is from the blood. Hypomelanistic snakes usually have normal coloured eyes.

 

• Hypermelanism- More melanin than is typical for that particular snake species (though hypermelanism can become the wild type colouration for a species, as seen in black kingsnakes). The snake is often much darker than normal and can even be all black or all brown.

 

• Albinism/Amelanistic- A snake which is lacking melanophores. This causes the snake to have no brown or black pigment, which results in a snake that appears yellow, white, and/or orange, with red eyes. 

There are different types of albinism. The more commonly known type of albinism is tyrosinase (T)-Negative. It means that the snake lacks tyrosinase, which is an enzyme that is involved in the production of the different kinds of melanin. This will cause the snake to appear white, yellow, and/or orange with red eyes.

The other type of amelanism is T-Positive, meaning that the snake can still show some form of melanin, just not any black or brown pigment. T-positive snakes can be much harder to identify as albino because they often look much like hypomelanistic snakes.
 

• Axanthic- This is a snake that lacks the pteridine or the yellow pigment, resulting in a mostly black, white, and gray snake. The snake can still produce some brown, red, and orange, but the colour is less noticeable. 

 

• Anerythristic (Anery)- They are quite similar to axanthic. Anerythristic snakes lack erythrophores that produce the red and orange pigment. So it too results in a snake that is more black, white, and gray. However, the snake can still have yellow and brown pigment. anery and axanthic snakes are often confused for each other so it is important to notice the colours that a snake does or doesn’t have. (Axanthic snakes are usually much more common.)

 

• Snow- Is a combination of albinism and axanthism. By removing the black, brown, and yellow pigments it leaves the snake almost completely white with red eyes. Since it doesn’t interfere with the carotenoids produced by the erythrophores, the snake can still have red and orange pigment. Therefore, it is often possible to still see an outline of the original pattern of the snake.

 

• Leucism- Snakes with leucism have reduced or even completely lack multiple pigment types. Unlike snow, it affects the carotenoids as well as all the other pigments. This can make the snake much lighter or completely remove all pigment from the snake, leaving it pure white. Interestingly, leucism doesn’t affect the eye colour of the snake as much as albinism or snow. The eyes of the snake can be almost black to a brilliant blue (another way to tell that it’s not an albino or snow).

 

• Piebaldism- This is a variation of leucism that results in patches of the snake being white while the rest of the snake has its normal colouration (depending on what other morphs it might have), though the colouring may be slightly lighter

Interestingly, in ball pythons there is a way to tell if the snake is het piebald by looking for one of two traits: a ringer and/or train tracks. For background information, Piebaldism is a recessive allele in ball pythons. That means the snake must have two copies of the allele to show the piebald mutation. A snake is capable of having one copy of the allele and can pass it on to its offspring. Looking for either a ringer (white colouration that appears to be creeping up the side of the snake, which is found closer to its tail) or train tracks (dark, thick, and usually solid lines on either side of the snake’s belly). This is an example of how some recessive genes can still affect the snake’s phenotype when they are heterozygous for that morph.
 

To start: What is a ball python?- The ball python, also known as the royal python, which is part of the family Pythonidae. This is a family of non-venomous snakes that originally lived in Africa, Asia, and Australia (though now there are pythons that live in the Americas as well). Their scientific name is Python regius. They are heavy bodied snakes with thinner necks and large heads. They have heat pits along the sides of their face (to detect infrared). They are generally light and dark brown with some black and white. They have a splotchy pattern, similar to a leopard’s, with dark brown and black broken stripes that surround white-lined tan spots which have a dark brown spot in the center. These snakes usually have mild temperaments which makes them a popular pet snake to have.
 

Morphs known to have genetic anomalies 

• Spider (and any snake that contains the spider gene)-  Description: Spider ball pythons are generally slightly lighter in colour and have a reduced pattern. This means that the stripes that go down the snake’s back are thinner than the normal pattern. Abnormality: These snakes are known to have the “spider wobble” which causes the snake to have unsteadiness in their head. This can (but not always) impact eating, drinking, and general mobility of the snake. There is also no record of any homozygous or “super” spider ball pythons being produced. It appears that receiving two copies of the spider allele is lethal to the snake, which is unable to fully develop or just dies in the egg. There are two possible causes for the link between the spider morph and the head wobble. Linkage and pleiotropy. Linkage means that the gene for spider and the gene that causes wobble, are present as two different genes on the same chromosome. However, since there has never been a spider ball python without the spider wobble, it might mean that they must be located very close together on the chromosome because crossing over never has been recorded to occur. Crossing over is when parts of a chromosome swap with parts of the chromosome from the other parent. So, there could be a snake that has spider and wobble unlinked and on two separate chromosomes. Therefore, there would be the possibility that a spider ball python could be given a “wobble free” chromosome from its parent. Since every spider ball python has been documented to have some degree of wobble, it is more likely that spider and wobble are connected through pleiotropy. Pleiotropy is when one gene codes for multiple effects. The gene that causes spider also causes wobble. One gene has multiple effects on the genotype.

 

• Desert-  Description: This morph lightens the colouration of the whole snake. The dark browns on the snake become a sandy colour and the black stripes become brown. Abnormality: Females are unable to reproduce. There have been multiple cases in which the females are not up to breeding size when they would normally be breeding age. Oftentimes, the female desert would "slug out" meaning that they produce infertile eggs or would even die during the process of laying. It is still unknown about what causes these issues. One possibility may be due to the eggs being adhered to the uterus of the snake. Another possibility would be that there was no connection between the uterus and the cloaca, meaning that the snake could produce eggs, but was physically unable to push the eggs out of her. The eggs would have to be surgically removed. By that point, the eggs would have been inside the snake too long and will not hatch if incubated. Unfortunately, since there was a rapid decline in the number of people breeding desert ball pythons, it is unknown what is the actual cause of the infertility in the females. 

 

• Homozygous (super) Cinnamon, Homozygous (super) Black Pastel, Cinnamon x Black Pastel-  Descriptions: Super cinnamon snakes (and black pastel x cinnamon snakes) are a warm dark gray or black, with virtually no pattern down its sides. Black pastel ball pythons have a thicker black striping pattern and are overall a bit darker. Abnormalities:  All of these morphs can have an eye defect known as “bug eye” because the eyes are abnormally big or they can have rather small eyes. Kinking is another issue that can be observed in snakes (and other animals). It is a deformation in the spine where it is crooked or bent in an abnormal way. A lot of kinks aren’t life threatening, but they can be depending on where the spine is kinked. The severity can range from the tail of the snake being turned upwards, to the neck of the snake being crooked, to the entire stomach of the snake being misplaced due to the spine being twisted. Kinks are linked to particular morphs, but can also be caused due to injuries or incorrect incubation temperature.

 

• Champagne/Homozygous Champagne/ Champagne x nearly any other snake that is known to have issues. Descriptions: Champagne ball pythons are a soft light brown colour. Often with a lighter stripe that follows their spine and with thin rows of darker scales that follow as well. Super champagne snakes are very rare, they seem to be light pink or orange-ish pink. Abnormalities: Champagne ball pythons are another morph known to have “the wobble.” It is not as severe as seen with spider ball pythons and does not occur as often. Similar to the spider morph, the severity of the wobble varies. Though, it is rare that the wobble is severe in these morphs. As for breeding, pairing a champagne x spider or champagne x champagne almost results in the offspring not being developing fully, and for the ones that do develop, they almost never make it out of the egg. There’s also been issues with breeding champagne x hidden gene woma as it results in a much more severe head wobble for the snake.

 

• Caramel (also known as Caramel Albino or T+ Albino)- Description: These snakes are a T positive form of albinism. The morph reduces the amount of eumelanin (brown and black pigment) in the snake’s scales, while leaving some of the red or yellow pigment (Pheomelanin) behind. Abnormalities: The main issue that they are known for is kinking. Again this ranges in severity, but it is seen more more frequently in caramel albino ball pythons compared to regular snakes. A few theories we have about the kinking is that caramel ball pythons are inbred. Because they are recessive, it makes it a greater possibility for snakes that are closely related to each other to be bred with each other. Another theory is that the caramel morph makes the snake much more sensitive to temperature while incubating. Since kinking can happen to any morph of a snake, if the temperature is off during incubation, maybe it’s possible to be more sensitive to the temperature. This is just a thought, and more research and studies will be needed to prove if they are correct or not.

 

• Scaleless Head/Scaleless (Homozygous Scaleless Head)- Description: These ball pythons, hence the name, are scaleless. Most scaleless snakes still have some scales around their bodies and still have their belly scutes, however, it appears as though scaleless ball pythons have no scales at all, except for their eye cap (a clear scale that covers a snake’s eye). This makes sense though because the fully scaleless ball python is homozygous for an incomplete dominant allele, whereas with other snakes it is usually recessive. This means that scaleless ball pythons have a more powerful version of the gene. Abnormalities: The lack of scales can make shedding more difficult, especially as they shed more often than regular ball pythons. The lack of scales can make the snake more vulnerable to injuries such as burns, cuts, bruises, and infections. It also makes it easier for snake mites to injure the snake because there is no longer protection over the snake’s skin. When the snake has no scales on its belly it makes it much harder for them to move around. Normally it would use those scutes to grip so they can move wherever they please. However, since they are being kept as a pet in captivity, not being able to move around as well and having lower defense does not harm the snake. It just makes them a little different to other snake kept in captivity

 

Unfortunately, with many of these morphs we can only speculate about why they have these side effects. There has not been much research that has gone into studying these morphs, mainly because these morphs are relatively new and keeping and breeding snakes is unusual. Plus, many people dislike selective breeding and/or have issues with morphs that are known to have these anomalies. 

 

• Banana-  Description: The banana morph causes the snake to be bright yellow with lavender stripes and a speckling of black scales. Abnormality: The banana mutation seems to be the only morph that is determined by the chromosomes. The Banana gene is carried separately on the X and Y chromosome. So a female that has the banana gene will create both males and females. A male banana ball python that had inherited the banana gene from his mother, will almost only create female bananas because the gene is on his X chromosome. A male whose father was a banana ball python will get the banana gene passed down to him on his Y chromosome. Therefore his offspring with the banana gene will almost always be male. This means that there are male-maker banana ball pythons and female-maker banana ball pythons. The only way a male- maker banana ball python could create a daughter that also has the banana gene is if crossing-over occurs. This means that the parts of the chromosomes would switch and along with it, the banana morph would then be on the opposite chromosome and allow the male-maker banana ball python to produce a daughter with the banana trait. The same goes for female-maker banana producing a male.​​​​​​

 

Other questions:

Do some morphs have a higher or lower chance of being pasted on to the offspring? Sort of, the banana morph, since it is determined by the chromosome, it has a higher or lower chance of being passed to its offspring of different sexes (only if the parent giving the banana allele is the father). If the father carries the banana morph on his Y chromosome then all of his sons and only his sons will inherit the banana morph. If the morph is carried on the X chromosome then he will only produce females with the banana morph. There is still a 50% chance that the offspring will be male or female, but the sex of the snake does impact how likely it is to inherit the banana morph.

Unfortunately, we are unable to create graphs because other the topic we chose. However we have simplifed some of our information into a table and present some matrices to show the possible outcomes of breeding pairs of ball pythons. However, other than that, there is not much else we can graph or put in a table.

Is it ethical to continue breeding these animals with known and potentially lethal abnormalities?

As with all ethical questions, there is no easy answer, nor is there a truly right or wrong answer to this question. To be clear, we are only discussing the different morphs in ball pythons. We are not arguing whether or not people should keep snakes (or any animal for that matter) as pets. We are only discussing what morphs should be continued to be bred. Let’s look at both sides of the issue. 

 

Morphs that have the wobble are only ever kept in captivity. It can impact how the snake functions depending on the severity of the wobble. The person taking care of the snake can accommodate them but if the wobble is too severe, it may end with the snake being euthanized if the snake is unable to eat. For the most part though, most cases of wobble are typically not serious and the snake can live a normal life. On the topic of breeding, the snakes with wobble should only be allowed to breed if they have a less serious form of it so it might be less severe if the abnormality was to be passed on to the next generation. A snake carrying two copies of a gene that is linked with the head wobble will often not make it out of the agg or will die almost immediately after. Therefore, it’s never recommended to breed two snakes that contain a morph carrying the wobble gene. It is safe to say that snakes with wobble should not be bred with other snakes at contain or may contain a gene that causes wobble because it could worsen the effects of wobble in the offspring and could lead to a situation where a snake has to be euthanized. However, it seems relatively harmless to continue breeding snakes with wobble to snakes that do not carry a wobble-causing gene. Therefore it does not seem unethical to or cruel to the animal to to breed or keep snakes with wobble, especially because they are meant as to be kept in captivity and have a person who can accommodate certain needs.

 

A morph that is well known for infertility is the desert morph, with all the females being unable to reproduce. If the female desert ball pythons are bred they are unable to produce viable eggs. There’s also another possibility of the snake being unable to lay her eggs, also known as egg-bound, she would have to undergo surgery making it both difficult for the snake, but also costly. Since the morph is dominant, all the male deserts are able to create offspring that carry the desert gene. Breeding males and non-desert female ball pythons seems to be the best way to continue the desert morph. Female desert ball pythons should be kept as pets only, since breeding them proves to be unsuccessful, costly, and stressful/dangerous for the snake.

 

Kinking can vary from being minor and not affecting the snake’s life at all to being so serious that the snake can’t eat properly and would have to get euthanized. Kinking isn’t always caused by morphs, it can occur from external factors such as the temperature being too hot or too cold. Aesthetically speaking, the kinks can look odd. Also, sometimes it can cause the snake to be unable to exit the egg and die in it even if it is otherwise properly developed.

 

Morphs with eye abnormalities can get either smaller or larger eyes. Smaller eyes could impact the ability to see but ball pythons don’t rely on sight and can live while being blind quite easily. Larger eyes could increase the risk of them being damaged and could cause an infection but that in itself is very rare. Since it is mostly just a cosmetic issue, there appears to be no evidence that would point towards it being unethical to breed snakes with eye abnormalities.

 

In ball pythons there are head scaleless snakes (snakes that have a reduced number of scales on their heads) and scaleless or homozygous head scaleless ball pythons (snakes that are lacking all scales except their eye cap). This complete lack of scales can increase the possibility of the snake being harmed. It can also make shedding more difficult for the snake, especially as they shed more often than normal, scaled snakes. Snakes use their belly scutes to help create friction so they can move in the direction they want. If the snake doesn’t have these scales it can make it much harder for them to move around. However, since they are being kept as a pet in captivity, not being able to move around as well and having lower defense does not particularly harm the snake.

 

Conclusion:

All the data and research we have done related to the morphs and how abnormalities in them can affect the snake proves that morphs, whether they be individual or combined, can affect the different functions of a ball python. However, there is not a lot of research that has been done to discover why the anomalies happen to certain morphs. The best we can do is to use the limited information we have gathered to speculate about these different topics and create plausible explanations for them. To truly understand more about this topic, breeders and scientists would need to conduct more experiments and study, not only the abnormalities within some morphs, but also the DNA of snakes in general, before we would understand what actually causes them and if there is a way to prevent it. 

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We would like to say thank you to Bubba from The Acorn Collection for responding to my emails and for providing some useful information for our project that we would not have found otherwise.