Beware these Genetic Defects in these Ball Python Morphs

Comments · 38

• RO

  @RobertBarracloughRoyalBalls · 2 years ago (edited) · pinned

  Good video.<br><br>The 8 Ball (Black Pastel Cinnamon) you showed is still with me. I have done follow up videos on her if your viewers wish to check on her progress. She is smaller than her siblings, eating smaller sized meals, but she is not too badly affected. I even free roam her as I do with most of my snakes and she behaves like any other snake despite her obvious handicap. She was the only super (ALS combo actually) in the clutch and the rest of her siblings were just fine. Now 3 years old.<br><br>I did do this pairing knowing the risk. There are enough examples of these morphs that are perfectly fine to make me want to try it. And take flak for it. She will remain with me for the rest of her life. She will not be bred. You are correct that in heterozygous form, many of these inherent genetic defects don&apos;t show up. Its the super form or homozygous form where both sides of the diploid chromosome pair has a defective allele that causes issues with Black Pastel and Cinnamon.<br><br>Incidentally, Spider and Blackhead are allelic. The resulting snake looks like a normal and has no wobble. Because Ball Pythons are diploid animals and these particular genes are allelic, they have the potential to compensate for a &quot;genetic&quot; defect. All a gene does is control the production of hormones which create specific proteins in a carefully orchestrated sequence during embryo development. A defective gene either fails to produce a hormone in the right quantity at the right time or a defective gene causes the receptors to be unresponsive to the presence of the hormone. The allele on the none defective side can compensate to a degree for the defective one. Other genes that are allelic with Spider (Chocolate, Wookie, Spotnose, Cypress, Sable, Blackhead, Champagne) have the potential to compensate for or exacerbate the problem. These are also some of the most popular and attractive genetic combinations in Ball Pythons which is why we see this wobble defect so often. It is highly variable in expression and inner ear defects are actually a very common form of deformity in many animals bred for colour and pattern mutation, not just Ball Pythons. It is not neurological as is often stated, nor is it unique to Spider, but yes, it is genetic. It does seem to be particularly prevalent in the Spider complex.<br><br>Kinked<br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1knY6boXjig">https://youtu.be/1knY6boXjig</a>

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• YO

  @YochevedDesigns · 2 years ago

  If you have ever had vertigo, you know that having an inner ear problem is no joke. &nbsp;You&apos;d sell your soul if you could just get the spinning to stop!

  14

• EV

  @Evolutional · 10 months ago

  I&apos;ve had minutes of extreme dizziness, like you have to sit down because the whole world is spinning on a new axis. I wouldn&apos;t wish that on any living being for even a short period, much less a whole lifetime

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• JS

  @jslithers · 2 years ago

  Yeah i wont breed any combos that can lead to known &nbsp;kinking. Sucks too I love the all black snakes. Great vid

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• EM

  @emilypolicastro2054 · 3 months ago

  This is amazing information for someone who wants to get into breed ing ball pythons. I knew about some of the defects but not all of them. Thank you for sharing the information.<br>~Emily

• WA

  @warriorgardenexotics · 2 years ago

  Amazing video. It&apos;s great info for new breeders. Keep it up.<br>I recently started working with someone who has a lot of Caramel Albino in his collection and claims he hasn&apos;t had any kinking issues. I wish that one wasn&apos;t controversial because I think it&apos;s the best T+ Albino morph we have in ball pythons.

  4

• SE

  @SelenaYbarra-h7j · 2 years ago

  I have a normal ball python that I bought a few months ago from the pet store that has a slight wobble. Never noticed it until a few weeks before I brought her to my local exotic vet for a well check.

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• MY

  @mylesbrownGSP · 2 years ago

  Awesome video! I&apos;m so thankful for all this great information. I myself have a black pastel pied that I planned to breed to a super black pastel cinnamon het pied when they&apos;re both up to size in a few years. I want to make panda pieds, and now I&apos;m leaning more towards using a super mahogany to make panda pieds at the suggestion of Leviathan Snakes.

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• NO

  @noahcormier7908 · 1 year ago

  I have a coral glow bannanna ball python that is a female

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• SI

  @Silair · 5 months ago (edited)

  what about the letality of super cinnamons? Are there more death babies than normal?

• DA

  @Daily_motivation_1990 · 1 year ago

  Question. I paired my bamboo pastel to my cinnamon ghi mojave. Well after l looked back at the sellers page i realized the parent is black pastel. I was aiming for BEL not 8 balls..... is kinking and duckbilling that common?

  1

• GU

  @GuardiansAnimalRescue · 2 years ago

  I hate spider ball morphs

  1