So, I came across this snake on MorphMarket , and I was hoping someone could help enlighten me as to what would cause this, on a genetic level.
She’s listed as as pastel leopard tsk axanthic, and they note that she has blacked out as she aged… I think it’s amazing looking, as you can see the pattern from the leopard still, but she’s almost jet black…
Also if I can’t post the photo, since it isn’t mine please let me know. It’s one I just saved from the MorphMarket listing.
Animals like this pop up now and then. They are frequently called “IMG” or “Increased Melanin Gene”
They tend to be fluke animals, no one has shown any reliable inheritance pattern to them. I would postulate that this animal likely has some lineage to JD Constrictor animals as he was reporting a bit of a “higher than normal” production of animals with this phenotype popping up
Tend to be flukes? : I hope for the day something like this is reliably reproduced.
With the way ball pythons are going with new morphs and types , the day must come one day when either a morph or a selectively breed hyper melanistic is produced. Then I will have to wait till they are less than
multiple £$ Ks in price before I can have one. Hope to live that long
I’ve seen some before I thought, just nothing this major. I thought it was pretty interesting looking for sure. A shame it isn’t genetically able to be passed down though. Would be pretty cool.
I do seem to remember TSK saying something about a darker line of their axanthics. Also, leopard is known to make some dark combos. But I agree, there is probably something else making that one soo darn dark.
Not sure if this link will work but consider the abyss (homozygous mahogany + GHI) for a dark ball python.
I liked that one so much I’m paring my mahogany male with three GHI combo girls to hopefully get GHI mahogany daughters on my way to the abyss.
I suspect that it is likely to be a polygenic trait, one or two key genes but also having to be paired up with a handful of known morphs along specific genetic pathways
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VPI has said the same of theirs as well. I think pathways that lead to axanthism are more likely to reveal the presence of the other genes that contribute to the phenotype
Dunno if this is still relavent but i just picked up a rescue that i have a picture from 1.5 years ago and is now approximately 3 years who has darkened tremendously unsure if it’ll breed out but ill try in the next few years if i can find another one. TSK axanthic pastel
: I hope for the day something like this is reliably reproduced.
