Breeding a paradox ball python?

What’s the heredity ratio for a normal ball python with a paradox having a banana morph patch?
I wonder if it only inherits banana or a normal morph, or it works like dual father clutch.

ex)
normal with banana patch ball python (paradox) x normal ball python

  1. all normal baby ball python
  2. half normal, half banana ball python (inherits banana)
  3. 25% banana, 75% normal ball python (like dual father clutch)

what’s correct?

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@t_h_wyman I think this is something you could answer easily, but if I had to guess I would imagine the BP wouldn’t inherit the banana gene.

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I think that you will end up with 50/50 banana and normals.
For the banana paradox to be present then the banana gene must also be.

I believe that would make it a banana BP with the paradox being the normal pattern.

I’m not 100% sure though, and as Ashley said, Travis is your best chance at getting a right answer :blush:

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It depends…

The determining factor is the genetic make-up of the gonadal tissue. And I can go in to a really long, drawn out explanation if you need.

But odds are that your normal with a small Banana patch is going to breed like a normal

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Oh thanks guys.

@t_h_wyman
I really wanna hear more about that determining factor.
Could you tell me more about it?

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Okay… Let me figure out the best analogy here…

Imagine your normal ball is a hotdog and your Banana is a bratwurst.

Take a vegetable peeler and peel a small piece out of both and then pop the piece from the bratwurst into the space you made on the hotdog. This, then, is your paradox

Now, that displaced bratwurst piece carries Banana genetics but it is basically just held in the skin of the animal. The gonads (i.e., testes or ovaries) are still 100% hotdog and so are genetically normal. Which means that when you breed this paradox, the only genetics it can pass on are normal.

Different take

Instead of a vegetable peeler, now you use a melon baller and carve a chunk out of both and then pop the chunk from the bratwurst into the hole you made on the hotdog. This is now your paradox

As above, that displaced bratwurst piece carries Banana genetics but now, instead of only being just “skin deep”, some of the organs in the animal are now carrying the Banana genetic payload. Say you the piece you cut/replaced is up by the “shoulders” of the snake. As above, the gonads (i.e., testes or ovaries) are still 100% hotdog and so are genetically normal. Which means that when you breed this paradox, the only genetics it can pass on are normal. However, if the piece you cut/replaced is down by the “hips” of the snake then maybe (maybe, maybe, MAYBE) the gonads (i.e., testes or ovaries) are now bratwurst instead of hotdog and, as such, are genetically Banana. Which means that when you breed this paradox, it has the possibility of passing on Banana.

Different take #2

Instead of a melon baller, you use an apple corer and core the center out of both and then pop the core from the bratwurst into the hollowed out hotdog. This is now your paradox (I am imagining that using a corer is a bit sloppy so you break the skin of the hotdog and parts of the bratwurst show through)

As above, that displaced bratwurst piece carries Banana genetics. Like the first scenario, you have a “skin deep” genotype/phenotype of normal but all/most of the organs in the animal are carrying the Banana genetic payload. In this case, the gonads (i.e., testes or ovaries) are certainly bratwurst instead of hotdog and, as such, are genetically Banana. Which means that when you breed this paradox, it has the possibility of passing on Banana.

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Does all of that make sense?

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That is the strangest way I have ever heard anybody describe mosaicism :joy:

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But it is memorable enough to stick with you, yes? LOL

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I realize this is an old thread but I was looking for the same answers from a breeding I did this year. I have a male ball “normal” het pied w/ banana paradox close to his tail. He was bred this year to a cinnamon het pied and as of just cutting the clutch I can tell you we got 0 bananas out of 6 eggs. Pied proved out and only 1 normal baby was hatched. So as this thread explains I would now say for sure that these small paradox animals are only “skin deep”. There is a chance I guess we just had absolutely horrible odds with the banana but I think more likely he just proved to be a normal.

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