When a ball python breeder introduces a pair of snakes for mating, numerous factors can play in the success of creating visually stunning hatch-lings. As breeders, we acquire the finest example of particular morphs, raise them up, and attempt to breed them. With a successful pairing, we anticipate viable eggs and set them up for their 55-60 day incubation period. If we are fortunate on the odds, and hit multiples of certain morphs, it is exciting to see the variances of the identical morphs within the clutch. No two sibling morphs look alike, and some seem to pop out amongst others.
During our 2011 breeding season we experienced this clutch variance phenomenon once again. We paired a fire male and a pastel jungle female with hopes of producing hold back fireflies. We hit the odds on 5 eggs, with three fireflies. Each firefly was unique looking, not resembling any of its siblings. The first one was a male, who looks more like a traditional firefly, with its stunning pattern and vibrant yellow colouration.
The second was a female who had an amazing faded colour with nice blushed side saddles.
The third was a female who sides looked like they were up in flames.
Did one of the parents have some hidden enhancing gene, or was it the influence of the combination of genes of both parents? Only future test breeding will assist us in documenting and deciphering this random outcome. Hopefully this journey will also guide us to creating some more astounding ball python morph representations.