Western Hognose Morphs
This is an interesting and exciting subject, and an area that I'm very passionate about
Introduction
Morph Types
Western hognose snakes have MANY beautiful morphs, there are loads of possibilities and still new morphs to be discovered! I find the genetics fascinating (I studied this at university). This page is a basic introduction to hognose snake morphs.
Wild Type
Wild type is the most commonly existing Western hognose in natural habitats. They have a brown coloured base colour with lots of darker brown saddles on their back and sides. The belly has a chequerboard pattern. They can be different shades and colour intensities as variance exists in nature.
Breeding 2 wild type hognoses together will produce a clutch of wild type babies.
This can also be known as 'normal' and refers to both colouring and pattern.
Morphs exist in different 'types'; they are categorised by the way they work genetically.
Incomplete Dominant morphs - These are expressed in either single or double form. If one gene copy is present, the single form is expressed. Two copies would produce the 'super' form (double gene). An example of this type of gene is the Arctic gene. If one parent has the arctic gene and one doesn't, some babies will be arctic and some won't. There will be no super arctic babies as both parents would need to have the gene to produce the super form in their offspring. Incomplete dominant genes are either present and visible in the snake, or not present. These genes cannot be carried or 'hidden' (hets).
Recessive morphs - Most hognose snake morphs are recessive. This means that 2 copies (1 from each parent) are needed for the morph to be visible and expressed. 1 copy means that the gene is hidden and carried by the snake and not visible. This is known as heterozygous, or 'het'.
An example of this gene type is the albino morph. If both parents are het albino (carry a single copy), albino babies are produced. If only 1 parent is het albino, normal coloured babies are produced.
Anaconda (Conda) & Superconda
These are pattern morphs and don't affect colour.
The conda morph produces a reduction in the number of saddles present on the snake. It can be expressed in various levels (low-high expression). Conda snakes have a dark belly with no or low level patterning. This morph has a light coloured line that is present on the lower side of the snake.
Conda is an incomplete dominant trait. The single gene form is the conda, the double or 'super' form is the superconda which has a body with no pattern and a reduced head stamp.
Breeding a wild type and a conda together will produce 50/50 wild type and conda babies.
Breeding a conda to a conda will produce 25% wild type, 50% conda and 25% superconda babies.
Conda and superconda patterns can be combined with any colour and can produce absolutely beautiful combinations.
Combinations
Morphs can be combined (both colour & pattern) to produce a hugely diverse number of amazing snakes.