Banana Ball Pythons: A Look Back At The Morph
Dynasty Reptiles acquired its first male Banana Ball Python back in 2010. At the time, this was a somewhat rare Ball Python morph, as there were
only a handful of breeders working with the gene. This genetic mutation captured the hearts of all Ball Python enthusiasts, as it changed the colors of a normal Ball Python into gorgeous yellow and pink hues.
Since then, Banana Ball Pythons have become one of the most popular Ball Python morphs in the world. The first Banana male in our collection, named Rex, sired many of our breeders. In the years since, we’ve produced over 10,000 Banana combos all descended from him. We haven’t bred Rex since his second season, and he now enjoys a life of leisure in retirement.
Visit our shop page to see over 900 individually photographed Ball Pythons and find your new pet snake. In this article, we’ll discuss a few different topics about the Banana/Coral Glow gene!
The Banana gene is co-dominant. This means that if a Banana is bred to a non-Banana, the gene will be passed down to 50% of the offspring. Co-dominant traits have a “super form”. This means that if a Banana is bred to another Banana, some of the offspring will be the super form, known as a Super Banana.
Simplified breakdown:
Banana x Non-Banana = 50% Banana & 50% non-Banana offspring
Banana x Banana = 50% Banana, 25% Super Banana, & 25% non-Banana offspring
Super Banana x Non-Banana = 100% Banana offspring
Being a co-dominant trait, the Banana gene has been combined with many other Ball Python genetic morphs to create a stunning array of combos. Below you can see some of the most common ones.
When the mutation first appeared, many thought there were two distinct genes at play: Banana and Coral Glow. After working with the morph for a long time, we can confidently say that the two are in fact the same thing. The in-depth explanation for this conclusion can be found below. These days, many use Banana and Coral Glow interchangeably.
In the beginning, there was talk of a “sex linked” trait the Bananas possessed. At the time, many, including myself, were skeptical, but we took the chance in buying a male. From what I was told by multiple breeders working on this project, they were getting predominantly female Banana/Coral Glows and predominantly male non-Banana/Coral Glow siblings.
Well, from my breeding in 2011, I noticed the “sex linked” trait in ALL of my clutches. The Bananas were predominantly one sex and the non-Banana siblings were the other. The difference was, I got the opposite of what the other breeders were getting. Instead of female Bananas and male non-Bananas, I was getting the reverse. I was the first to produce a Banana Ball Python from a male maker.
We figured out that my male came from a visual male Banana. And the male Bananas produced in the past came from female Banana. This led us to the conclusion that whichever parent carries the trait will determine the sex that the male Banana offspring is going to produce.
To simplify the explanation:
*If the male Banana was produced from a female Banana, that male will produce predominantly females (Female maker).
*If the male Banana was produced from a male Banana, that offspring will produce predominantly males (Male maker).
*All of the non Banana siblings in the clutch will be mainly the opposite sex.
This conclusion laid to rest the rumor that Coral Glow and Banana are two different genes. I have produced many different species of reptiles and an assortment of color morphs over the years and I have never seen any color morph that works like this. To most, it is hard to believe that this gene works this way, especially with it being one of the nicer looking traits out there. All in all, we can say it is truly a one-of-a-kind Ball Python morph.
HOW THE GENE WORKS
The Banana gene is co-dominant. This means that if a Banana is bred to a non-Banana, the gene will be passed down to 50% of the offspring. Co-dominant traits have a “super form”. This means that if a Banana is bred to another Banana, some of the offspring will be the super form, known as a Super Banana.
Simplified breakdown:
Banana x Non-Banana = 50% Banana & 50% non-Banana offspring
Banana x Banana = 50% Banana, 25% Super Banana, & 25% non-Banana offspring
Super Banana x Non-Banana = 100% Banana offspring
Being a co-dominant trait, the Banana gene has been combined with many other Ball Python genetic morphs to create a stunning array of combos. Below you can see some of the most common ones.
BANANA VS. CORAL GLOW DEBATE
When the mutation first appeared, many thought there were two distinct genes at play: Banana and Coral Glow. After working with the morph for a long time, we can confidently say that the two are in fact the same thing. The in-depth explanation for this conclusion can be found below. These days, many use Banana and Coral Glow interchangeably.
THE SEX LINK IN BANANAS
In the beginning, there was talk of a “sex linked” trait the Bananas possessed. At the time, many, including myself, were skeptical, but we took the chance in buying a male. From what I was told by multiple breeders working on this project, they were getting predominantly female Banana/Coral Glows and predominantly male non-Banana/Coral Glow siblings.
Well, from my breeding in 2011, I noticed the “sex linked” trait in ALL of my clutches. The Bananas were predominantly one sex and the non-Banana siblings were the other. The difference was, I got the opposite of what the other breeders were getting. Instead of female Bananas and male non-Bananas, I was getting the reverse. I was the first to produce a Banana Ball Python from a male maker.
We figured out that my male came from a visual male Banana. And the male Bananas produced in the past came from female Banana. This led us to the conclusion that whichever parent carries the trait will determine the sex that the male Banana offspring is going to produce.
To simplify the explanation:
*If the male Banana was produced from a female Banana, that male will produce predominantly females (Female maker).
*If the male Banana was produced from a male Banana, that offspring will produce predominantly males (Male maker).
*All of the non Banana siblings in the clutch will be mainly the opposite sex.
This conclusion laid to rest the rumor that Coral Glow and Banana are two different genes. I have produced many different species of reptiles and an assortment of color morphs over the years and I have never seen any color morph that works like this. To most, it is hard to believe that this gene works this way, especially with it being one of the nicer looking traits out there. All in all, we can say it is truly a one-of-a-kind Ball Python morph.