Banana Genetics and Banana Saga!

Posted: September 30th, 2011 | News

First off I wanted to show everyone a ugly picture of me and cute picture of my daughter Kallie Wagner.   She is a sweetheart and smiles all the time.   My two children are a challenge but they are the love of my life.   I am very thankful for them!  

Next off I am going to tell the story of the Banana and also explain the genetics behind them.   Who would have guessed that the most sought after morph out there would be a sex linked gene in a ball python.   I have never seen this in a ball python before and none of the expert genetic wizards could guess what was really going on with them.

It started in 2008 when I bought my first Banana from Tracy Barker from VPI.   We did a big deal and I bought her 2005 Pastel Woma Coral Glow female.   When I got the snake in I was just in awe.   She was around 1800 grams when I got her and I just loved her colors.   She was a good eater right off the back.   I was very nervous when I first got her because I had never had such a huge investment in just one snake.   I was a tad bit nervous!   Then I went to Tinley Park and I attended the show there.   I had to slip away from the show on Sunday and I went with a good friend over to Will’s house and I bought my Banana male.   It was a small baby but the fact that it was a boy was just plain awesome!   I remember eating dinner that night in Chicago with some friends and I had to bring him in and have him right next to me while I ate dinner.   He was all I could think about.   I know that this was going to be BIG!   I was in love with the colors on the Banana and I knew that there was a lot of potential there. 

 It started right away with the drama.   After I was in the project I had a friend at the time then claim that he had them also.   His stories or lies got better as the days went by.  After three months he was telling everyone that he 12 of them all het for Pied.   They came from Africa.  It turned out all to be a lie.   I guess he has a problem and can’t tell the truth.  In the snake world weird I know?   Then another friend had one.  He sent pictures of one of Nerds snakes and claimed it was his.   That turned out also to be lie.   At this point they started to pile on.   I kept hearing that they were going to be everywhere.   I said oh well I am going to do my best with project as I knew that this was going to be the hottest project going ever.

 In 2009 I got a clutch from my Coral Glow female.   I produced a Killerbee Coral Glow female, Spider Coral Glow male and a SpinnerBlast Coral Glow male and female.   I was on cloud nine.  At that point was when everyone and I mean everyone came at me wanting one.  I was overwhelmed to say the least.   I didn’t see the market flooded with them and decided that I was going to ask top dollar for my snakes.   I did see breeding from my Banana male but I didn’t get any clutches from him.   I was a little disappointed in that but I knew that the future was going to be bright.  

Then in 2010 I had my SpinnerBlast Coral Glow and Banana male breeding.  Now this is where sex linked trait begins.   You see both of them were produced from a female Banana.   So they are F1 males.   I like how one man out there who wants to be a martyr didn’t know you could get male Banana’s from a female Banana.   No one ever said that you couldn’t.   More on him later.   So anyway we knew that you could get males from female Banana’s.   Will had done and Kevin had done it and I had done it.  There was also someone in Canada who had done it as well.  

 I hatched out my first five clutches and damn all I got was female Banana’s.   It didn’t make sense to me.   I had 20 Banana’s on the ground and no males.   It was disenchanting to say the least.  I then spoke to Kevin at Nerd.   He told me that he had seen the same thing from F1 males.   I believe at the time he told me that he hadn’t produced a male from a male.   I hadn’t so I figured wow this is sex linked in some way.   I was upset because I had everyone and there brother wanting a male from me.   It is very hard when people are wanting to throw big money at you and all you produce is females.   I started to tell people what I was seeing.  Some believed me others didn’t.  They thought it was a marketing scheme or devious deception.   It was neither.   I did get lucky and I produced two male Will Slough bloodline Banana males and a Spider Coral Glow male.   I sold the Banana males to Rick Cunningham and Brad Boa.   I kept the Spider Coral Glow male for myself.   I just liked the way he looked.   I did well that season and produced quite a few females.   People wanted them as now they could get into the most sought after project out there.   I made many new customers and new friends.   I also made many jealous enemies.   People really want into the project and they will say anything to bash it in a effort to bring the price down so they can afford it.  Others want to see it do bad on a personal level that they want to harm me.   I guess success comes at a huge price.   I can bare it.

  In 2011 I breed all three males for this season.   The trick is the Spider Coral Glow male is a F2 male.   He was produced from a male Banana so that is why he is F2.   I did have people some who are very close to me say that they thought the Banana and Coral Glow are separate gene’s.   Everyone knows how I feel about it.  I don’t believe that.   They could be a different as a Butter is to a Lesser.  I fought that battle and I will tell you this I never want to live through that again.   I started to produce more female Banana’s and in fact I haven’t hatched a male from my Will Slough Banana male this year.   It again started to frustrate me.   Then I heard a rumor that someone had just hatched a clutch of male Coral Glows.  It didn’t make sense.  But then it was explained to me that a F1 male made the F2 Coral Glow male and the resulting offspring from the F2 male are all male.  I was shocked.   I even heard that others were doing it and someone didn’t want me to know about it.   You can guess who that was.   I even heard that hidden gene word was used.   I said wow go figure.  Then I got my first offspring in a split clutch from my Spider Coral Glow male.   And one male Spider Coral Glow came from that clutch.  It was the only Coral Glow in that clutch.   I was very excited to hatch my first male of the 2011 season as I had customers waiting for him.   Then I hatched out two more clutches from him and bam all males on one and 3.1 in another clutch.   I couldn’t believe it.   I guess the sex linked trait reverses itself on the F2 male.   It should be noted that on a F1 male when you get all female Banana’s the rest of the clutch whether they be normal’s or morphs are all boys.   And I mean everything else is a boy!   It is weird.   When the F2 male is used the none Banana’s are all females.   Tell me this is sex linked!  

  So I needed to wait until Brad Boa or Rick Cunningham hatched out a male from their males from the Will Slough bloodline to prove that Banana’s behaved the same way as Coral Glows.   Today on 9-29-11 Rick Cunningham produced from his Banana male and got a Banana boy in the clutch.   It was only Banana in the clutch.   I am very excited for him and shocked because when I sold him the male I told him good luck producing some boys with him!   I guess I was wrong!   I can’t believe how this mutation works.   For those out there that doubt enough breedings have gone on to determine my theory on them I say this,  enough have been done.  

 Yes this is a game changer that is for sure.   A certain someone just produced some F1 males and I say good for him.   The ones I am selling this year are F3’s.   The theory is that since they were made from a male that they will throw all males also.   To be honest I don’t know.   I have heard someone else does and they are saying that F3’s throw boys.  I will find out next year.   I think that the demand for this project is both a curse and a blessing.  Everyone talks about it and everyone wants it.   Why else do they compare a Candy to a Banana.   It was marketed as looking like a Banana because the Banana is so damn HOT!   I love them even as they mature.   Their colors start to fade a tad bit but that yellow is still gorgeous.   I love the project as everyone out there knows and I have tried to protect it the best I can.   I am going to sit back now and enjoy the ride as more of them are out there and I know as they come down in price the demand is only going to increase!   I am very excited I have a clutch hatching out from a Genetic Stripe female that was bred to my Coral Glow Spider male.   Can you say Coral Glow Genetic Stripes in my future!   I think someone one time called the cross the Banana Split.   I hope to be the first to produce them!   

So there it is no shady marketing no big marketing scheme.   Just a sex linked ball python mutation!   It is funny how people you once called friends can turn on you so fast and spread such nasty rumors.   As more people have the morph and are working with it they to will see that what I am writing is the truth.   Do you think some will apologize for their ignorance?   I think not.