can a Vet do a blood test on my snake to tell me what kind of snake he is?

C

Confused4myself

New member
I have a "Coastal" carpet python that I bought from a reptile store and I wanted to know if I can get any kind of test done on him to see how much of his genes are actually that species. I have been looking for a jungle capret with high contrast yellow stripes and such and when I was going thru bredders I saw "Jaguar Yearlings for sale" and there begining pattern looked very similar to what I have. So I wanted to know if anything would be able to tell me if mine is like 50% Jaguar and 50% Coastal or 100% coastal.

Thanks :)

I would like to breed and knowing how pure the my snake is before I do it would be awsome.
 
As far as genetics go, a blood sample to extract DNA will only provide a match profile sequence for the species of python that you have, which is a coastal carpet. The jaguar morph is not a naturally occurring snake so it will not show up on a DNA test however, if for example there traces of diamond or true jungle carpet matches in your snake's DNA test, they will appear. These may show up because these are natural occuring python species that are all in the carpet family. In other words, the DNA data base for snakes recognizes known wild snakes and not genetically altered color morphs. A cross between a true jungle carpet python and a coastal carpet would be a hybrid animal and a DNA test would show this. The best thing is to go back to the place where you purchased your snake and try to find out where they got him from and get in touch with that breeder. The breeder should have a record of your snake's genetic background and history. If you cannot find out anything about your snake's past and want to breed color morphs, you may need to acquire special breeding stock that contain solid genetics for producing the morphs that you wish to generate.
 
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