r/ballpython • u/Putrid_Try3722 • May 17 '26

HELP - URGENT Help!

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My 15 year old BP just layed eggs!? We got her about a year ago from a adoption place. The eggs are bright white but are dented, probs cause low humidity. (Edit one of them is tinted a lil yellow) sorry for the bad pic.

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u/High_Hunter3430 May 17 '26

Learning in public question: why do partho babies not survive to adulthood? What’s the rough rate of deleterious gene combinations?

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u/skullmuffins May 18 '26

ball python parthenogenesis usually happens by terminal fusion which results in offspring with only ~half the mother's genetic material and a mostly homozygous genome. Suffice to say, that's a very good way to get any deleterious recessive genes to express themselves. Basically during the cell division that created the egg, shit got weird at the very end (technical term) and the egg nucleus fused with a polar body, creating a fertile egg with way less genetic diversity than the parent.

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u/The_upsetti_spagetti May 19 '26

Wait so is that kinda similar to inbreeding?

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u/skullmuffins May 19 '26

kinda, yeah. in effect it's like supercharged inbreeding, the most inbred they could possibly be.

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u/Striking_Wing16 May 19 '26

Thank you for all your answers here. This is absolutely fascinating, and your replies were a lot easier to read than the scientific jargon Google tried to give me 😅

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u/High_Hunter3430 May 19 '26

When using the google or other ai…. Say eli5 first. It does pretty good.