GHI Royal Pythons for sale in the UK
GHI turns the ground colour of a royal python nearly black while it carves the pattern into rings of speckled gold with silver flames on the sides. Because hatchlings are at their darkest and get lighter as they grow, a photo of a baby shows the snake at its blackest.
- Visuals
- £85
- 11 for sale
About the GHI gene
GHI, short for Gotta Have It, makes the pattern of a royal python (ball python) hollow and leaves the gold as broken rings with dark speckling while darkening the ground to a black or near-black shade.
Appearance
A GHI has a dark ground with silvery flames rising up the sides. The head is almost entirely black with few markings, and its gold head stripes sit where a normal's do, in a more intense colour. On a GHI, the alien heads of a normal are hollowed out into misshapen rings and splatters of gold. Pinstriping can run along the inner edges of the pattern and the area is heavily spotted inside. A bright gold dorsal stripe runs between the same hollow alien heads down the tail. The belly ranges from murky and heavily spotted to completely clear.
GHI changes a good deal with age. As hatchlings grow, they start with a black ground and lighten while picking up more silver flames and more blushing.
Genetics
GHI is incomplete dominant, though most listings and guides still call it "co-dom". A single copy results in the GHI look while the two-copy form is listed as Super GHI. This gene belongs to no complex and has no known allelic partner. There is a genetic test available for GHI. When GHI is combined with Coral Glow, it is called Coral Reef. In 2007, Matt Lerer proved it genetic from three matching animals he found in shipments of imports arriving in Florida.