Article by Warwick Von Hagen, Strictly Snakes
Whether you have been in the Ball Python game for a while or are just starting out, I am sure you have heard about either the Candy or Toffee Gene. All I can say is, if you haven’t, you will now! When it comes to the gene all I can say is one abbreviated phrase: O.M.W.
My reason for saying this is because the Candy / Toffee gene goes through a DRAMATIC change throughout its life. When it hatches, it starts off looking like a normal albino. It then changes to a lavender albino type animal and eventually ends up looking like a washed out Ultramel once it reaches full maturity. So for those of you who cannot decide if you want Albino, Lavender Albino or Ultramel, the Candy / Toffee is the one!
You are probably wondering why I keep referring to the mutations as “Candy / Toffee” and you’ve most probably learnt they are separate genes. They are, however not different. They are the same gene. The reason I say this is, from what I understand, Outback Reptiles imported 2 identical animals from the same location years back. When they sold them, Peter Kahl named his Candy and Craig Stewart named his Toffee. Identical animals from the same bush at the same time… and work identically when combined with Albino? Yup, they’re same. The reasoning as to why they look slightly different? Well, it’s the same reason normal ball pythons look different.
Paul Angelides was the first to reproduce the Toffee gene back in 2009 before this gene was proven by genetics. Having handed out $25 000 for a pair of “het Toffee” that may not even prove out, it was a huge gamble. That gamble, however, paid off. When these hatched, they looked like regular albinos, which led some to believe he was conned and sold het albinos. Paul then contacted Peter Kahl who had also recently started hatching Candies at this time and Peter confirmed that was how they looked when hatched.
One of the greatest discoveries, with regards to Candy, was that it was allelic to albino. This was first discovered by Peter Williams in 2009. He bred a Het Toffee x Het albino, hoping to produces some poss het females to hold back. You can imagine his surprise when he hatched an albino-ish looking baby; he thought the female had retained sperm from the season before. He held the baby back, which resulted in the first Toffino being born. Mike Wilbanks followed suit and produced the first Candino in 2012.
This is what helped skyrocket this gene to stardom. It allowed those who had the albino gene already in their collection to get into the Candy / Toffee project easier and quicker.
If you have read the article on Acts Like Supers (Ultimate Exotics, March/April 2016 issue), then this MAY be easier to understand.
Candy on its own works just like any other recessive trait, but let’s still go through it to make sure you understand (all of these combinations below will be the exact same for Toffee).
- If you breed a Candy x Normal the resulting offspring will be:
100% of the babies will be 100% het Candy - If you breed a Candy x het Candy the resulting offspring will be:
50% of the babies will be 100% het Candy
50% of the babies will be visual Candy - If you breed a het Candy x het Candy the resulting offspring will be:
25% of the babies will be Normals
50% of the babies will be 100% het Candy (but because you cannot tell them apart from the normal we call them 66% possible het Candy)
25% of the babies will be visual Candy - If you breed a het Candy x Normal the resulting offspring will be:
50% of the babies will be Normals
50% of the babies will be 100% het Candy (but because you cannot tell them apart from the normal we call them 50% possible het Candy) - If you breed a Candy x Candy the resulting offspring will be:
100% of the babies will be visual Candy
Now, let’s start looking at how we can go about producing Candinos, and combining these traits. Hold on to your seats as its going to get in depth (all of these combinations below will be the exact same for Toffino):
- If you breed a Candy x Albino the resulting offspring will be:
100% of the babies will be a visual combination producing Candino (a Candino is not a double recessive trait like the Pied clown, it is however a VISUAL HETEROZYGOUS for BOTH Candy and Albino) - If you breed a Candy x het Albino the resulting offspring will be:
50% of the babies will be a visual combination producing Candino
50% of the babies will be 100% het Candy - If you breed a het Candy x Albino the resulting offspring will be:
50% of the babies will be a visual combination producing Candino
50% of the babies will be 100% het Albino - If you breed a het Candy x het Albino the resulting offspring will be:
25% will be Normal
50% of the babies will be 100% het Candy OR Albino (the babies will be het for EITHER traits, you cannot tell which trait they will be carrying)
25% of the babies will be a visual combination producing Candino
Now we have learnt to produce Candinos, let’s see how they work in breeding (all of these combinations below will be the exact same for Toffino):
- If you breed a Candino x Normal the resulting offspring will be:
100% of the babies will be het Candy OR het albino - If you breed a Candino x het Albino the resulting offspring will be:
25% will be Albino
50% of the babies will be 100% het Candy OR het Albino
25% of the babies will be a Candino - If you breed a Candino x het Candy the resulting offspring will be:
25% will be Candy
50% of the babies will be 100% het Candy OR het Albino
25% of the babies will be a Candino - If you breed a Candino x Albino the resulting offspring will be:
50% will be Albino
50% of the babies will be a Candino - If you breed a Candino x Candy the resulting offspring will be:
50% will be Candy
50% of the babies will be a Candino - If you breed a Candino x Candino the resulting offspring will be:
25% will be Albino
50% of the babies will be a Candino
25% will be Candy
I’ll admit my head was hurting writing that out, I hope that has cleared the breeding of this mutation out.
Now, I need to get this point across and cannot stress this enough as it has happened many times. People have contacted me saying that they have just bought a HET CANDINO. This is an incorrect statement, one cannot have a HET Candino, as shown above, you cannot get het Candino, as a Candino is a combined trait of Candy and albino. It is just a clever marketing ploy to sell an animal that NO breeder can guarantee whether the animal is het candy or het albino, so, if you have one of these animals, the best way is to use some of the breedings above to try and prove it out!
With all this being said, the Candy / Toffee gene is truly my favourite to work with. It has a huge future potential as its still scratching the surface in the industry. I hope after this article, your love for this gene has grown on you and may your future with it be good. May the odds be ever in your favour.
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