Welfare Flags
Some morphs carry documented welfare concerns. The animal can hatch and live, but the trait is associated with a neurological condition, a higher tumour risk, or some other health pattern that a buyer should know about before they commit.
The catalog flags these explicitly. The flag is informational — it does not change calculator math. Where it surfaces is on the public animal profile: if the animal expresses a welfare-flagged trait, a dedicated card explains the condition in plain English so a buyer reads it before deciding.
The traits
The list below comes straight from the catalog. Every entry shows:
- The species and trait the flag applies to.
- Whether the super form is also lethal (homozygous form non-viable) — a separate concept; see Lethal flags for the full discussion.
- The plain-English text the public profile shows.
| Species | Trait | Lethal super? | Welfare concern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball Python | Hidden Gene Womacodominant | Yes | Some Hidden Gene Woma Ball Pythons exhibit mild head wobble or stargazing (looking up at the ceiling). Less consistent than Spider's wobble and usually milder, but can affect feeding response. |
| Ball Python | Spiderdominant | Yes | Spider Ball Pythons have a neurological 'wobble' — head tilt, coordination problems, sometimes missed feeding strikes. Every Spider has it; severity varies between individuals. The condition is permanent and incurable. Some breeders refuse to produce Spider for ethical reasons. |
| Ball Python | Champagnedominant | Yes | Some Champagne Ball Pythons can exhibit mild head wobble or coordination problems. Less consistent and usually less severe than Spider's wobble. |
| Leopard Gecko | Enigmadominant | Yes | Enigma geckos have Enigma Syndrome — a neurological condition causing head wobble, circling, disorientation, and stargazing (looking up). Every Enigma has it; severity varies between individuals. The condition is permanent. Some breeders avoid producing Enigma for ethical reasons. |
| Leopard Gecko | Lemon Frostdominant | No | Lemon Frost geckos are prone to skin tumours (iridophoroma), confirmed by genetic research in 2021. Homozygous (Super) Lemon Frost are particularly affected and often have shortened lifespans. The condition develops over time and can be disfiguring. |
Why these specific traits
Each entry is backed by either widely-reported breeder observations (Spider's wobble), peer-reviewed research (Lemon Frost's iridophoroma, confirmed in 2021), or both. The catalog is conservative: a trait gets flagged when the welfare pattern is reliably reproduced across breeders, not on a single anecdote.
The Spider wobble is the canonical case. Every Spider has it. Severity varies — some are mild head-tilt that only shows when the snake misses a strike; others are obvious corkscrewing. There is no Spider line free of it, and the condition is permanent and incurable. Some breeders refuse to produce Spider for ethical reasons; others judge the welfare cost as acceptable. Either position is defensible. The catalog's role is to make sure the buyer knows.
Lethal vs welfare — quick reminder
These are independent flags:
- A trait can be lethal-when-homozygous without a welfare concern (none in the catalog today, but possible).
- A trait can carry a welfare concern without being lethal (Lemon Frost — super is viable but compromised).
- Most welfare-flagged traits carry both (Spider, HGW, Champagne, Enigma).
The lethal flag affects calculator predictions. The welfare flag affects buyer disclosure. Both can apply, neither can apply, or one or the other.
Adding a welfare flag
If you have evidence that a trait belongs on this list and isn't there, suggest it and we'll review. The wording matters: "Spider Ball Pythons have a neurological wobble" is the right tone — a description, not a prescription. Avoid moralising in the welfare text; the buyer will form their own view from the facts.