Ok, so you've read all the previous pages and feel like you understand it all (more or less) but you still don't know how to apply it to the problem in hand. In other words, you still don't know how to tell what you'll get when you breed your Amel Motley Cornsnake, het for Caramel to your Butter Motley Cornsnake. Well, you are not alone, and you are not stupid.

While all of this genetics stuff may seem complicated, it's really no harder than anything else you've learned. Take mathematics for instance. Once you learned the basic rules of addition, and did enough practice to let it all sink in, you could add any two numbers together - no matter how large and complicated seeming. Genetics is no different.

Here's how to do it:

• Step One - To predict any outcome from any breeding, you must understand what traits are actually present in the parents. To proceed, you MUST research the trade name you are familiar with (here Amel Motley, het Caramel and Butter Motley) to find out what traits these morphs are actually composed of.
  
  In our example above, you must forget that one parent is an Amel Motley Cornsnake, het for Caramel and the other is a Butter Motley Cornsnake. Names like that are meaningless, genetically speaking.
  
  Instead, you must learn to view them as a Cornsnake that is homozygous for Amelanism, homozygous for Motley, and heterozygous for Caramel and a Cornsnake that is homozygous for Amelanism, homozygous for Motley, and homozygous for Caramel.
  
  Do this for every locus containing a mutated allele in either parent (in this case three alleles at three loci total). While you are at it, learn the commonly used genetic connotations (abbreviations) in use for each trait.
  
  Parent 2) Amel Motley, het Caramel Cornsnake (a^aa^a·m^mm^m·Ca⁺ca^c)
  Amelanism, homozygous - abbreviated as: a^aa^a
  Motley, homozygous - abbreviated as: m^mm^m
  Caramel, heterozygous - abbreviated as: Ca⁺ca^c
  
  Parent 2) Butter Motley Cornsnake (a^aa^a·m^mm^m·ca^cca^c)
  Amelanism, homozygous - abbreviated as: a^aa^a
  Motley, homozygous - abbreviated as: m^mm^m
  Caramel, homozygous - abbreviated as: ca^cca^c
   
• Step Two - You must treat each Locus separately when predicting the outcome for the breeding. In our example, we have three alleles residing at three separate loci - so we'll be doing three separate calculations, one for each loci.
  
  For our example, we'll simply list each locus and place the alleles present there from each parent side-by-side, like this:
  
  At the Amel Locus (A), we have: ^{aa aa}
  
  At the Motley Locus (M), we have: ^{mm mm}
  
  At the Caramel Locus (Ca), we have: <sup>+c cc
  
  Then we'll use our simplified FOIL technique to tabulate the results at each locus. We could create a Punnett Square for each trait, but FOIL is quicker once learned. FOIL is an anachronism for First pair, Outside pair, Inside pair, and Last pair. Remember, one allele is passed from each parent and FOIL will help us quickly determine the four possible combinations for each locus. It works like this, and here we've highlighted each pair from the first locus in red for you:</sup>
  
  Amel Locus (A) ^{aa aa}  First Pair
  Amel Locus (A) ^{aa aa}  Outside Pair
  Amel Locus (A) ^{aa aa}  Inside Pair
  Amel Locus (A) ^{aa aa}  Last Pair
  
  In this example, we have: ^aa, ^aa, ^aa, ^aa. Now we'll repeat this for the next locus:
  
  Motley Locus (M) ^{mm mm}  First Pair
  Motley Locus (M) ^{mm mm}  Outside Pair
  Motley Locus (M) ^{mm mm}  Inside Pair
  Motley Locus (M) ^{mm mm}  Last Pair
  
  In this example, we have: ^mm, ^mm, ^mm, ^mm. Now we'll repeat this for the last locus:
  
  Caramel Locus (Ca) ^{+c cc}  First Pair
  Caramel Locus (Ca) ^{+c cc}  Outside Pair
  Caramel Locus (Ca) ^{+c cc}  Inside Pair
  Caramel Locus (Ca) ^{+c cc}  Last Pair
  
  In this example, we have: ^+c, ^+c, ^cc, ^cc.
  
   
• Step Three - Now we combine the results of the first two alleles (Amel and Anery) by using a simple grid, much like that of the Punnett Square.
  
  First, place the results of FOIL for the first allele along the left side:

  aa
  aa
  aa
  aa

  
  Next, place the results of FOIL for the second allele along the top:

  	mm	mm	mm	mm
  aa
  aa
  aa
  aa

  
  Finally, fill in the grid with the results:

  	mm	mm	mm	mm
  aa	aamm	aamm	aamm	aamm
  aa	aamm	aamm	aamm	aamm
  aa	aamm	aamm	aamm	aamm
  aa	aamm	aamm	aamm	aamm

  
  To add in the results of the third allele, we now create another grid. This time, place the results of the first grid along the left side:

  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm
  aamm

  
  Next, place the results of FOIL for the third allele along the top. Notice that in this example, all results along the left side are the same. Therefore, we can simplify our task by combining the results into one row. Not all breedings will allow your to do this, but most will to at least some degree. Now our grid should look like this:

  	+c	+c	cc	cc
  aamm

  
  Finally, fill in the grid with the results:

  	+c	+c	cc	cc
  aamm	aamm+c	aamm+c	aammcc	aammcc

  Now, we can see the results of our breeding!
  
  We've produced two types: aamm+c and aammcc. We can also see these are produced in a half and half ratio.
  
  By reinserting the connotations for each locus, we get: a^aa^am^mm^mCa⁺ca^c and a^aa^am^mm^mca^cca^c
  
  In other words, these two types are: Cornsnakes that are homozygous for Amel, homozygous for Motley, and heterozygous for Caramel and Cornsnakes that are homozygous for Amel, homozygous for Motley, and homozygous for Caramel. Or if you insist on going back to those confusing but all too familiar trade names, we've produced a clutch containing Amel motleys, het for Caramel and Butter Motleys. Not bad for a day's work!