Hi folks
Returning to the hobby after 30+ years and keeping ball pythons as a teenager. I’m looking for a hatchling male ball python pet only zero interesting breeding.
Specifically, I seem to like morph such as clown, leopard, Cypress, and I’m looking for something that will not lose its colour or pattern or fade out as it grows older
I’m struggling a little to understand all the different morphs after 30 years away from the hobby in my day there was just one type of ball python at my local pet shop and the Internet hadn’t even been invented!
I have to say the breeders that I’ve contacted so far via morphs have been absolutely fantastic with the advice they’ve given, above and beyond, and I’ve been really impressed with their professionalism.
I’m ready to buy when the right snake comes along and I’ve been waiting for a number of months patiently.
I’m thinking that I might post on here a few that I’m looking at and people reading the post can give me their honest opinions on them browning out/fading out as they get older
The general consensus seems to be that if it has desert ghost, then it will be the best chance I’ve got of preventing this, however it’s not always straightforward DGs that I like and there’s lots of other genes/morphs included in the snake that I’m concerned may be more dominant and allow it to fade.
Once again, the advice I’ve been given directly from the breeders on Morphs has been 2nd to none so far.
Any advice people have would be appreciated and also whether or not you think it’s a good idea that I post specific snakes on here that are currently for sale and ask advice on them as I don’t want to cause upset to any of the breeders
Many thanks in advance
Jonny
Hi Jonny and welcome!
Whle we cannot give you advice on specific snakes from specific breeders, the community can definitely help answer questions about how various morphs, lines and combos may age and brown out!
Brightening genes will tend to hold their colour better but all balls will fade down some. You also have to take in to account interaction between different morphs. As an example, Pastel by itself can brown out a lot. But I have some animals with Pastel and a few other genes in them that are still very vibrantly yellow
Aside from DG, which you mentioned, I would suggest anything in the YB complex, the BlkEL complex, Enchi, OD, and depending on the direction you want to go, some of the BluEL complex morphs
Hey there! I agree with you that anything DG is going to be your best bet for aging. Another one that is really underrated for how it ages is lace, and also crypton (het cryptic and het clown together).
I did want to point out that while the morph itself is important, the line the morph comes from is just as important if not more important. Cypress, for instance, doesn’t guarantee you’re going to get a nice, bright cypress - it just means the morph is “present.” If you see a baby you like, of any morph - contact the breeder and ask for pictures of the parents. This will allow you to see the adult animal that produced the baby you like, and see how the morph aged in that particular animal. This is how I select animals to buy for my breeding projects and it will help you weed out animals that didn’t age well, which increases the chance you get an animal with a really nice expression as an adult.
This is super solid advice. Seeing the parents (also any adult full siblings, when possible) can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect an individual to look like as it ages.
Another thing to consider might be a morph like banana, that changes a lot as it ages, but is still very pretty. I love the look of freckley adult bananas. It’s very different from how they look as babies, but it’s still a very cool look. (Then again, some people hate how bananas age, so I guess it’s a matter of preference.)
Things like pied or calico/sugar might also be something to consider. The patterned part will change with age, but the white will stay the same as they age.