#ball python morphs

[nohiketoosmall]

science sources (x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x) other (x)

This snake morph guide is just meant to explain some basics of morphs. I would caution anyone in buying a pet that takes a high level of care just because it's pretty, and frankly any breeder that continues to breed morphs with physiological and neurological defects should be put out of business. I did my best as I find this interesting and believe there's a lot of misinformation out there due to people trying to literally sell things to their audience.

I included some links if you would like additional reading. They range from a study on captive care management, studies I could find relevant to the severe issue morphs, and some general on snake color and scales.

[sister-lucifer]

would you be willing to consider making ball pythons variants of your snake dividers? :0 /gen

YES ! here’s a few variations of some common morphs:] if this isn’t what you had in mind, i will gladly do more!

original snake dividers are here

please like, reblog, & credit if you use!

[DIVIDER REQUESTS ARE OPEN!]

DNI: TERFS, endo, proship, pro ana, nazi, MAPs, zoophiles

tag list: @ghostboneswrites2 @savanaclaw1996 @lordhavemercyyyyy @odysseuscore @bloodythornsandskulls

[if you’d like to be on the tag list for dividers, please leave a message in my inbox]

[sneksnack]

Ball Python morphs 🎨🐍

[big-boy-noodle]

Cage cleaning day pictures. She's such a sweet girl

Teeth, young adult female black-eyed leusistic ball python, rescue March 2021

[morroodle]

I went to a reptile expo yesterday and had an amazing time and took about 150 photos but tumblr is stupid and only lets me share 10 of them on one post so I'll just give some of my favorites

I got to hold a baby beardie! They're soooo tiny and so cute <333 seeing the other adult beardies made me realize that my girl Tanzi was TINY. She was just a little lady compared to the others! Also I may or may not have cried a lot a little when I pet a beardie again for the first time.

There were so many cool and pretty and unique animals I am so sad I can't share more of them. I love all the ball python morphs and now im more determined than ever to get my own little fella. I think I'll go with a pastel morph if I can, they're so pretty to me. Also reminder please do not support the spider morph it causes neurological defects in the snakes and that is not good it is unethical.

I think if I had to pick a winner for the most unique animal I found it would be this scaleless (aka silky) bearded dragon

This man is naked! They stole his spikes! His name was Chicken Wing and he used to have a friend but his friend chomped his tail like an asshole and so was banished. I got to pet him and oh man they feel so weird and so cool. Very soft!

[omg-snakes]

Is yellow blushing on the side of the belly a common thing with normal ball pythons? I have one normal and one yellowbelly sunset, and my yellowbelly definitely has checkering on his belly for sure, but my normal doesn’t. Her blushing is so strong though, and I haven’t seen that on any other normals. I’m out of town so I currently don’t have a picture that isn’t of her face or her bioactive, but it’s a soft yellow, almost a golden color, and it blushes from the side of her stomach to about 1/3 the way up her side. Otherwise she looks like a regular normal. Could she have other genetic her influences that are only showing up now? For reference, she’ll be turning 6 this August.

Hello friend!

That's an excellent question and I'm sorry to say I don't know the answer. I'm afraid I have not studied ball python genetics and I'm not well versed on their morphs. I'm sorry that I can't be more help!

@i-m-snek breeds ball pythons. They might have a better idea, or know someone who does?

I hope you find the answer you're looking for!

[i-m-snek]

Hey there, @omg-snakes answered my ask and let me know you breed ball pythons, and I have a question that they said you might know the answer to. I copy/pasted the ask:

Is yellow blushing on the side of the belly a common thing with normal ball pythons? I have one normal and one yellowbelly sunset, and my yellowbelly definitely has checkering on his belly for sure, but my normal doesn’t. Her blushing is so strong though, and I haven’t seen that on any other normals. I’m out of town so I currently don’t have a picture that isn’t of her face or her bioactive, but it’s a soft yellow, almost a golden color, and it blushes from the side of her stomach to about 1/3 the way up her side. Otherwise she looks like a regular normal. Could she have other genetic her influences that are only showing up now? For reference, she’ll be turning 6 this August.

Wild types have a ton of variation, so its possible shes still a wild type :) ive seen a lot of them with gold blushing up the sides like that. If you like you can submit a photo of her and i can let you know for sure :)

[kitefreecss]

a plop

[big-boy-noodle]

Shy boy. He did really good being out! He spent most of the time in a hide I set on the floor but he didn't freak out at all

Cecil, adult male champagne ball python, rescue April 2018

[lyrameteora]

My baby boy Rigel

[dragonsflame117]

It’s been 8 years since I adopted this boy!!! Happy adoption day Lucius!!!

He’s about to shed his skin so he be lookin a liiiittle pale

[mossiestpiglet]

[ID: tags reading “#hey op I don’t know ajything about snake morphs can you tell me more about why you don’t support breeding this one? #very curious” End ID]

I ended up writing way more than was asked for but I like snakes to much to stop, so the short version: it’s not possible to breed spider morphs without the neurological condition called wobble, some will have mild cases but all will be affected to some extent during some part of their lives, and the homozygous form is 100% lethal.

And the long version:

No problem! I love talking snakes and am very passionate about ethical keeping, which ethical breeding is a big part of.

This little guy here is a ball python who is visual for two morphs:

Mahogany - this makes him a little darker, more chocolaty brown than the wild type, especially noticeable on his belly which is a much darker tan than the white/near white bellies of the wild type (it’s a little washed out in the photo, he is darker in reality). Mahogany is incomplete dominant, so this phenotype is caused by just one copy of the gene. Having two copies creates a snake which is largely patternless and more solidly brown all over (called super mahogany/suma). There are no known health issues with this morph or the super form.

Spider - this is the morph that is more easily seen in him because spider heavily affects pattern. It causes the disruption of the ball python pattern to create that drippy stripped look, with much black coverage compared to the wild type. Because it’s so visually striking, it’s very popular, however all spider ball pythons have a neurological condition called wobble which will affect them to different extents and can change in intensity throughout their lives. Wobble cannot be bred out of the morph, is is another phenotype of the same mutation that produces the spider pattern. In addition to all spiders having wobble, it is also an incomplete dominant mutation. The phenotype of my animal and all living spiders is from having one copy of the spider allele, if an animal has two copies they will almost certainly not survive embryonic development, and the few that do hatch will die shortly after. In the hobby this is phrased as “super spider is lethal”.

My particular animal has what myself and my vet consider a mild-moderate case. His head always shakes very slightly when he moves, and it’s especially noticeable when handling; he’s had some eating issues in the past but he’s much better at striking than many wobbley snakes are. Feeding is one of the biggest quality of life issues in snakes with wobble, as any time they are nervous or excited they are likely to have greater issues. This can cause them to be unable to strike at food, to wrap it properly, missing repeatedly could stress them out and cause them to give up and miss meals, or they may miss and hit something else which could cause injury or mean ingesting something they shouldn’t (I had a moss incident with Orville recently and now he’s going to have to be fed on a plastic plate to avoid a repeat). Wobble probably also gets worse with age and will definitely get worse with poor husbandry, which unfortunately most captive ball pythons are still living in. Because it can be degenerative, I had my vet see him right away so that we would both have a baseline understanding of where he was starting out and be able to monitor his wobble as he ages to see if it worsens and if it becomes a quality of life problem.

As I said in the op, I was given Orville for free and that was actually because I have chatted with the breeder at many past shows and he’s who my female bp (who has all issue-free morphs) was purchased from and he trusted my husbandry to be able to take care of and work with a baby snake whose wobble at the time seemed a little more severe than it is now. While I don’t agree with all of his breeding practices, he is someone who takes husbandry quite seriously so I hope that he changes and gets out of breeding spiders.

[image id: a young ball python half curled up on top of a piece of cork bark, with more cork bark behind. End id.]

I thought Orville was just having a fun day of basking on his bark, but no actually he pooped in his warm hide and just was asking me to clean it.

(He’s a spider morph I was given for free, I don’t condone the breeding or sale of spider complex bps)

[chainslobber]

Little man changed his second pair of pants!

[the-pistol-poet]

This is my other son, Frank From Accounting, or Frank, for short. I have to sadly admit he is about as smart as my big toe, but he is a sweet boy.

[fellowshipofthenoodles]

I put her on the stick so that I could spot clean and she did not approve or appreciate it

“She looks like bad taxidermy.”- @starlightorchestra

[brokenbutunbowed]

He's so very very shy so I brought him downstairs to the couch to explore and get some enrichment. He wasn't sure about it at first but eventually started cruising around all over. My sweet little shy boy. So different from the colubrids that make up the rest of my bunch.