Pastel Pied Ball Pyhton

The Pastel Pied Ball Python. As if the piebald ball python isn’t cool enough, adding the pastel gene into the mix really makes this animal pop! First produced by Roussis Reptiles in 2005, the pastel pied is definitely a gorgeous snake to see in person. Every pied ball python has a different pattern, with the amount of white visible varying wildly from one snake to the next. The is no association between the amount of white from the parents to siblings, although crossing additional genes into the pied morph does seem to point to trends. Several crosses lead to an all white snake, or a snake that is completely white with the exception of its head, while a few genes, like the enchi, seem to create an almost no white pied animal.

This male ball python is the core of my pied project. I was able to put him with the spider, the het pied, and the black pastel this season and so far, the spider is definitely producing eggs. The other two ladies haven’t come around just yet, but there is still hope! Next season he will be a busy boy, as I have 7 co dominant females that are heterozygous for the piebald gene. Needless to say, the 2012 season should prove to be very interesting!

Super Pastel Fader Ball Python

Oh my baby girl. This animal is my pride and joy. Oh who am I kidding, they are all my pride and joys, but this girl holds a special place in my heart (don’t tell my wife). The Super Pastel Fader, or super duper, as the producer of this, and the origional so endearingly dubbed them is truly a sight to behold in person. There aren’t very many of these animals around, I actually had her shipped from Markus Mandics facility in Canada. It’s ironic to me that when he started as a breeder he talks about how he had to come to America to find stock that fit his picky taste, and now I find my self looking to the great North to satisfy my own standards. There is a certain clown project that I have yet to unveil that will have Markus Jayne stock at its core, but more on that in later posts!

The Fader Ball still has many a breeder scratching there head, although they do know more about this intriguing morph than they did a decade ago. In fact it was thought for years that this morph was just an example of a heavily blushed out super pastel. It was only several years after Gregg Graziani bought the first fader back from Markus and used it as a breeder to produce single gene pastels, that they learned this was indeed a genetically proven trait! One of Gregg’s long time customers bought several of the single gene descendants of the fader. When he bred them back to each other several years later, low and behold, they produced more of these heavily blushed out supers!! This is part of why I love keeping and breeding these animals, there is just so much to learn. Okay, that’s enough about the illustrious Super pastel fader ball python.

Bumblebee Ball Python

The bumblebee ball python is a double gene animal, carrying both the spider and pastel genes. First produced in 2001, these ball pythons are show stoppers. Add all the cool attributes of the spider to the brilliant yellow of the pastel, and you are left with a dazzling display. One thing to note about out crossing a spider with another gene, is that it seems to help reduce or completely alleviate the spider wobble. I just can’t get enough of the reduced webbing on the bumblebee ball pythons pattern.

Once again, this particular bumblebee ball python not only carries the spider and pastel genes, but has a 50% chance of having the piebald gene as well. She will be mated to my pastel pied along with several others, and at even if it turns out she doesn’t carry the pied gene, the possibilities with that breeding are spiders, pastels, super pastels, bumble bees or the coveted killer bee (super pastel spider). Of course all of the offspring would be 100% het for the recessive piebald gene, and won’t be leaving my facility unless someone has deep pockets.

Pastel (het pied) Ball Python

The pastel ball python is one of the cornerstones of the ball python community. This co dominate morph has been crossed with about every other ball python morph imaginable. With good reason too. The pastel morph brings almost a base template off of which you just never know how the other morphs genetic visual markeres are going to react. The first pastel to reach America was thought top have been found on the import docks of Miami by a contact of Gregg Graziani, who subsequently bought that first male up and added it to his collection in 1994. Kevin McCurley from NERD was thought to have received a pastel female at the same time. In 1997, the first pastel was reproduced, proving the trait genetic. In 1999, Kevin produced the first super pastel, which rocked the ball python community. The super form of a co dominant trait will pass it’s genetic marker to all of it’s offspring, making 100% visual babies.

The picture of the pastel you see is one of my female pastels, and she is a sibling to my male pastel pied. Whether she carries the pied gene remains to be seen until the 2011 breeding season, as her parents were both het for pied, giving her a 66% chance to carry the recessive gene. I can say that this ball python does have the visual markers of a piebald ball python. Hopefully, we will be producing some super pastel pied ball pythons among other things.

Spider Ball Python

The spider ball python is a truly wicked looking snake. From the web like pattern that laces its back, to the varying white sides, and the alien skull pattern on the spiders head, this animal is one of my favorites to look at. The spider ball python was originally dubbed the “spider webbed” ball by NERD in 1999, where they were first produced.This is one of the few dominant genes in the ball python world, and while they don’t have a visual super, there is some conjecture going around that a homozygous form of the spider is possible. That is to say, that where a super form of a co dominant gene carrier will pass down at least one gene and the visual trait of that co do minant morph, the dominant spider may have the genetic ability to pass down it’s genetic marker to 100% of it’s offspring in some circumstances if it has the spider gene passed down from both it’s sire and dam. It’s hard to prove though, as there would be no visual difference between the regular and super form of the spider ball python.

What has been proven though is the spiders truly stellar interaction with different morphs on a visual level. For instance, the pastel ball python, mixed with a spider can net you a bumblebee ball python, which, as the name suggests is yellow with black stripes. And that is just the tip of the iceburg!

Normal (het pied) Ball Python

Well it just wouldn’t be a Ball Python website without a normal ball python. This is one of the first Ball Pythons I have had the pleasure to work with. She is a beautiful specimen if I do say so myself. While she does look like a normal ball python, there is a hidden gene, she like most of the other ladies in my stock is heterozygous for the piebald gene. This 2010 season she has been spending alot of time with my pastel pied male, so with any luck, she’ll be gravid before the season is out. The first recorded sightings of the ball python dates back to 1966 in Accra, Ghana, and weren’t known to be found in the U.S. until the early 80′s. Tyron Dillon of the California zoological supply was thought to be the first to have these wonderful animals imported here, where they were then sold to private collector’s for between 5 and 10 thousand dollars! A far cry from the 20 or 30 dollars on can now find a normal ball python on the internet.

Desert het pied Ball Python

The Desert Ball Python is another co dominate trait, Stan Chiras is thought to be one of the first to prove this trait out in 2002, although Pete Kahl and a few others got a hold of this morph around the same time. The desert ball python wasn’t made publicly available until several years later, being sort of a black op if you will. The breeders that were working with this morph kept there cards close to there chest until several different morphs were bred into them. They were showcased in the 2007 Daytona reptile show, and have been wildly popular ever since. This morph seems to be a “cleaner morph”, meaning that it enhances the look of whatever other morph it crosses with. This particular snake is from the Pete Kahl line and is heterozygous for the piebald trait, and probably won’t be bred until the 2012 season. That’s okay though, good things come to those who wait.

True to the desert morph, this little girl is on of the most aggressive ball pythons I have ever worked with. I love seeing a little spunk in these otherwise docile creatures!

Lesser Platinum Ball Python

The Lesser Platinum Ball Python is a morph genetically proven by none other than Ralph Davis, one of the “rock stars” of the ball python world. He produced the first lesser platinum in 2001. The lesser platy in my opinion is a rock star as well. This particular specimen is also heterozygous for the piebald gene. The lesser gene is a co dominant trait, and is part of the BEL complex. With there sporadic blotching and whicked color tones, the lesser platinum ball python is one of my favorites.

Breeding this lesser girl in the coming 2011 season is a definite possibility, and she has the potential to produce another first when I put her to my pastel pied. A lesser pied, also known as a white wedding, is a pure white snake, with more brilliant whites that even the blue eyed lucy ball python. One can only imagine what a pastel lesser pied ball python will look like!