When a ball python breeder introduces a pair of snakes for mating, numerous factors can play in the success of creating visually stunning hatch-lings.  As breeders, we acquire the finest example of particular morphs, raise them up, and attempt to breed them.  With a successful pairing, we anticipate viable eggs and set them up for their 55-60 day incubation period.  If we are fortunate on the odds, and hit multiples of certain morphs, it is exciting to see the variances of the identical morphs within the clutch.  No two sibling morphs look alike, and some seem to pop out amongst others.

During our 2011 breeding season we experienced this clutch variance phenomenon once again.  We paired a fire male and a pastel jungle female with hopes of producing hold back fireflies. We hit the odds on 5 eggs, with three fireflies.  Each firefly was unique looking, not resembling any of its siblings.  The first one was a male, who looks more like a traditional firefly, with its stunning pattern and vibrant yellow colouration.

The second was a female who had an amazing faded colour with nice blushed side saddles.

The third was a female who sides looked like they were up in flames.

Did one of the parents have some hidden enhancing gene, or was it the influence of the combination of genes of both parents?  Only future test breeding will assist us in documenting and deciphering this random outcome. Hopefully this journey will also guide us to creating some more astounding ball python morph representations.

Morph: Pinstripe

Genetic Info: Co-dominant .

What’s Cool About It: A pattern mutation morph that is the building block of some great combos.

Morph: Orange Dream Fire

Genetic Info: Double Co-dominant (Orange Dream x Fire).

What’s Cool About It: A nice double-enhancing morph maker.

Have a happy and safe holiday season from all of us here at Ball Python Addiction.

Have you ever gone to a reptile show and questioned why some identical morphs look better on some breeder’s tables than others?  Have you questioned why they are priced differently?  When searching for exceptional ball pythons for pets or as potential breeding stock, the motto “you get what you pay for” certainly has value.

When breeding ball pythons for the best representation of a particular morph or combo, one should first scrutinize the founding stock.  There are good and bad examples of every morph and combo, and when setting breeding goals, it makes sense that the first step is to acquire the best looking animals to try and produce the best looking hatch-lings.

No other ball python morph in this hobby has the credit for the creation of the most combos than the co-dominant pastel jungle morph commonly referred to as pastels. Lets face it, yellow ball pythons morphs are simply breathtaking and you need the infusion of the pastel jungle gene or in its super form, the super pastel, to make yellow snakes.

With the modern price of low to high grade male pastels in the $75 to $150 range, other hobbyist’s jaws drop when we mentioned we paid $1500 for an F3 male back in 2005.  What is an F3, they ask?  Well F3 in a genetic term representing third generation.  In the case of our pastel jungle male, three generations of selectively breeding the most colourful and clean specimens from pastel x pastel resulted in a snake that browned out minimally with age, and retained exceptional colour.  This is one of the founding sires in our collection who has passed on his genes to progress the quality of our collection today.  At shows people have asked us why our bumble bees express such vivid yellow colour and how clean they look with minimal speckling compared to others.  Well its all about selective breeding we say.

In the evolution of breeding animals such as horses, cattle, dogs, cats, fish and reptiles, the finest specimens are due to the passionate efforts of a breeders selective eye.  In the ball python hobby, selective breeding has its role in developing beautiful examples of living art.  Think about it next time you wander at a vendors booth at your next reptile show.