Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wanted to share some fresh pics of this little guy. He is still hyper-melanistic, but he is not as black and appears to be taking on some brown and olive hues. Some people think he's ugly (mainly non-ball keepers), while others love him. I am crazy about him and my excitement is at all time high with this project! That's what matters most, right?

MACRO PIC

Does this look like a co-dom belly? Wouldn't that be something? I am thinking recessive if anything though. Time will tell.

Later,
Oz
OzzyBoids

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CB

"I post because I'm bored"

Hey Oz,
Congrats on the new addition. He looks amazing and hopefully he'll prove out for you. He definitely looks to have some serious potential....

Best regards,
Jason Kuta

OzzyBoids

I said he was ugly before.......

I didn't say I wouldn't have bought him.......

good luck........

albino from this line would be cool
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people???.........people are stupid.........
really???......really.........

Hey J,

I do remember someone on the forum saying that, lol... I could not recall who though. I have several co-workers and friends who do not keep or like snakes, but they are fascinated by this hobby/business of mines. I showed them pics of this guy and It was that entire group of people that thought he was ugly.

I really don't mind.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words! By the way... if he breeds this upcoming season I have a big fat female albino that's dedicated only to him. So wish me luck...

Oz
OzzyBoids

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np

no post
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com
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what ar the odds of these two being brothers.

Thanks,
Wyatt

I've got to believe the day will soon be here when genetic testing is available for things like checking to see if ball pythons are siblings and paternity testing. Those tests are already available for most farm animals. My understanding is that these tests are fairly simple compared to actually identifying mutant genes (i.e. a test for het would be harder to come up with than a test for siblings or paternity).

It would be interesting to see which imported animals are related and which aren't. I bet some of the ones sold as siblings are put together on looks and aren't really and perhaps even some separated like these two are. I think paternity tests would be good assurance for high dollar captive bred hets as well.

Hey Wyatt,

I think they may be the same... except yours is an 03 right? Man, I hope you prove that guy out! Did he breed this season???

I think we may want to swap hets in the future and test for compatibility. If they are the same, we can at least outcross the two bloodlines for stronger animals.

Good Luck,
Oz

Here is a pic of my CH'04 female. I don't think what we have are Hyper Melanistic but possibly what the Sutherlands refer to as a Coffee Ball see this link to the Sutherlands:

http://ballpython.com/morph.php?morph=coffee

For a desription of Hyper-Melanistic see this link to RDR:
http://www.ralphdavisreptiles.com/collection/pythons/ball/hyper_melanistic_ball_python.asp

What do you all think now?

Steve

www.serpentsden.com

Although I agree with the descriptions given. I would have to say that if melanin that is a pigment produced by the melanocyte and transferred to adjacent keratinocytes, then these balls would fit the profile of hypermelanism, correct ? I have talked with TSK and discussed the Coffee ball. Here is a pic of our two stripes from 03',

The top stripe as you can see displays a different contrasting color scheme than the bottom one. I feel like the top stripe would resemble the Coffee ball rather than the bottom one or Oz's stripe. I have seen many different versions of what breeders have called a Coffee ball and here is one of ours that has been referred to as one,

I guess only time will tell what proves genetic and what won't. Good luck Oz !!!

Thanks,
Wyatt

Do either of you have pics of these Balls as juveniles?
I have 4 different looking dark Ball Pythons and would like to see if any of yours resemble any of the ones I have...

I think it would be awesome if any of these prove out to be genetic. Here is a pic of another.

Thanks,
Steve

www.serpentsden.com

Although the coffee and the stripe you have do resemble this animal as far as the thin striping goes, I think they are all different. I think Wyatt has the one animal that resembles mines the most. I am hoping I am right since the Coffee ball look like it may not prove out. I'm also hoping the Snake Keeper just had a fluke in their breeding trials and will succeed later on, it's a cool morph.

Actually the two animals you posted have a Black Pastel look to them. The Black Pastels are not posted frequently, but they have an unmistakable look and the Pewters they produce are insane. Ian Gniazdowski (this is the proper spelling for those who like to mispell his name, lol) is the only person to produce Black Pewters as far as i know. They were at the 03 MARS show for those who may have attended. Okay I stray... back to the topic at hand.

Here is a baby pic of my Hyper-Striper. You can see why I described him as Hypermelanistic. I use the term hypermelanistic to describe any animal with an unusually high content of dark pigment when compared to the average Ball.

Here's a picture of a CH animal that I consider to also be Hypermelanistic without the striping.

Further more, I think the really nice Hi-Contrats albinos are a result of increased melanin. More pigment equals a deeper, darker, orange albino.

Oz

Hey Oz, I’m not exactly sure what I have at the moment whether it be a Coffee or not. Anyway I posted my pics in order for you to compare to see if we may have the same thing or not. Yours are a year older and certainly have a different look to them as do the juvenile pics you just posted here. I don’t know how mine will look next year only time will tell. Both yours and Wyatts sure do look the same and hopefully they will both prove out for ya’s…
If my striper is a Black Pastel I can live with that
I also agree with you that any of these should produce some awesome high-contrast albinos.
Good luck in this project and keep up updated!

Here is another pic of another darkie I’m calling a Malted Ball, e-mail me at reptiles@serpentsden.com and I’ll send you over more pics.

Thanks,
Steve

www.serpentsden.com

Do either of you have pics of these Balls as juveniles?
I have 4 different looking dark Ball Pythons and would like to see if any of yours resemble any of the ones I have...

I think it would be awesome if any of these prove out to be genetic. Here is a pic of another.

Thanks,
Steve

www.serpentsden.com

www.serpentsden.com