First of all, the notion that this snake is somehow a scarred animal or one which is unhealthy in any way is absurd. This is a perfectly healthy female which is CH and was imported into this country a week ago. You can see the pigment in the spots where it is supposed to be, it is just light because there is a lower concentration of pigment in the skin compared to the scales.

Secondly, until this is bred out we will never know if it is indeed genetic. It is going to take 4 years or more to figure this out if it is a recessive gene. This could be something like a piebald in that various snakes show increasing amounts of the mutated area. This snake just happens to only be affected on the head where as the other is affected on 50% of its body. Who the hell knows now, only time will tell?

Thirdly, it is odd to me how some people on here have very little to do other than to try to bash others on this forum. You have no idea of my or anyone else’s expertise in keeping ball pythons or anything else for that matter. I know of a number of the "major" breeders who have less experience than many people on this forum, but because they decided to go into deep dept and buy some really expensive animals people look up to them. I could mortgage my house and buy all the designer morphs and produce white, black and every snake in between, but I am not in it for the money. I love my snakes and I enjoy caring for them. Don't judge someone until you know the whole story. I bought the snake in question for 60 dollars from a guy at a booth. I was offered a pastel male 10 minutes later when showing it to a friend, but I didn't take it. Why? I could take that male and mate it to my 20 females next year and make 40,000 or more. I am not in it for the money, I just would like to get some of the cool morphs over time and see what I can produce. I am a high school biology teacher; both the husbandry and the genetics fascinate me. I enjoy bringing in my snakes to my classroom and showing my students. I also use ball python morphs as examples when talking about basic mendelian genetics. I know this is rambling on, it is late and I am tired.

I enjoy the discussions that occur on this forum. Please however think before you write something that insinuates someone else is trying to pull a fast one. The purpose of my original post was only to inform others that at least one other partially scaleless ball python existed. Whether or not anything ever comes of it, we will have to see.

Shannon

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