Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering something. I am obviously new to the BP ownership and I noticed something with my first one I purchased that has me wondering. I picked her out because of her lack of pattern AND her nice yellow tones. But as she has been growing she has lost all the rich yellow tones and the color seems to be fading more and more. Not the pattern colors, the base color.

I am not complaining because I actually like how she is looking, but it made me wonder that's all, seeing as she is my first and I am not accustomed to how BP's change as they grow. Is this what I should plan on when looking at babies for future purchasing purposes? Should I be planning them lightening up? Should I expect her to lighten even more? I have three others that I picked up last week that are about the same age as her so I did not, of course, see these when they were as young as she was when I got her so I have no idea if or how much they have changed. Should I expect them also to lighten up as they finish maturing?

Thanks in advance for the answers. Sorry for such a "basic" newbie question. I know what to basically expect from my corns, but BP's....hmmm?? I am going to be getting books on BP's but haven't gotten them yet.

Here is a pic of her the day I got her and one taken a couple days ago. OH, and both pics were taken with the same camera on the same settings.

Thanks.

Hey don't sweat it - Newbie questions are just as valid as the not so newbie questions. LOL.

Yeah - balls do have a tendancy to darken as they age - some will lighten, but I've seen very few that lighten compared to almost all of them darkening a bit.

Most babies come out bright and gorgeous looking then they go thru a couple of sheds and their color becomes more true. I picked up a bright yellow girl last summer that looked like a banana, now she is still a high yellow ball python - but not nearly as vibrant as she was then - it's fairly typical - if you are lucky you'll get one that holds it's baby color well.

Hope this helps.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

love the pic's. Beautiful bp.
this is aragorn the second bp we picked up. He is getting lighter.

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2.2.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen,`eowyn)
1.0.0 columbian boa (squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
0.0.2 whites tree frog (trevor, kirmet)
0.0.5 pacific green tree frogs
3.2.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy
"snakes are kind of like potato chips, you cant have just one"