Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, first let me say I am somewhat newer to bp's so excuse me if this seems ignorant at first. I have a clutch of four 50% het albinos from a het male to a normal female. One of the offspring however has maintained a rather pumpkin colored belly while the others are very normal or at least my opinion of normal. I thought the coloration would fade after a few sheds but this has not happened. They are housed seperately and on plain white paper towels at substrate. Could it be something I should see a vet about? Any thoughts??? Or am I making something out of nothing???
Thank you.
Rodney Pray

Here are a few pics. She seems healthy and has a great feeding response. The flash makes it look a little lighter in color.

top view

another belly look

it certainly is unusual. I've never seen anything like that. Great future project. is it a CH baby? any knowledge of its history?
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Justin Kobylka

Warning: Snakes have been shown to cause death in labratory rats!

Send her to me so I can get a good look at her! LOL Seriously, that is cool looking...try to prove her out and see what pops out. With all the fuss about yellow bellies, who knows what she is?

I have seen this before, I believe it to be normal. Here is why. I purchased a snake that was 100% het albino male. I knew the breeder but got the snake from a friend of the breeder. I looked at all the babies when they were born and NONE of them had the Orange belly, But around 2-3 months later my friend decided to sell his 100% hets to me. Well one of them had a belly that looked like yours, I asked him what he was keeping the babies on, he said news paper, I thought something was going on with the snake, But after about 2 weeks the snake shed and the belly was Normal again. Not sure what caused it but it shedded off, So I am pretty sure yours will by the look of the color of the belly. thanks David

The dealer puts a group in orange or cherry Koolaid and they pick up the color. When they shed it goes away!!! Nice little sales gimmick!!!

I have seen that one a few times at shows...catches your attention and makes you think Kev@NERD
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www.newenglandreptile.com
The Most Extensive Collection of Ball Python Mutations in Captivity

That is too funny and reminds me of a snake I had! A few years ago I had someone give me a boa that was kept on green sand. The entire belly of the snake was bright neon green!
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Jaremy Douglas

I remember someone tryed selling some of those last year on KS. Except he used red KoolAid. To freakin funny.

!!

nice pick's

Well, I have not seen one like that before I do however have a female that has an orangish wash to her belly. When I first got her I was worried it was scale rot but it isn't. I'd tend to agree with NERD though with such a bright coloration.
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Nita Hamilton
5.9 Normal BP's
1.0 Het Orange Ghost
1.4 Humans (DH, Me and 3 daughters)

Yes I do remember the KoolAid balls as well. I received this one and the other three from Guy Castro in Kentucky a few months back as 50% hets. This particular one has shed four times now but still no signs of this coloration going away. My reason for bringing it up was for health concerns, and I had thought scale-rot at one point in time as well. But now I have no clue... I certainly don't think it is KoolAid induced however as that would have been evident after the first or second shed. Not to mention, I think Guy is above such things. Any other realistic thoughts would certainly be appreciated.

I'd be interested in breeding it to a Normal. Then breed the baby (once raised, of course) back to it. Cool things could happen.

Chris =)
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

I had one hatch out for me this season. I purchased a couple of gravid WC females - out of a clutch of 4 from one of the females, 3 have a certain degree of yellow to orange tint. There is one that has it to the degree of yours, there is an overall orange tint to the snake in general. I believe it is a female, but the tail appears to be stubby, to the point of being a birth defect, so I am not sure if probing is accurate. The three that show the coloring also have patternless bellies. I asked around, and got varying opinions on what they might be. Nothing will be for sure until I try to prove them out, hopefully next year I can begin.
Good luck with yours, I hope we have something!!

Scott