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A few months ago I posted about one of my girls that did a sudden color change to axanthic with a shed. I received some interesting replies and discussed any possible medical conditions that might cause this with 2 "reptile" vets, both of which didn't know of any medical reason for this change to take place.

Since then, she has turned to this (the back markings are actually a cream color that didn't come out very well in the pic)

OK, here is where it gets interesting... A few nights ago her sister (from the same clutch) did the same thing.

If she follows the same course as the first one, she will loose the tan coloration on her next shed then slowly start to darken. I've spoken with both vets about this change again and now they feel it's almost certainly genetic, or one heck of a fluke. It will be interesting to see what changes will take place over the next few months. I can't help but think the name "chamball" would be fitting if this proves out. LOL

Thanks for looking
Ronnie

CricketFood.com

Wow, thanks for the pics!

Did you keep any of the brothers or any more sisters? Do you still have the parents? About how big where the sisters when they changed? If it is genetic, it might be hard to track down since they don't hatch with it and you have to grow them up some to see it.

>Did you keep any of the brothers or any more sisters?

Yes, I have one more sister.

>Do you still have the parents?

Nope. I bought 3 female hatchlings from a guy that was moving out of state and had to part with his collection. I haven't heard anything from him since so I assume he's no longer breeding paythons. I sure wish I had the parents tho...

>About how big where the sisters when they changed?

Sixteen and twenty months old (give or take).

>If it is genetic, it might be hard to track down since they don't hatch with it and you have to grow them up some to see it.

Yep, that would pose a problem but hopefully, with others that have experienced the same thing, we will know in a few years what's going on with this.

Ronnie
CricketFood.com

I saw a couple young adult females at a show in 2003 that where reportedly sisters and looked a lot like those two in the silver phase. They had been picked up by a breeder in my area from a small breeder at the 2003 Daytona show. He also found a male from a larger breeder that looked similar. As I remember the alleged sisters had the odd spots on the back that look like pieces of stuck shed like yours but I didn't look at them long and it was over a year ago. I did hear at this year's show that he produced from the trio but that the babies looked normal. He said he was told by one of the big Florida breeders (Amir?) to hang on to them and that they might be some known changer line. I didn't get any details on what had been proven in this area as for as genetic inheritance or how exactly they change.

What was the weight at change for those girls?

I've got a girl that was axanthic looking when I first saw her at just under 700 grams but I don't know her history before that (reportedly an import). She did get darker like your one that changed first but I'm not sure she has become as dark as yours (I haven't seen her in 10 months of so since about 1,200 grams). However I didn't ever see the little odd colored spots like on yours or the reported sisters that the local breeder picked up in Florida.
My girl

Wouldn't these be considered as IMG balls? But by far, these are the most drastic color change I've seen. Pretty cool stuff!

Eric

>Wouldn't these be considered as IMG balls? But by far, these are the most drastic color change I've seen. Pretty cool stuff!

I've asked myself that but only came up with more questions. To my knowledge, your typical IMG doesn't go through the axanthic phase, at least not the IMGs I've had in the past. They just get darker as they mature. On the other hand, at the present stage of the first girl, she looks just like "Dirty Joe" on Ralph's site.

http://www.ralphdavisreptiles.com/collection/pythons/ball/img_ball_python.asp

Why the axanthic phase at this stage in life (aprox 1200 grams)? Dirty Joe hatched black and white. Other IMGs I know of (including the 2 I had) started out with normal color only to start turning darker with each shed skipping the drastic axanthic phase. Is this just another form of IMG? Very possibly so, but is this the end result or will the cycle repeat, or will something else totally unexpected happen in the future? Regardless of the outcome, it's pretty cool watching the changes take place!

Ronnie
CricketFood.com

I have a 50% het for albino female that I bought from a reptile show. After its first shed in my care it lost all brown color except for its head and about an inch down its neck. The rest was replaced with a albinoish almost human skin color. I was thinking it could be a marker trait. Maybe your snakes are possible hets for axanthic and your getting the same effect i got with my snake?

Dan Robinson

You've for sure got something very interesting there. Very nice looking too, if you ask me.

we have seen this happen a number of times, usually once or twice a year with a different animal, but i don't know what is happening, or why.

i first saw it with a boa perhaps a decade ago, it went to pure black and white.

this year i have seen it with two ball pythons.

in each case, they all "mottle" their way back to a normal color over the course of a few sheds. i think it may be some kind of chemical reaction/skin condition that is just a temporary thing, it doesn't seem to be a breedable color morph, but there is still much to learn about the occurance...
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles