Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry if this has been answered already, but I've searched and still can't figure this out. What exactly is a yellow belly? I've seen plenty of balls with light yellow blushing creeping up the sides of the snake, but most of the time they are labeled as normals. Is yellow belly a true morph? Or is it used to label snakes that happen to have some lighter coloration on the sides? Also, do yellow bellies retain their coloration as they age?

Any thoughts or photos would be helpful. Thanks!

Bruce

PS. The reason I'm asking is that I'm looking to buy a baby ball. Some breeders were charging extra for yellow bellies, but I wasn't sure if they were just pointing out specimens with extra yello.

A yellowbelly is abasically a visual het for the ivory ball python. Once you know what to look for they are pretty easy to tell from a normal. If someone is trying to sell you a snake as a yellowbelly I would be very careful unless you know what they look like. Here is a pic, noitice the almost complete lack of belly pattern. Look at a normal belly and you will see a huge difference. Also they do have some fading that goes up the sides but that can be hard to tell in some of them.

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I did this just to point out the traits for people that don't see the exact difference. I hate it when people buy something thinking it is one thing and it ends up being nothing. And it really sucks for people that are just starting because they usually have no way to make up for it if they spent a lot of money on it.

Thanks so much for your detailed messages! I really appreciate it. I think the breeder had a "yellowish" belly snake, not a true yellow belly. You saved me some dough.

Thanks again,
bruce