Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here is a picture of the girl I picked up at a show last week. As you can see most of her scales are gone on the top of her head. She is healthy and a great feeder, she took two fuzzies as soon as we got home. Just thought I would show off my new baby girl and see what everyone thinks.

Shannon

wtf? is this another dermaball? thats crazy if it is.

i guess they are starting to pop up everywere now lol..

Yea,
and it looks like they are breeding in the wild.

I wonder how many more are going to show up in the next year or two.

Have a nice day.

derma ball..normal color without scales...

this skinhead ball has no scales on a portion of it's head only.and the bald spots are white.....

hint.scar tissue is also white........

looks to me.........and I know you are all so much smarter than I am..cough cough........yea.......ok........anyways......looks like something happened to this animal and made it's scales fall off.......rot off.....or get burned off........

.....
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...mybe......?.maybe not.......does it have an 88 or a GFBD tattoo on it's gut somewhere?...........

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wow.....did you think of that all by yourself?.....
better take a break ................

get ur eyes checked there JY.. there is COLOR where there should be color.. just like the dirty ass 'derma ball'

its not WHITE..

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

Shannon,

You are absolutely correct that your snake could in deed be a "derma" ball (scaleless) and it just show a portion of the phenotype. Every snake is on a case by case basis, unless it is something obvious like an albino or very well known look. If I was betting I would say that based on your photo alone I would spend the time to try and breed her and see where it goes.

Sincerely,

Tracy/VPI

PS love your frog list-I used to breed lots and lots of those cool frogs!!

WHOOHOO!!!

There is another derma ball, and it lies in the hands of a responsible individual who cares more about the animals than money and making a name for themselves!!! There are actually people out there who care more about figuring out genetics than selling them before the answers are found... I can sleep happy knowing this beautiful animal lies in the hands of someone who deserves her..

Good luck with her, and I really do hope its genetic. She may not be half scaled, but at least your girlie has heat pits!!!!

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.

NOBODY insinuated anthing of the sort. Most people wrote that they thought that it looked like a derma ball (or a DRAMA ball as I saw posted on another forum) Only JY said that he didn't think it was and thought it was scar tissue. He was just giving his honest opinion even if most of us don't agree with it. NOBODY mentioned anything about you pulling a fast one.... However the way you responed makes me think that thats the kind of response you were looking and maybe hoping for.... Which really makes me kind of wonder what the purpose of your post was in the first place??????? That was a nifty little diatribe you posted, I'm glad you didn't have to waste it after the lackluster responses you got. Hmmmm.... would that make you a 'troll'????

VOT

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Tosha

"Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed." Don Wood

"Of course, that's only my opinion...and I believe I am God." =) Chris Bianco

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul)
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 Pool skimmer rescues for this season

Yes, all of her heat pits are there. There is nothing different other than the fact that the scales on the top of her head aren't there.
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2.4.0 D. azureus
0.0.8 P. bicolor
0.0.7 D. auratus (polka-dot)
0.0.3 D. auratus (blue)
0.0.4 D. auratus (kahlua and cream)
0.0.3 D. auratus (El Cope aka Giant Turquoise)
0.0.5 D. tinctorius (Interalanis)

Shannon