Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We are currently breeding several lines of Ghosts and Hets and will hopefully see some outcomes to these questions this season.

I'm wondering what are the knowns about the many Ghost lines and compatability?

Have lines been crossed, or do most people work with only the lines they have to produce new morphs (Hypo Pinstripe, Hypo Mojave, Hypo Spider...), or have they tried breeding hets to other lines of hypos and not produced the anticipated offspring?

Will some lines produce all Ghosts variations, in other words will an Orange Ghost bred to an Orange Ghost produce Greens, Yellows and Oranges...?

I've heard so many stories I just wanted to hear some of your experiences and thoughts.
-----
Debra and Diana
Camlon Reptiles

Email Camlon Reptiles

I have asked that a few times in the past and mostly just get speculations. In general the breeders I have talked to think that most lines will ended up being compatible but they couldn't say for sure. I don't know if it's just that not enough people have tried crossing the different lines or what.

The ghosts I just produced were from breeding a male purchased from Bradford Cole Herptoculture, Inc. to an unknown origin het female. I talked to Cory and he said the male I purchased was produced from a pair of imports. The female het was bought years ago so I don't think it would have come from the same line as my male. But does that mean all crosses will work I sure in the heck don't know, but I would like to. I have three different lines of males and think would it would be interesting to see what would happen if I crossed the offspring but I don't want to be the one to find out they are incompatible.

George,

I would love to see a few pictures of the adult ghost if you have them.

Thanks,
Rob
-----
0.2 Normal Adult ball pythons
0.2 Normal Adult ball pythons (on breeding loan)
0.1 Sub-adult
1.0 Normal ball python
1.1 Bell Line Pastel Ball pythons
1.0 Adult Het Albino Ball Python
1.0 Het Pied Ball Python
1.0 Het Carmel Ball Python
1.0 66% Het pied Ball python
0.2 50% Het albino Ball Pythons

The first is all three of my male ghosts. The bigger two were around 900-1000 grams the smaller one on the right was around 600 grams. The second picture is of just the adult butterscotch. I also have breeding picture of the orange and butterscotch on my site at:

http://www.tbcnet.com/~gknaack/potential/potential.html

Thanks,
George

Sweet hypos, even the high contrasted orange is nice. I personally like the two that actually look ghostesh, but that is my opinion.

Nice animals (all of them)!!!
-----
Chad Bachman

Thanks Chad,

I would agree I like the more faded ones as well. My favorite of the ones I have is the one on the far right. I wonder how the orange became the most expensive.

George

We just produced 1.3 Hypo Mojaves from breeding a Het Hypo Mojave(SK Extreme Hypo) to a female who was an unproven hypo. I'm curious to see as they grow, if they will look like the Sutherlands hypo mojaves.

Eric
-----
www.ESReptiles.com

I have heard from Ian G. that 99% of the ghosts he has crossed with other ghost lines have been compatable. I will have a better answer in a few months. I have a Bell line male x unproven hypo that is due to lay any day now. If I get ghosts, based on the look of the male and female breeders being very different, I would say most lines would be interchangable. I also have a het green x het green due to lay...it should be interesting, not many green ghosts out there-at least that I have seen. Pic is of the female unproven hypo due to lay.

A hypo called an Orange.
-----
Chad Bachman

NERD says their orange line came from their green line. At least thats what Kara told me when I went back looking to find out what my het was compatible with. Turns out little Scooby is het for green!
-----
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

When I bred for years my Yellow Ghost and My Butterscotch Ghost the Butterscotch Ghost for some reason was dominate and each clutch where I bred them both together produced beautiful Butterscotch Ghost. They were of course het for both but in order for me to produce only Yellow Ghost I had to use only Yellow Ghost or Yellow Ghost hets to make Yellow Ghost. They were compatible but the Ghost I bred that were from two unrelated females out of the wild from two different years leaned towards the Butterscotch Ghost. I did breed a male VPI het for yellow Ghost to my Yellow Ghost female and she produced Yellow Ghost. When I bred the same male het to my Butterscotch Ghost female the Ghost were Butterscotch Ghost each year. I hope this helps with your question. Kevin might have different results from his line of Ghost. Back at that time few people had seen a Ghost and Ghost photos had not been printed even in the Ball Python manual.

Kyle
-----
Royal Variations

From what I hear from friends who have attempted such breedings the yellow, orange, and butterscotch lines are compatible. From what I've seen the ghost is the common morph in the wild... even more than Pastel. WC and CH ghosts come in from Africa every year and this is a recessive trait... this means there are many hets out there too.

Another thing to keep in mind is when these animals come in they do not have any yellow, orange, or butterscotch labels. These labels are applied randomly based on the owners take of what the color is. When you look at the adults they look the same... at least to me.

Oz
-----
OZZYBOIDS

I am an Artist and color is something that I notice even in nuances and gradations. When I look at Ghost's I notice the difference and to me the adults look very different as Yellows, and Butterscotch, etc. To me the Orange and Butterscotch are very close but to me I just do not think of the color as Orange, instead Butterscotch is more accurate of a visual description of the Ghost that I have owned and produced. Its not a right or wrong, just an either or. They even look different depending on where they are in their shed cycle.

Kyle
-----
Royal Variations