The term “breed” is a very common one that most people, if not everyone, knows the meaning of. If we talk about dogs, for example, we know that a Labrador Retriever is a breed of dog. In the same way, there are different “Morphs” to a species of snakes. Think of it as a breed of a breed. The reason it’s called a Ball Python Morphs is that though it may be the same breed, the shape and color of the snake would be different and it would be as if the snake essentially “morphed” into a different version of itself.
Where Did Ball Python Morphs Come From?
Understanding the origin of Ball Python Morphs requires the ability to differentiate a birth defect from a morph. Ball pythons that are born with albinism or leucism, for example, are not birth defects but are genetic ball python morphs. Think of Pugs, cute little dogs that families adore and love having in their homes. However, a dog like that was not found naturally, it is the product of selective breeding. A similar case is that of Ball Python Morphs, except in this case the species remains the same and the appearance changes. Breeders with the ability have selectively bred Ball Pythons into Morphs that they want.
Buying Ball Python Morphs
Depending on the rarity of the morph or how hard it is to breed a certain kind of morph, price may vary. However, it is certain that Ball python morphs are generally more expensive than simple Ball Pythons. The variety of this market is great, with 26 unique morphs to choose from and that isn’t even including the subspecies of certain morphs. Alphabetically, they are:
- Albino Ball Python
- Axanthic Ball Python
- Blue Eyed Leucistic Python
- Bumblebee Ball Python
- Candino Ball Python
- Champagne Ball Python
- Butter Ball Python
- Chocolate Ball Python
- Cinnamon Ball Python
- Coral Glow Ball Python
- Fire Ball Python
- Ghost Ball Python
- Gotta Have it! Ball Python
- Ivory Ball Python
- Lesser Ball Python
- Mojave Ball Python
- Mystic Ball Python
- Pastel ball Python
- Phantom Ball Python
- Piebald Ball Python
- Pinstripe Ball Python
- Spider Ball Python
- Spotnose Ball Python
- Super Blast Ball Python
- Vanilla Ball Python
- Yellow Belly Ball Python
Among these, the most popular choices are the Albino, Spider, and Blue-Eyed Leucystic ball pythons.
Maintaining Morphs
Some morphs are more fragile than others. For example, the Spider Ball Python may inherit a head wobble due to the way it is bred. As such, it should be understood that before you set out to buy a certain morph that catches your eye, do your research on how it has to be cared for correctly. If not cared for properly, Ball Python Morphs will meet a very untimely demise. As for breeding morphs is concerned, the primary thing to make sure when doing this is that the female is ovulating before attempting to mate morphs, otherwise the breeding will be fruitless.
