The Desert Ball

[Albey]

Recently there was a post asking about the pricing on Stan Chiras’s Desert Ball. I am sure a lot of people here on the Forum are not familiar with this killer new Morph so here is a little information on them. I am also including some pictures of the one I own, some of Stan’s crosses, and one of a great looking Desert Enchi (Tiger Ball) that Peter Kahl produced. Here is a picture of my Desert just to get things started. I obtained it from Stan at the Daytona show this year.



The Desert is a relatively new morph of Ball Python that presently has two lines. Both Stan Chiras and Peter Kahl have proven them and are presently working with them. This is the history of them as told to me by Stan.

Around 2001 Stan Chiras purchased his original Desert male as a yearling import. At the time of purchase it was assumed to be a Desert Ghost. When imported it was about 350 grams but grew quickly and bred the following year. It was bred to a Normal Female and the offspring were expected to be Normal looking Het Desert Ghost. Much to his surprise two of the babies looked just like the Father. Around this same time Peter Kahl imported a like animal that he also thought was a Desert Ghost. His Desert did the same thing as Stan’s. Stan and Peter compared their animals and determined that they were the same thing. Instead of being a Simple Recessive trait it appears to be Co-Dom. That should be proven this year, as both Stan and Peter will be breeding Desert-to-Desert trying to produce a Super. Hopefully it will not produce a White Snake. LOL

Next up we have some more pictures of my Desert. I love this snake.








Here are a few pictures of some of the crosses that have been done so far. I didn’t take these pictures, they are courtesy of Stan Chiras.

This one is of a Desert/Spider.


Here is another one of the Desert/Spider.


This little piece of Eye Candy is a Desert/Enchi also known as a Tiger Ball. I apologize for the picture being slightly out of focus but Stan likes to spend his money on great looking carpet not cameras. LOL


This one is of a Desert/Pastel.


Here is another shot of the Desert/Pastel above. I love this one; it has a very different look. I do not know what kind of Pastel he used in this cross but I am sure each different Pastel will add it’s own flavor to the mix.


This last one is of another Desert/Enchi (Tiger Ball).

(The photo above is of a Peter Kahl animal courtesy of Exotics By Nature) This photo I have to make no apologies for. Celia Chien takes some of the best photos out there. I have heard that her taste in carpet is not as refined as Stan’s but no one is perfect. LOL

I can’t wait to see what new cross are produced this year and I really hope there is going to be a killer looking Super.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and I think you will agree with me that this is a very exciting new Morph.

[Patrick Long]

i am at a loss of words

so amazing as to where this hobby is gone, and will continue to go

[Mikkla]

How much are they? I take two!

I would be worth the trip from Sweden just to see one of that combos!

[bait4snake]

It looks pretty nice on its own, but it'll most likely be the next big thing with crosses (especially with what it did to the Spider mutation... wow!)

[BChambers]

Albey-those are ALL awesome, particularly the "Tiger" and "desert Pastel".

But I have a question. How did you guys mistake them for Desert Ghost initially? To me at least, they don't look a thing like them.....

[starmom]

Albey, these are great pictures!
Are you saying that the desert is a WC, originally and not a morph? Wow! I guess they haven't really hit 'the market' yet, given that there are just the two lines right now. They don't look hypomelanistic in the pictures you posted; do they look that way 'in real life'?
Cool herp. Thanks for the education!

[Halfdawg]

Those look awsome. I really like them.

Richard

[Custom Exotics]

But I have a question. How did you guys mistake them for Desert Ghost initially? To me at least, they don't look a thing like them.....

It was Stan Chiras and Peter Kahl who mistook the Desert Ball for the Ghost version, but to there defense, they mistook the original WC ball's for the Desert Ghost, and I am sure that the look of the Desert Ball has changed quite a bit from the original WC animal, and if we saw the original WC's picture we would understand the mistaken identity.

Are you saying that the desert is a WC, originally and not a morph? Wow!

Yes, the original Desert Ball was a couple of WC specimens, one purchased by Peter Kahl and one purchased by Stan Chiras, so if we could just get our hands on some fundy WC's there is not telling what we could produce.

[Albey]

Albey-those are ALL awesome, particularly the "Tiger" and "desert Pastel".

But I have a question. How did you guys mistake them for Desert Ghost initially? To me at least, they don't look a thing like them.....

First off I wish I could lay claim to having had something to do with these but I just purchased one. LOL These two pictures were just taken tonight of the Female I purchased from Stan.




She is presently at 500 grams and you can see the pattern on her looks very much like the pattern on a Desert Ghost. Take into consideration that the photos that were sent from Africa of the original animals to Stan and Peter would have been nowhere as clear as these and you can see where the confusion could have been.

[jknudson]

For the smokin' combos they produce the Desert themselves look relatively "normal"... Its VERY cool what subtle morphs like this can unlock! Best of luck with her Albey!