Is my Sugar actually a Calico

[lunasjy]

I am trying to sell my Sugar ball python but people keep telling me it is a Calico. I have always been told that Calicos and Sugars were the same thing. I saw my female Sugar's brother who is also a sugar and he was high white. I thought sugars and calicos both could be either high or low white. So I was trying to sell her at $200, but I bought her for $225. Should I lower my asking price?

[MS2]

People say they are the same, like lesser and butter. Others say they are different. I personally think calico and sugar are different in appearance. To me yours looks like a calico. And yes they can very with the amount of white. Also with the amount of white they can pass on to their offspring.

[AllieKin]

If you bought it from a trustworthy breeder, it is probably what the breeder said it was at the time you purchased it. If not... I really don't know the difference between sugar and calico, so I'm not much help.

[BrianDallek]

From my understanding they are two lines of the same thing. Sugars are the "better" line, but within each there are great examples and low expressing examples. I find that sugars tend to have a black ridge along their back like yours does. If you were to show me that picture the first thing that pops into my head is sugar not calico so I think you got yourself a sugar and a nice looking one at that.

[MarkS]

I'm one of those who's opinion is that they're the same mutation. I see this as the whole lesser VS butter issue or the Phantom VS Mystic issue all over again. It used to be for a time that butters were more expensive than lessers so naturally those who had butters were the ones claiming that they were a completely different mutation. From my viewpoint, that looks to be the same thing that is happening to the calico VS sugar debate with sugars currently being the more desirable of the two. Remember that the normal you breed it to is just as important as the morph itself. When I breed my lesser to certain normal females, they look like classic lessers. When I breed him to other normal females the offspring look like classic butters. I suspect that the same thing will happen with the calico vs sugar question.

[h00blah]

I'm one of those who's opinion is that they're the same mutation. I see this as the whole lesser VS butter issue or the Phantom VS Mystic issue all over again. It used to be for a time that butters were more expensive than lessers so naturally those who had butters were the ones claiming that they were a completely different mutation. From my viewpoint, that looks to be the same thing that is happening to the calico VS sugar debate with sugars currently being the more desirable of the two. Remember that the normal you breed it to is just as important as the morph itself. When I breed my lesser to certain normal females, they look like classic lessers. When I breed him to other normal females the offspring look like classic butters. I suspect that the same thing will happen with the calico vs sugar question.

I think it comes down to quality, and what to expect from each morph.

There are calicos that look like sugars, and vice versa. However, if you know what to look for, you can avoid getting fooled by folks who want to change names based on the market which confuses the community and muddies the market with now poor quality versions of the morph you're trying to buy.

For sugars, they tend to have thick black backs with blushing. They should have wide empty alien heads along the side of the body, and typically a good amount of white. I find their coloration to be less intensely orange than good Calicos, and will be more brown. Here are some examples of what I believe are quality Sugars and Sugar combos:

Classic Sugar:
http://www.worldofballpythons.com/aj...&image_id=4326

Pastel Sugar:
http://pythonregius.com/images/produ...lSugar1484.jpg

Enchi Sugar:
http://www.worldofballpythons.com/aj...&image_id=6088

And Calicos don't necessarily have black-backs. They can have normal patterns, but a good Calico is closer to orange than brown. Typically a Calico will also have a banded pattern, not so much a black-back, fat alien head pattern like Sugars. I've seen MORE low-white Calicos than low-white Sugars, but they can both produce a variable amount of white (similar to how pieds produce low and high whites). Here are some examples of what I believe are quality Calicos and Calico combos:

Classic Calico:
http://www.worldofballpythons.com/aj...e&image_id=993

Pastel Calico:
http://www.worldofballpythons.com/aj...e&image_id=595

Enchi Calico:
http://www.jwreptiles.com/uploads/8/...83652_orig.jpg

I went with Calico simply because I found one I liked for what my plans were for. Here's my Calico as a baby:



Here are some babies she produced:
Calico:


Enchi Calico:


Enchi Calico Spider:


Now.... with all that said!......

I think you got yourself a Sugar ....

[TheSnakeEye]

It's a Calico and Sugar all at the same time.

[Solarsoldier001]

I think you have a sugar


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[BCS]

Sugars and calicos seem to be one of those debates... have the butter and less debate even been settled

[lunasjy]

Wow, it is quite the debate, but if I was to go with the low amount of white, she would then be a calico but she definitely has the black back, so then she's a sugar?

Here is another few pictures of her.



Im not sure if you can see it, but she also has a pinkish orange tail where the white should be. I am not sure what that means.



People keep telling me she is calico because a sugar should look like a super version of the calico and mine is too low white to be a sugar. She is also 100% het for hypo even though that does not really matter in what she looks like but I figured it would up her selling point, but that turns out to not be the case. People seem to want their high whites. I will continue to call her a sugar. I bought her from a pretty reputable breeder in Calgary.