Thoughts on this male I THINK HE IS REALLY WEIRD!

I saw this guy in a local pet store about a year ago and for what ever reason passed him up but thought about him every so often. I went in there the other day and saw he was back the owner said a woman had bought him for there daughter who was doing really well with him until she started falling in love with the mice:(. He was returned really skinny but is putting weight on quickly. His pattern is so amazing to me but I haven't seen anything else like it. I've been given 2 opinions 1 being an IMG the other a reverse paradox. The IMG look more uniform to me and I can't find any pics of a reverse paradox.
So what's your opinions on him?

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06449.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06451.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06461.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06463.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06472.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06464.jpg
Thanks for looking!

In my opinion he looks like an busy patterned normal. But i hate to see when snakes go underfed. I give you props for taking the time to basically rescue him.

Looks like a fantastic wild type. He really has a great pattern! Good luck with him- its nice seeing a needy snake going to good hands:D

The weirdness I'm referring to is how he will be normal in one spot and then pure yellow/orange in another. Thanks he loves to eat he takes frozen with no problem so he never should have gone with out food!

I see what you mean about his color. In some areas he's brown and then it is suddenly lighter, then darker again. All of my normals are fairly uniform in color when it comes to their side pattern. Sometimes the back spots are lighter, but the side pattern is always the same color from neck to tail. He may be worth breeding to find out if he passes it on. I'd try to find a female similar to him or pair him up with a pastel or fire.

He's definitely a cool looking snake! :gj: Maybe it was fate that he came back to the store and you were able to get him! :O:D

Could the color difference be caused by a bad shed? I have had some that did that when I first got them and their shed was poor.... Just a thought....

No he shed perfectly as I said in the little story he looked like this as a baby but I passed him up then... he was different enough to stay on my mind for a good year. Guess I'll just have to play around with him.

Here are some closer shots and a few belly pics

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06475.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06477.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06479.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06482.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06486.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06487.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06488.jpg

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/DSC06490.jpg

Thanks!

He's really cool looking, and kudos for taking him :) He looks almost like a less extreme version of what Markus Jayne has called a Dirty Mary:
http://www.ballpython.ca/images/coll...rty-mary-L.jpg The only difference I'm seeing is the head color, but he's still awesome looking!

He's probably a normal, but I don't think I've ever seen one that grainy. Good luck with him-- I'm glad he has someone to feed him now!

To me it looks like there is something different going on with that snake. The areas of decreased pigmentation are following a pattern of being most pronounced on the dorsal surface. I can't think of any sort of an injury that would restrict effects to an area like that and only affect the brown/yellow area and not the black. It's like the opposite of how the white comes up from the bottom of a calico, and the pigment isn't totally suppressed, but just a lighter shade.

It would be cool to try to prove that snake out. As a recessive or a dominant it would be neat but not earth shattering. But if that is genetic and a codom, the super may well be spectacular.

He is really different! I saw him as a hatchling in the store a year ago and he had the same coloring so I know it's not diet or injury. I didn't buy him then but he was so different I thought about him from time to time and then to my surprise he was there again. Some of his reduced spots even have orange and white scales mixed in he is amazing looking in person. I'm gonna play around with him a little and see what happens.

I Would think yellowbelly but his belly doesn't match up. He's awesome though.

I see the uniqueness you're talking about. And I'd be willing to bet the pictures aren't doing it justice...that it's far more pronounced in person. However, when you have a "normal" snake with no history, it's almost impossible to put a morph-name on the unusual markings just because they're unusual. The only way to know for sure is to breed him and see if the trait passes in a predictable manner. If it does...then you have to figure out if you have a new morph, or if it matches one already being worked with by someone else. ;)

Good luck with him! Regardless of his genetics, I'm glad he's found his way into a good home!

TBH, he merely looks to me like he is an older snake that has been underfed for his entire life.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

TBH, he merely looks to me like he is an older snake that has been underfed for his entire life.

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Except...according to the story, he's only a year old, and looked just like that as a hatchling, too.

Thanks Judy for reading the story :D! He looked great as a hatchling weight wise but was very skinny when I got him two weeks ago but in this short amount of time he has put on a significant amount of weight and is really starting to fill out. I know he is just a "normal" but I just like to see others opinions and see if there is any other snakes similar to him floating around.

To bad he is a male also, my Zuni has something similar going on but its nearly all in his tail. I can't put the picture up now unfortunitly but here is a link to my facebook picture of him with my baby pastel in front. Not as nice as in rl but shows it well none the less.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=1&theater

Well, he's definitely different!

I would totally breed him out, then cross one of his babies back to him. It would take a long time, but imagine if he proved genetic and not just a fluke.

Gale

Beautiful snake! I have very little knowledge of morph patterns but those pics are nice! Thanks for posting them :)

I would say he's probably just a neat normal :) But it never hurts to try to prove them out. I've seen others have the weird color blotching that was just a fluke but you never know. Good job in taking him in!