Is the world of ball pythons too morph-centric?

Is the world of ball pythons too morph-centric?

What do you think?

What You referring to.. Community of ball python keepers or worldofballpythons.com ??

I would say yes! I love all of the morphs, but their are to many people playing god and screwing with genetics. I personally think the normal BP's are as good as they get!

Just my thoughts.

i will say NO i bet you if there were not as many color mutations there would not be as many ball pythons owned by individuals

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Originally Posted by spiderz

i will say NO i bet you if there were not as many color mutations there would not be as many ball pythons owned by individuals

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so true.

i voted no.

same with corn snakes,
without morphs, the hobby would have stayed burried and tucked away from
the masses.

I vote no. I look forward to each "world's first" morph introduced. It's quite exciting. There aren't too many different types of animals that have such variety and potential as Ball Pythons have. I think it's just amazing.

keep them coming..

I agree no. Normals To me are Just eh. I only got into balls from the sight of a BEL. So yeah morphs for me please.

While they are all beautiful in their own way I don't think the hobby crazy would be what it is without morphs.
It's the same in most other hobbys involving animals, fish, birds, dogs, cats, you name it, if there was only one standard color of cat or dog I doubt they would be where they are either.

I think there should be more focus on high quality animals rather than just the morph itself. People get ugly pastels they don't even like and breed them to ugly normals, all for the sake of getting that morph for as little money as possible, and worse, I know a few people who buy/rescue unhealthy/kinked/deformed animals and knowingly use them in their breedings... Frustrates me. End up with slugs and sick babies, that they just sell off to unsuspecting new breeders, who end up using those bad genes because they don't know that is in the line. I've tried to talk to them, but it's money to them so they don't care.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy morphs. But sometimes I feel like more people should focus on improving the quality of not only the morph, but the species. Get the healthiest, nicest looking clowns, breed higher and higher quality animals, instead of just focusing on stacking 6+ morphs of average quality onto each other for a powerhouse of average genetics.

Now there are some people who do focus on the good quality animals, and who only breed what they feel is right to breed, and try to create the nicest possible animals, but when I go to shows and I look at what is being sold around me, I see a lot of people who really only see a list of the morphs in the animal rather than just the animal itself. I have seen several axanthics, cinnamons, yellow bellies, spotnoses, pastels, and mixes of all these morphs that honestly look worse off than a normal, less natural contrast, odd problems with the babies, and just plain looking in general--I would have called them boring normals if I had not seen the label. But say someone had that snake you would normally ignore, but it was labeled as a 3 gene animal, half the people at that show would be drooling over it. I guarantee it.

But again--I like morphs, I like new combos, and I know most people at this forum are good with their animals, but I also like to try to appreciate the animal without just seeing it for the morph and the money--for this reason I'll talk to people who like snakes but have no idea what the morphs are, they just know what looks pretty to them. Sometimes it's surprising, as I almost fell into that morph mania myself when I first got into ball pythons. I would see an animal as nothing but breeding potential, instead of just a cool looking snake. Had to slap myself!

It does bug me when people try and try to create something that is constantly proven to be a fatal gene. I saw this with boas too, and it was sad when a few of the babies would make it out of the egg, only to die in less than a year. Even if you did get it to live..there is clearly something WRONG with that genetic combo.. Only will end up with a sick snake. :(


As long as health comes first, and money comes last, I'm all for morphs. Sure it's great to be the first of some new combo(I know I drool over them), but we need do it responsibly! :colbert:

i agree with purp and kymberli got some good genes going on too

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Originally Posted by purplemuffin

I think there should be more focus on high quality animals rather than just the morph itself. People get ugly pastels they don't even like and breed them to ugly normals, all for the sake of getting that morph for as little money as possible, and worse, I know a few people who buy/rescue unhealthy/kinked/deformed animals and knowingly use them in their breedings... Frustrates me. End up with slugs and sick babies, that they just sell off to unsuspecting new breeders, who end up using those bad genes because they don't know that is in the line. I've tried to talk to them, but it's money to them so they don't care.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy morphs. But sometimes I feel like more people should focus on improving the quality of not only the morph, but the species. Get the healthiest, nicest looking clowns, breed higher and higher quality animals, instead of just focusing on stacking 6+ morphs of average quality onto each other for a powerhouse of average genetics.

Now there are some people who do focus on the good quality animals, and who only breed what they feel is right to breed, and try to create the nicest possible animals, but when I go to shows and I look at what is being sold around me, I see a lot of people who really only see a list of the morphs in the animal rather than just the animal itself. I have seen several axanthics, cinnamons, yellow bellies, spotnoses, pastels, and mixes of all these morphs that honestly look worse off than a normal, less natural contrast, odd problems with the babies, and just plain looking in general--I would have called them boring normals if I had not seen the label. But say someone had that snake you would normally ignore, but it was labeled as a 3 gene animal, half the people at that show would be drooling over it. I guarantee it.

But again--I like morphs, I like new combos, and I know most people at this forum are good with their animals, but I also like to try to appreciate the animal without just seeing it for the morph and the money--for this reason I'll talk to people who like snakes but have no idea what the morphs are, they just know what looks pretty to them. Sometimes it's surprising, as I almost fell into that morph mania myself when I first got into ball pythons. I would see an animal as nothing but breeding potential, instead of just a cool looking snake. Had to slap myself!

It does bug me when people try and try to create something that is constantly proven to be a fatal gene. I saw this with boas too, and it was sad when a few of the babies would make it out of the egg, only to die in less than a year. Even if you did get it to live..there is clearly something WRONG with that genetic combo.. Only will end up with a sick snake. :(


As long as health comes first, and money comes last, I'm all for morphs. Sure it's great to be the first of some new combo(I know I drool over them), but we need do it responsibly! :colbert:

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x2 I really believe this. I got into the hobby first because I love the animals they are my pets too. I picked morphs that I found pleasing and that were good examples of their genetics. I hope to breed them make quality babies and also enjoy them. I remember the first spider I saw I was smitten. Then i went to a show and saw Mojaves and Lessers.... they just stole my heart. The patterns the colours. I think breeders can be scary like in the whole puppy mill situation.

I agree with Muffin as well.

Sure morphs are great, and who does love to see some unbelievable never-before-seen animal ?

BUT, just as when I used to breed cockatiels people only care about how fast they can produce the higher dollar animals. Who cares if half the babies die in egg or are deformed? Who cares if you perpetuate known genetic issues ? Who cares if your babies are small, weak, ugly and inbred if you can slap a high price tag on it just because it's a certain color ?

Take for example, the Albino cockatiel. Much like ball pythons, this morph is partially recessive. To make one, you need both parents to carry the gene known as Whiteface, which is much like Axanthic in balls. The Whiteface gene in cockatiels cancels out the colors yellow and orange. One parent must also carry the Lutino gene. Lutino in cockatiels is what we would call co-dominant in ball pythons. Lutino in cockatiels cancels out all grey, black and brown. When the two genes are combined, you get a solid white bird, kind of like a BEL in ball pythons. Now, while Whiteface in cockatiels usually did not carry any genetic flaws, Lutinos do. Something in the color gene itself makes the bird prone to baldness, they have fewer feathers on the backs of their heads. If indiscriminately bred, the baldness gets worse and worse, until eventually the offspring have no feathers from their eyes to their backs. It's very ugly, and really hard to get rid of once it's there. So, because Albinos carry the Lutino gene, they also carry the proneness to being bald.

My husband and I spent 7 long years breeding and outcrossing and breeding back to produce Albinos with no baldness whatsoever. It was a long and difficult road. As such our babies commanded very high prices. By the same token, someone we saw at the bird shows just put together whatever made the colors they wanted. Their birds were smaller than ours and had massive balding. At one show, a woman who wanted one of our Albinos tried repeatedly to talk us down on the price, claiming she could easily buy one from this other person for less than half what we were asking. I told her by all means to go ahead and buy one if that's what she wanted.

I wasn't really surprised when she returned an hour later to try and buy our Albino, which was in fact already sold. She asked to be put on a waiting list. When I asked her about the "cheap" Albino, she told me the bird was so small it looked more like a parakeet, and had a huge bald spot. She told me cheap or not, that just wasn't the kind of bird she wanted.

Enough of my rambling on. :oops: My point is, I think if you take your time and breed for quality instead of quantity, you will always find a market for your babies. No matter if they are simple Pastels or Coral Glow Banana Spider Pinstripe Enchi Calico Pieds.

Gale