Which morphs get better with age?

So I have been back in the snake hobby for a short while now after having not had a snake in over 15 years.

A lot has changed, and notably, the morphs are just insane compared to the late 90s early 2000s. I'm still pretty new when it comes to morphs, so any info will help.

I plan to add a few new BPs over time, but have such a hard time deciding which morphs I like best. I know that ultimately it's my snake, so pick what I like, but man there's so many I like.

So I'm thinking maybe some morphs that typically age well might help me to narrow it down.

So what morphs are known to age well?
What morphs are notorious for not aging well?


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Desert ghost. And enchi. And fire Age extremely well. Most pastel age poorly as do most axanthic

If we are talking about averages...

Lavender Albino and Hypo get better. Other genes I think it depends on taste. For example ... I have two lines of both Phantom and Mojave. In both cases one tends to get darker and the other fades. I pick which line depending on what I am trying to make. I like the way Lessers age. Enchis change also but I like the changes. When you buy a morph, if possible ask to see the parents. This way you have some idea of what your purchase will look like as an adult.

Pastels often disappoint.

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Originally Posted by StillBP

Desert ghost. And enchi. And fire Age extremely well. Most pastel age poorly as do most axanthic

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LOL. You just made me think. I missed Fire. Special looks nice as well.

What do you mean by aging well? I can't answer because all I have at the moment is a lesser, a pastel, and lesser pastels. I can tell you lessers start with bright yellows and crisp blacks with some nice background fading. Over time the entire snake becomes lighter until it's all a nice caramel/sandy color.

Ball pythons morphs will get lighter, darker, or stay roughly the same. Which are you looking for?

Thanks for the quick replies.

I guess to elaborate a bit on what I'm asking I would say that aging well would be holding it's colors and contrast. Not fading out too much and looks the most similar as an adult to what it looked like as a juvenile.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Thanks for the quick replies.

I guess to elaborate a bit on what I'm asking I would say that aging well would be holding it's colors and contrast. Not fading out too much and looks the most similar as an adult to what it looked like as a juvenile.

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Ahhh... Looking the same. LOL. Just about none at least as far as single gene goes. They all change to some degree. It is a matter of what you want the final product to be. The BEL supers and ALS pretty much stay the same once they get out of the "fresh out of the egg phase". BEL enchi combos stay pretty close. My killer bee looks the same as the day I brought her home as a hatchling. She is three now.

Fires don't really seem to have a dramatic shift, I've heard Enchis don't change much. Fire Enchis look pretty good both young and old, seeming to stay close to true to the original snake.

Other than that I'm not sure.

What about pied? I think the brown darkens, but the white stays bright, doesn't it?


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Anything with Hypo, fire, YB, OD will generally age better, some enchi combos age well as well while some get very muddy depending on what the combo is.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Anything with Hypo, fire, YB, OD will generally age better, some enchi combos age well as well while some get very muddy depending on what the combo is.

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As always, thanks Deborah. Random side question: what does hidden gene woma do?

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

As always, thanks Deborah. Random side question: what does hidden gene woma do?

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I have no idea how they age on their own or in combos I don't work with those, I am busy enough with what I have lol

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

As always, thanks Deborah. Random side question: what does hidden gene woma do?

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From what I've seen HGW tends to hold flaming and contrast pretty well, while the brightness of the colors fade a bit. This is just an observation of others snakes though, I don't own HGW personally though it's definitely on my list. The breeder HGW yellowbellies and HGW fires I've had the privilege of seeing in person have all been very attractive for their size/age, imo. But there is high and low quality to everything.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Anything with ... fire, YB, OD will generally age better

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I will agree that combos with these morphs tend to age well but the single genes of each are not terribly impressive as they age. And if you can get a combo with all three of those morphs... WOW!

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

As always, thanks Deborah. Random side question: what does hidden gene woma do?

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I have an inferno female that surprises me with each shed, she looks just as good if not better than when I got her. In all fairness she is only 400 grams though so it's too early to say for sure but I have definitely seen other morphs going down hill by this size so she's off to a good start, only time will tell if she holds this pretty into adulthood. As for hgw by itself, I have no experience with it.

Others that have held color well for me are:
enchi pastel 900g
killerbee 800g
nuclear enchi 1000g
bumble belly 1800g
pastel desert ghost 1100g by far my favorite! After each shed she looks just as clean and bright as ever! Desert ghost is an amazing morph, in combo it will make any other morph look amazing. I can't believe more people aren't working with it. I have big plans for this girl.

I've been very lucky with all my choices so far, I've only had a couple dull with age so far but I still have quite a few that are too young to tell but I have high hopes because most combos that are still growing out have fire, enchi and OD in the mix so I think my odds are good.

Normal

So rare that it should be a morph now, right?...

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Originally Posted by ringorock

Normal

So rare that it should be a morph now, right?...

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Yup, normals pretty much stay the same. A good normal is still worth as much to me as most single gene animals. People often forget that there are two genes passed to offspring. If one of those genes is actually the "normal" version, it is just as important as the "morph".

Leopards don't really change much as they age, just a nice dark snake with a bright pattern. GHIs too.

I think in combos vanilla has been a sort of underrated gene, or at least I don't hear much about it very often. My pastel vanilla girl is getting close to 800g and still super bright yellow. I always think she's starting to brown out when she gets close to a shed cycle, but then as soon as she's shed BAM! Glowing bright beautiful snake.

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

Leopards don't really change much as they age, just a nice dark snake with a bright pattern. GHIs too.

I think in combos vanilla has been a sort of underrated gene, or at least I don't hear much about it very often. My pastel vanilla girl is getting close to 800g and still super bright yellow. I always think she's starting to brown out when she gets close to a shed cycle, but then as soon as she's shed BAM! Glowing bright beautiful snake.

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I've been patiently waiting to read a reply like this about vanillas. My boy Tyson is a vanilla het pied. He's just barely pushing 300 grams still, but man, he looks better with each shed. His colors seem to pop a little more with each shed and his blushing just seems to get prettier.
But maybe I'm a bit biased? :P

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I have no idea how they age on their own or in combos I don't work with those, I am busy enough with what I have lol

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I should have worded my question better. I appreciate your answer and would have asked about how they age as a follow-up question.

But what I was curious about is the gene itself. What does hidden gene woma do to the colors/patterns of the BP? And why is it called "hidden gene" woma?

I don't think so, because I noticed the same thing with Bean. She gets brighter and more blushed out as she gets bigger. I think Vanilla is under rated because the single gene isn't terribly showy like some other morphs.

My understanding is fire and vanilla are very similar too. So if fire stands up well I would think vanilla does too?