help a noobie under stand

Would some one explain terms like ringer, high gold, clear belly, and why balls with these cost so much more? Thanks for any info.

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Originally Posted by WeoStan

ringer

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A ball python with a discoloratioin that forms a ring or semi-ring of varying width around the vent area of the snake. Seems to be a trait that is only randomly reproducible.

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Originally Posted by WeoStan

high gold

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A snake with a higher than average amount of yellow/gold coloration. Some high golds are genetic, others are not.

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Originally Posted by WeoStan

clear belly

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A ball python with no pattern on the 3 wide belly scales.

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Originally Posted by WeoStan

and why balls with these cost so much more?

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Basically because some people have a personal preference for these traits over normals. They are cheaper than a morph but more expensive than a normal. It's kind of a way to have a "wanna be morph" without spending morph money. ;)

-adam

high golds are normal ball pythons that have yellow insread of brown they normally outgrow this as they mature. a ringer is like a piebald except with only really small amounts of white

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Originally Posted by BPythonguy

a ringer is like a piebald except with only really small amounts of white

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and is isolated to a ring around the tail AND is not genetic ... LOL ... maybe not quite like a pied ... or at least, not like this pied ;)

http://www.8ballpythons.com/uploads/pied-1.jpg

-adam

heres a good site that tells the difference between the two.

Show off, lol.

Yeah, if genetic morphs are a little out of your price range, these will do nicely. When I first got into buying "pick of the litter" ball pythons, I spent about a half hour going through about 50 hatchlings at a local snake shop (Great Valley Serpentarium). I got high orange and high yellow snakes with JET BLACK patterns... the orange ones turned brown (with orange near the belly) and the yellows are still very yellow with what looks like pepper all over them, like eggs, hahaha. The black is still very black though, and this year it's being crossed into my Albino line.

Here's a "mega" ringer by comparison:

http://newenglandreptile.com/forumpics/megaringer.jpg

See how the rest of the snake is "normal" in pattern, as opposed to the aberrant pattern of the pied (i.e. stripes & blotches instead of regular BP pattern in the dark patches)?

Thanks, i had someone in a pet store telling me that a clear belly was a marker for het. piebald. Are there any true markers?

Some think so, some don't. Adam, Randy... care to argue? lol

If it's a pet store selling "Het Piebalds", they're full of crap.

Thats what i thought, too.. So i bought a pair of het. albinos from Peter Kahl.

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Originally Posted by WeoStan

Are there any true markers?

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The true answer to that question is NO. There are lots of things that people "suspect" to be markers, but NO ONE has ever proven anything as a dead solid 100% guaranteed marker.

I promise you that NO ONE can argue with that. ;)

-adam

I knew I could count on you!
Most Piebalds are related, so there might be a "common" look to them, like what they call the marker. Kind of like in my family, most of us have the same hair and nose, except a few of us. That doesn't mean we don't have the same blood; it just means some of us have different features.

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Originally Posted by bait4snake

I knew I could count on you!
Most Piebalds are related, so there might be a "common" look to them, like what they call the marker. Kind of like in my family, most of us have the same hair and nose, except a few of us. That doesn't mean we don't have the same blood; it just means some of us have different features.

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Not true. There is a nice size group of unrelated, seperately imported, wild caught pieds in the US. There is no evidence to suggest that these animals are directly related ... it's possible, but no one can say for sure.

If there was a reliable marker, we would know by now. The big pied producers have tried and tried and have not been able to prove anything with any degree of certainty.

I'm not talking speculation or posts on the internet here, I actually talk to the biggest producers of pieds in the world ... there are no markers that have been proven 100% ... Pick up the phone and make some calls, see for yourself.

And you're right, you can always count on me to tell the truth ... I don't deal in speculation or myth, I deal in facts ... and as of this moment, the FACT is that after 8+ years of het pieds being produced, NO ONE has yet found a reliable and consistent "marker" .... FACT.

-adam

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Originally Posted by KLG

Here's a "mega" ringer by comparison:

http://newenglandreptile.com/forumpics/megaringer.jpg

See how the rest of the snake is "normal" in pattern, as opposed to the aberrant pattern of the pied (i.e. stripes & blotches instead of regular BP pattern in the dark patches)?

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HOLY COW!!! Now that's a Ringer!!!

My little rescue ball has some graying spots near it's vent and up along the side of it's body. with each shed it gets a little whiter... I would say 2 more sheds and it will be visiable in photos.
I know it is just a normal but it looks cool. :)