The Desert Ball

Recently there was a post asking about the pricing on Stan Chiras’s Desert Ball. I am sure a lot of people here on the Forum are not familiar with this killer new Morph so here is a little information on them. I am also including some pictures of the one I own, some of Stan’s crosses, and one of a great looking Desert Enchi (Tiger Ball) that Peter Kahl produced. Here is a picture of my Desert just to get things started. I obtained it from Stan at the Daytona show this year.

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desert07_1_1.jpg

The Desert is a relatively new morph of Ball Python that presently has two lines. Both Stan Chiras and Peter Kahl have proven them and are presently working with them. This is the history of them as told to me by Stan.

Around 2001 Stan Chiras purchased his original Desert male as a yearling import. At the time of purchase it was assumed to be a Desert Ghost. When imported it was about 350 grams but grew quickly and bred the following year. It was bred to a Normal Female and the offspring were expected to be Normal looking Het Desert Ghost. Much to his surprise two of the babies looked just like the Father. Around this same time Peter Kahl imported a like animal that he also thought was a Desert Ghost. His Desert did the same thing as Stan’s. Stan and Peter compared their animals and determined that they were the same thing. Instead of being a Simple Recessive trait it appears to be Co-Dom. That should be proven this year, as both Stan and Peter will be breeding Desert-to-Desert trying to produce a Super. Hopefully it will not produce a White Snake. LOL

Next up we have some more pictures of my Desert. I love this snake.
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desert07_1_3.jpg

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desert07_1_2.jpg

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desert07_1_4.jpg

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desert07_1_5.jpg

Here are a few pictures of some of the crosses that have been done so far. I didn’t take these pictures, they are courtesy of Stan Chiras.

This one is of a Desert/Spider.
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...t_spider_1.jpg

Here is another one of the Desert/Spider.
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...tspiderf_1.jpg

This little piece of Eye Candy is a Desert/Enchi also known as a Tiger Ball. I apologize for the picture being slightly out of focus but Stan likes to spend his money on great looking carpet not cameras. LOL
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...igerball_1.jpg

This one is of a Desert/Pastel.
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...t_pastel_1.jpg

Here is another shot of the Desert/Pastel above. I love this one; it has a very different look. I do not know what kind of Pastel he used in this cross but I am sure each different Pastel will add it’s own flavor to the mix.
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desertsupast_1.jpg

This last one is of another Desert/Enchi (Tiger Ball).
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...hi_tiger_1.jpg
(The photo above is of a Peter Kahl animal courtesy of Exotics By Nature) This photo I have to make no apologies for. Celia Chien takes some of the best photos out there. I have heard that her taste in carpet is not as refined as Stan’s but no one is perfect. LOL

I can’t wait to see what new cross are produced this year and I really hope there is going to be a killer looking Super.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and I think you will agree with me that this is a very exciting new Morph.

i am at a loss of words

so amazing as to where this hobby is gone, and will continue to go

How much are they? I take two!

I would be worth the trip from Sweden just to see one of that combos!

It looks pretty nice on its own, but it'll most likely be the next big thing with crosses (especially with what it did to the Spider mutation... wow!)

Albey-those are ALL awesome, particularly the "Tiger" and "desert Pastel".

But I have a question. How did you guys mistake them for Desert Ghost initially? To me at least, they don't look a thing like them.....

Albey, these are great pictures!
Are you saying that the desert is a WC, originally and not a morph? Wow! I guess they haven't really hit 'the market' yet, given that there are just the two lines right now. They don't look hypomelanistic in the pictures you posted; do they look that way 'in real life'?
Cool herp. Thanks for the education!

Those look awsome. I really like them. :rolleye2:

Richard

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Originally Posted by BChambers

But I have a question. How did you guys mistake them for Desert Ghost initially? To me at least, they don't look a thing like them.....

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It was Stan Chiras and Peter Kahl who mistook the Desert Ball for the Ghost version, but to there defense, they mistook the original WC ball's for the Desert Ghost, and I am sure that the look of the Desert Ball has changed quite a bit from the original WC animal, and if we saw the original WC's picture we would understand the mistaken identity.

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Originally Posted by starmom

Are you saying that the desert is a WC, originally and not a morph? Wow!

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Yes, the original Desert Ball was a couple of WC specimens, one purchased by Peter Kahl and one purchased by Stan Chiras, so if we could just get our hands on some fundy WC's there is not telling what we could produce. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BChambers

Albey-those are ALL awesome, particularly the "Tiger" and "desert Pastel".

But I have a question. How did you guys mistake them for Desert Ghost initially? To me at least, they don't look a thing like them.....

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First off I wish I could lay claim to having had something to do with these but I just purchased one. LOL These two pictures were just taken tonight of the Female I purchased from Stan.
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desert07_1_6.jpg

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desert07_1_7.jpg

She is presently at 500 grams and you can see the pattern on her looks very much like the pattern on a Desert Ghost. Take into consideration that the photos that were sent from Africa of the original animals to Stan and Peter would have been nowhere as clear as these and you can see where the confusion could have been.

For the smokin' combos they produce the Desert themselves look relatively "normal"... Its VERY cool what subtle morphs like this can unlock! Best of luck with her Albey!

How much is it?

Do you know if Stan Chiras has a website?

Thanks Richard

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Originally Posted by JBallPython

For the smokin' combos they produce the Desert themselves look relatively "normal"... Its VERY cool what subtle morphs like this can unlock! Best of luck with her Albey!

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Hi Jason,
When I think of relatively “normal” and “subtle morphs” I think of Fires and Vanillas. Just looking at the first five pictures you can see there is nothing subtle or normal about the Desert. They just scream intensity. Even my nicest Pastel’s are no match for the coloration on her. The second set of pictures where I tried to show the pattern that made Stan and Peter think they were Desert Ghost; I purposefully over exposed the pictures to emphasize the pattern. It didn’t hurt that she is getting ready to go into blue to emphasize the ghost appearance. That washed out her coloration even more. No doubt about it, these guys rock.

PS By the way, this is not a promotion for Desert Ball sales. My Female is only 500 grams and even if I used JASBALLS breeding schedule I would have to wait at least another two months to breed her. LOL Just funning with you John, You know I love ya.

Ah...my mistake...I was looking at the second set of photos. Thanks for clearing that up!:gj:

Albey, those look great. They all appear to have a real funky detached head pattern, is that typical of the morph? I remember seeing pictures of desert ghosts years ago and not being very impressed. I guess I haven't been paying attention because I didn't know that these were something completely different.

I remember Stan posting a pic of that desert enchi before but I don't think he explained what it was at the time. I've always wondered about that one.

Best of luck with those, they look like they will be the key to some really cool combos, actually it looks like they already are.

Mark

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Originally Posted by Halfdawg

Do you know if Stan Chiras has a website?

Thanks Richard

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None that I know of, but he advertises them over at Kingsnake occasionally.

Geez! Thanks Albey, just thanks! ANOTHER animal I want to add to my collection now - as if there weren't enough already!

She's SMOKING! Now I really need to get off my duff and come see you some time! :D

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Albey, those look great. They all appear to have a real funky detached head pattern, is that typical of the morph? I remember seeing pictures of desert ghosts years ago and not being very impressed. I guess I haven't been paying attention because I didn't know that these were something completely different.

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Yea Mark the head pattern is a little bit funky on them. I guess it is just one of the characteristics of the morph.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I remember Stan posting a pic of that desert enchi before but I don't think he explained what it was at the time. I've always wondered about that one.

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Stan is such a low key guy his stuff kind of flies under the radar. You would never know the guy has been one of the big boys for 30 plus years by the way he promotes himself. LOL

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Best of luck with those, they look like they will be the key to some really cool combos, actually it looks like they already are.

Mark

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Thanks Mark, I am really looking forward to what I will produce with her down the road.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Geez! Thanks Albey, just thanks! ANOTHER animal I want to add to my collection now - as if there weren't enough already!

She's SMOKING! Now I really need to get off my duff and come see you some time! :D

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I am just doing my part to stimulate the economy. LOL You know you are welcome at any time, just give me a call.:gj:

I love the spider one... beautiful!

I saw Peter's Enchi Desert in Daytona
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w.../Tigerball.jpg

It was definately:bow: worth taking a picture of. I can't wait to see if there is a super:gj:

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Originally Posted by Albey

This last one is of another Desert/Enchi (Tiger Ball).
http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...hi_tiger_1.jpg

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:gj: Just amazing, I'm loving this combo.

Even on its own the rich orange colors are something else, very nice thanks for sharing.

very very very, hot :gj::snake:

Those are some sweet snakes! A desert banana clown or desert caramel glow would be unreal!!!! :banana:

I've seen some of these advertised on ks and they just blow me away. For a subtle morph it's quite striking and I adore what they do to the spider. Positively amazing. Congrats on having one of your own to work with!

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Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle

I saw Peter's Enchi Desert in Daytona It was definately:bow: worth taking a picture of. I can't wait to see if there is a super:gj:

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by panthercz

Those are some sweet snakes! A desert banana clown or desert caramel glow would be unreal!!!! :banana:

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Entropy

I've seen some of these advertised on ks and they just blow me away. For a subtle morph it's quite striking and I adore what they do to the spider. Positively amazing. Congrats on having one of your own to work with!

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I bug Stan every now and then just to see what he is working on with them and in his last email he sent me this information quoted as sent.

“I've bred deserts into a lot of stuff for this year - each other,
pins, spyders, mojave, pieds, clown, yellowbelly, pastels, calico,
lesser, cinammons and a few more that don't come to mind right now so
fingers are crossed.”

I am really hoping the Super is something very cool. Already having a Female will put me way ahead of the game. If the Super is really fine I will buy a Male Desert. If the Super is no big deal or it proves to be a Dominant Morph, I am still way ahead because of all of the great crosses. By the time the Female is large enough to breed I should have a few Double and possibly some Triple Morph Males to breed to her. It is a win win situation.

Now that's http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...ythons/Hot.gif, I might have to re-think my plans now ;)

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http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...tspiderf_1.jpg

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...hi_tiger_1.jpg

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very nice!

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

Now that's http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...ythons/Hot.gif, I might have to re-think my plans now ;)

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Ummmmm.......... yea! What she said :D

Stunning creatures, and what amazing crosses! As for the super form, I don't know if you can get better than that... :gj:

i cant wait until these are in my price range i am going to make so many desert spiders!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by GA_Ball_Pythons

Now that's http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...ythons/Hot.gif, I might have to re-think my plans now ;)

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Couldn't agree more, I am loving the Desert Balls, Albey has some insane Ball Pythons, and I know we will here some great things coming from him with this Desert Ball in the years down the road.

P.S. Albey, I want to see the Desert in person next time, I don't know why I didn't get a look at that when I was there. :rolleye2:

I am in love with that desert/spider!! Gorgeous BP's!!!!:gj:

Very Nice!!!

Albey do you have any pics of other Deserts other than yours or crosses? Would like to see more.

Wow...Thank you for the pictures and the information

What an awesome looking morph, very nice how it cleans up the other ones when combined.

I saw these in person at the Daytona show and they were awesome! If I'd had a few more $$$ I would have picked one up. Great pickup Albey - I can't wait to see what you do with it.

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Originally Posted by BalloonzForU

Very Nice!!!

Albey do you have any pics of other Deserts other than yours or crosses? Would like to see more.

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I don’t have any more pictures of the Desert except this one that Stan took.

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images/desert_stan.jpg

Like I said earlier Stan kind of flies under the radar so nobody that took photographs at Daytona this year got any pictures of his stuff.

Here are three more pictures of the Desert/Enchi (Tiger Ball) that Celia Chien took.

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...hi_tiger_2.jpg

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...hi_tiger_4.jpg

http://www.albeysreptiles.com/images...hi_tiger_3.jpg
(The three photos above are of a Peter Kahl animal courtesy of Exotics By Nature)

God I love Celia’s pictures. The Desert/Enchi (Tiger Ball) isn’t too bad either. LOL

Congrats on that awsome addition Albey. Those snakes will make some awsome crosses in the future. I really wanted to get one of those this year, but I ran out of money. I can't wait to see what you do with that project.