Color Blind

[ster36]

Are Ball's color blind? The reason I ask is that some internet articles suggest they are to a point and some say they are not. I wonder because if I have a red shirt on or somebody else does my ball heads right for it. Any other color he does not care.

[stevepoppers]

I've heard they can be picky about the color of their food. Though that could just be because of light/dark, not actual color...

Why is medical information on ball pythons so sparse? Does no one know about the cone/rod distribution on their retinas?

[Tyler_Royality]

I need to find the source ive read this in. but they are color blind. they see shades of grey and depth. I think they may be able to see browns. but its mainly just contrasts.. its this way in almost all snake species if I remember correctly. ill look for the source later tonight,.

[iCandiBallPythons]

http://pet-snakes.com/pet-snakes-sees

[stevepoppers]

Hmmm. I see some errors in that article, at least as it applies to P. reguis.

-I read here that they can see ultraviolet light, which rat urine reflects. A UV filter over their eyes makes that impossible.
-They definitely can move their eyes. I've seen it and heard it from members here.

What is that cool axanthic looking thing with the blue tongue? Oh, a red-tail. Sweeet. I love the gray ones.

So those errors are either facts that are more sweeping than they're entitled to be, or the author is just plain misinformed. To be honest, doubt is cast over the whole thing because of them.

[Tyler_Royality]

http://www.anapsid.org/sight.html

Here is one peice of decent information. The sources look like they are credible from other studys. When I did my research on this I found a more indepth study log.. stating pretty much the same thing, the colors they do see are not robust, they are more in shades/hues.

I hope this helps you guys. but I really wish I could find that other study log, Im fairly certain it was from a university that had a herpetology department and they went into detail about how little color most snakes see. but I do remember it stating there are certain species that have superb vision and can see a broader color spectrum then others.

[mrmertz]

-They definitely can move their eyes. I've seen it and heard it from members here.

And I'm one of 'em!

With the RTB and BP, hard to tell as their eyes are so dark. But with the blood and boa - definately! Especially Mr. Biggs, since his eyes are the largest it's easy to catch his eye movements.

I agree - any article which suggest that snakes are incapable of eye movement kinda makes the entire content rather void in my book.

[Oxylepy]

I see my snakes move their eyes all the time. Its easy to tell because under the clear scale there is clearly a whitish fleshy section, if their eye is turned one way you can see a small crescent moon of this whitish flesh, then I can watch it move from being obvious to being gone and looking them closer to in the eye.

[stevepoppers]

Tbh, that anapsid site is very sketchy as well.

[Tyler_Royality]

Tbh, that anapsid site is very sketchy as well.

Atleast it is cited tho. with some very credible sources mind you.