What in the world is going on here?

[Shadera]

I'm not usually the type to ask 'OMG wut do I have?', but this animal is just so unusual. I try to stay away from the big chain pet stores, but I needed a couple wheels today for some new ASF colony setups and a good friend of mine was working so I stopped in at our local pet store. I browsed the critters as I usually do, then stopped to peek at the BPs. They had the usual little CH babies, then 2 in another tank labeled adults that were quite a bit bigger and looked very similar. I pulled this one out to look it over, and can't get over how dark it is. There's also quite a bit of burn scarring in places so I assume it's WC. I couldn't help it, I brought it home.

But. What IS it? Is it something special, or just an extra-crispy normal? The darkness is pretty even, the alien heads are outlined in a faint gold along with the back markings, and the belly is pretty clear. Very little yellow/brown pigment at all. The eyes are jet black (no visible pupil that I could see), and there is a head spot and faint pattern.

He/she has an appointment with my vet as soon as I can get a fecal sample for parasite testing, and I have it quietly sitting in a quarantine tub treated with PAM.











Thoughts?

[PigsnPythons]

I'm awful at stuff like that, but it IS different looking. I'm glad that you could give it a good home and still keep your other snakes safe from any "special friends" that it may carry with it. Hopefully the vet goes well and you have a really cool dinker project!

[Oxylepy]

Breed him off to some dark female and see what you get. Maybe you got a morph He's very pretty, I'd love to see what he does to his offspring's patterns.

[Shadera]

I just probed and weighed it. I've got a 555 gram female. And her name is going to be Crispy.

My big concern with the vet is going to be lung sounds and breathing. With being burned, I am definitely concerned that there was some smoke or flame inhalation. I hope there's no permanent damage. You can see some of the scarring on the right side of the neck, just past the head. Especially in that first picture. They don't look overly fresh, but I don't know how old they are either.

I just find it so hard to believe I might have picked up something special at a pet store of all places. Those CHs and WCs are usually pretty picked through by the time they get to that point.

[BallPythons9]

Looks like an IMG to me. Not sure though.

[Melicious]

She's definitely got some character in her face. I'd love to see what she might throw if given the chance. -Grins.-

It's so great to see people like yourself who are willing to rescue animals like Crispy. Mad props to you.

[Shadera]

It's so great to see people like yourself who are willing to rescue animals like Crispy. Mad props to you.

Tell that to my husband. He doesn't even know she's here yet.

[LadyOhh]

I am leaning towards the fact that the scars are there being the reason for her coloration.

Scars tend to be very dark and black, and stress can contribute to color change as well.

She's very pretty though.

Lets hope she perks up for you!

[Shadera]

Excellent, thank you H. That was what I was wondering. Whether the stress or scars themselves could cause the color change similar to how hormones can cause a glow during breeding season. I just didn't know whether ball pythons had that capability.

Whatever Crispy is she's in a good, safe home now where she'll get any extra care she needs.

[MarkS]

I agree with Heather on this one. In addition, there is a condition that happens sometimes where the snake will lose all or most of it's yellow pigment during a shed cycle. The yellow does eventually come back but is usually accompanied by an overall darkening of the animal. These animals are usually termed IMG for Increasing melanin gene. Personally I think that's a terribly misleading term because I really doubt that there are any genes involved in the color change.