Orangebelly Color Change

[Slowcountry Balls]

So this is going to be a long post with lots of pictures. I am trying to cover 2 seasons of breeding with some very unique results. Last year, 1 of the Orangebelly males that I produced in 2012 underwent a really cool color change, going almost Axanthic, then turning very dark. I thought it was a unique, random occurrence, until a female Orangebelly that I produced last year began the same change. I am posting this looking for any help that others may be able to give.

It started when I purchased a 2009 male Orangebelly from Adam Chesla at the November 2010 Repticon in Columbia, South Carolina. I purchased this animal because Adam told me about the Graphite Ivories that the Orangebelly line sometimes produces and because this male Orangebelly looked really cool. You can see this male here:

Or at World of Ball Pythons (http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/orange-belly/).

In the 2011-2012 season, he sired 3 clutches that produced 4 male Orangebellies and a female Pastel Orangebelly. All of his Orangebelly sons looked similar to him, but not quite the same. Here are 2 pictures of the 2 sibling male Orangebellies:
2012 Clutch 6 Male 1

2012 Clutch 6 Male 3



For the first year and a half, I did not notice anything unique about any of the siblings. I traded 1 to a friend. Then, when getting ready for the March 2014 Savannah, Georgia Repticon show, I noticed that 1 of the 2012 Clutch 6 males was getting lighter. Here is a picture that shows the difference (the male that is getting lighter is 2012 Clutch 6 Male 3 in the middle of his Orangebelly brother and Orangebelly half brother).


In May of 2014, I took some more pictures to see how his color had changed.


Shown with his 2012 half sibling Orangebelly brother (1 of the 2 normal looking Orangebellies in the previous comparison picture).


Then in June, I noticed that he was getting darker (shown with his father on top and 2012 half brother Orangebelly brother):


Here is another picture of the same 3 snakes from July 2014:


Here is what he looks like now (pictures are from August 2014)





As I said, I thought this was a random occurrance, until a 2013 female Orangebelly started to go through a similar change. She is still in the lightening up phase. I expect that she will darken up like her older half brother.

Here is her in August 2014:



And here she is on Saturday, November 29, 2014:




And here are 2 pictures of the 2012 "normal" Orangebelly, 2012 "Weirdo" Orangebelly, and the 2013 "Weirdette" Orangebelly:



Well, I look forward to hearing what you guys think. Obviously I have a new project on my hands. Any help would be appreciated.