This thread is for the discussion of any facts or opinions about the presence of red pigment in ball pythons. It is commonly accepted that ball pythons only have the ability to produce varying degrees of melanin and xanthaphores, but what do you know about red pigment in balls?
Here is a scale I made that shows the possible color combinations that can be made from only melanin and xanthaphores. A lot of the cinnamon, burgundy, orange, lavenders, etc., are not shown in the 2 color scale.
This is a scale that uses a max of 25% red and 25% black pigments. It is very limited, and does not nearly show all the possible combinations of only melanin and erythriphores, but it does seem to show some of the colors that can be seen in morphs like the snow, queen bee, soul-sucker, woma/lesser/pastel, LA, spider, etc., that can't be found in the above scale.
Finally is a scale that lays the 25% red scale over the complete black and yellow scale. This also only shows a fraction of the possibilities of the 3-color combinations, but it shows a lot more of the cinnamon and orange colors found in many ball pythons. There's the burnt orange found in ringers and pieds, the cinnamon's and burgundy's colors, the bright oranges seen in albino clowns, etc.
So what's going on? Let's see some data and hear some opinions.
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