Why so many morphs?

[rabernet]

Very Simple Answer... Ball Python's taste [BAD]!!! There are not too many animals where these little guys come from that really like to feed on them. They find full sized and sub adult morphs all the time in the wild... Albinos, Pieds, Pastels, etc etc. This means that any mutation or freak gene that comes up stick around due to the fact that these animals survive and reproduce. If balls had more predators there would not be as many morphs. The bright colored snakes would stick out and be eaten.... but this is not the case. So due to large numbers of imports and many morphs found in the wild there is a higher chance for morphs to be discovered.

Joe Ellis

How do you know this? Can you direct us to a link where a study has been done about this phenomenon?

I think the more likely reason is the fact that they are nocturnal and stay so very well hidden in termite mounds and rodent burrows rather than your theory.

[stratus_020202]

How do you know this? Can you direct us to a link where a study has been done about this phenomenon?

I think the more likely reason is the fact that they are nocturnal and stay so very well hidden in termite mounds and rodent burrows rather than your theory.

I agree! Would like a reference. I think it's hilarious. Lol. i would totally post this on my facebook, if I had something to back it up.

"The reason my balls survive in the wild, is because they taste nasty!!"

[Oxylepy]

Still think my own answer is the most logical.

Additionally, as I guess I didnt mention it aside from "breeding well" is that they seem to have no real care for selecting mates, as long as they live long enough it seems they will breed with one another.

[Quiet Tempest]

I agree! Would like a reference. I think it's hilarious. Lol. i would totally post this on my facebook, if I had something to back it up.

"The reason my balls survive in the wild, is because they taste nasty!!"

LMAO

[Freakie_frog]

One reason is because the export laws for many of the country's that Boa's are found in are so tight that getting them to the US is near impossible. I remember hearing Brian Sharp talk about getting pics of some WC Boa's and even seeing some in zoo's in south and central america that would have made ball pythons looks like corn snakes as far as color and pattern but the laws prevented him from brining them into the country..

[mojavereptiles]

Corn Snakes have a ton of morphs too, and they come in a TON of colors:

I have a ton of different morphs myself... You can see them in my little snake pedigree program I designed at Mojave Reptiles Snake Pedigree

and those are just the morphs I have

[JoeEllisReptiles]

Maybe there are so many morphs with balls because they just want people to take them out of Africa to have a better a better better life I think its because our water tastes better . In all honesty I think they hide well and there just are not too many animals that care to eat them. Maybe it's due to the trouble to get to them, maybe it is cause they have tough skin, maybe it's because they taste bad.... either way it is because they do not have as many predators as other snakes in other parts of the world and the morphs continue to reproduce in the wild. Well that is how I think it works anyways lol Hope I made a few of you smile.

Joe Ellis

[Kyle@theHeathertoft]

I think it's a combination of factors...their relatively small adult size and docile temperament boosting their popularity as pets, the ammount of time they've been available as a captive-bred species compared to some other snakes, the less rigid restrictions on imports and a lack of heavy predation in the wild all probably contribute to their diversity of morphs.

Whatever the reason, I'm glad of it. I see the Ball as a python for everyone...from the kid who has a normal as a pet to the breeder who creates stunning combo-morph designer-snakes after many generations of trial and error. If you have the money to take care of a snake, then there's a Ball out there in your price range...if you want a normal, I've seen them as low as $15 or $20. If you want a nice morph but can't afford too much, a single dominant or co-dom morph can be had for a couple hundred. If you want the Rolls Royce of snakes, there's Balls out there that people burn thousands and thousands on. I think that too contributes to their morph numbers...my first pet snake was a normal-phase Ball back in college. He was the snake that got me into constrictors.

I remembered seeing the Mojave, at the time a "brand new morph" (and before they had bred the Super Mojave), and thinking it was the most beautiful snake I'd ever seen...and daydreaming about how I'd have one in a heartbeat if I won the lottery and became a billionaire. Years later, rediscovering my love of snakes, that was the first thing I bought...a Mojave. It's a dream come true...or maybe a gateway drug, since now I want a Super Mojave, and a Jigsaw, and a Mojave Spider, and Cinnamons are delicious and I want a Super Cinny, and a Kingpin, and and and...yeah.

I gots the morph disease. Can't have just one.