Just a little something to think about:
I know nothing about color change in ball pythons but pigment change in human skin is a genetic disease called Vitiligo which can also be liked to other autoimmune disorders. I dogs, hair pigment loss can be related to kidney disease. In horses, there is a specific color gene in which the horse is born with dark hair and over time it becomes pigmentless. I would guess that scale color change would be closest to hair color change but who knows. Just some food for thought.