paradox?i don't know...

[satomi325]

I believe it can be caused by stress too. Snakes changing colors like that isnt crazy uncommon. Ive seen it on here a few times. During the breeding season females usually "glow before they go" so clearly color changing isnt impossible for balls.

Yes color changing is common in breeding females.
But it's a different cause in younger snakes not of breeding age.

The snake in the OPs post just shed like that. It's not 'glowing'. After reading a few threads, apparently there is spontaneous pigment change occasionally in some snakes...

It's like...while the new skin was developing right before the shedding process....the ink cartridge with the yellow/brown pigment went empty. She'll have to wait for a new shipment to come in before her color returns to normal.

I guess it COULD be the IMG gene?

From what I've been reading, the gene can manifest in more than one way, and usually the ball pythons look normal at birth. It can take up to a couple of years to start showing up. Then they will start developing increasing pale/white patches on the sides, and black/dark scales on top or scattered into the pattern. OR they shed one day and overnight look like perfect axanthics (quite a shock), and then slowly start developing black scales and getting color back over time until they're super dark and dirty-looking.

Every once in a while someone talks about their ball python shedding out and turning grey, and then the color comes back after a few sheds.

Here are other threads where snakes turned 'black and white'


http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s-Pigment-Loss
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ee....question