I can understand that some who have never seen this phenomenon before would believe that the picture must be photoshopped, but based on my personal observations, I'm quite sure it is not. It's happened before, and the picture shown has all the same "markers" of such a change, as opposed to the actual altered picture that pigfat shared.
I've heard several different theories about why this change happens, but so far as I know, no one has any real answers. Could be nutritional. Could be hormonal. Could be chemical. One story I saw, a ball python was put into a bag for a trip to a herp show. During its stay in the bag, it relieved itself, as they often will. When its owner got to the show and opened the the bag, they found a completely bleached out, silver and black ball python.
One thing I'm fairly certain of, is that it's not genetic. It will probably return to its normal coloration...could be quickly, in the next shed or two...or it could go through a very gradual change back. Fun to watch, but not something you can breed for.
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