Jag the GIANT Pastel Yellow belly male...

[rufretic]

Such a big beautiful boy, wonder how big he'll end up being. Also, that makes me wonder if anyone has bred bps for size? Would anyone even be interested in large bps?

There is a member here that breeds for size, jordan something, I'm sure he'll chime in. But yes, there is definitely a demand for larger ball pythons. For a lot of keepers they are a little smaller then they would prefer but still the best choice because the larger pythons are too large especially for keepers with young kids like me. Retics were always my favorite but I switched to ball pythons for my children's safely and so they can enjoy the hobby with me. I would love ball pythons even more if they had just a little more size on them.

[dr del]

Such a big beautiful boy, wonder how big he'll end up being. Also, that makes me wonder if anyone has bred bps for size? Would anyone even be interested in large bps?

They don't come up all that often over this side of the pond and I'm torn between keeping the bloodline pure and taking advantage of the fact they tend to have larger clutches to improve breeding odds for rare combos.

I think I'd probably keep the line pure if I could find any.

[zina10]

Now I remember what they are being called... "Volta Ball Pythons". Or...sub saharan, like dr. Del said.

They do seem to grow bigger and have bigger clutches. Outback Reptile sells wildcaught/imports of them regularly. Usually gravid females.

I'm not a fan of buying gravid imports, but perhaps that is the only way you can get a true Volta that way? Not sure someone is breeding them "pure", most people probably use them to produce some kind of morphs, with bigger clutches. Not sure how the "grow bigger gene" works, once you breed a Volta to a "regular sized" Ball Python. Would certainly be interesting to find out.

There are probably many large "regular" Ball Pythons and some smaller (skinnier) Voltas, so it could be difficult to be certain what one has. I find the Voltas have larger heads as well, then the regulars.

I'm not exactly sure why Jag is growing so big and always has been bigger then the others, while getting no "extra" food. Perhaps he is just a freak of nature of sorts

But I do like him a lot.

[zina10]

There is a member here that breeds for size, jordan something, I'm sure he'll chime in. But yes, there is definitely a demand for larger ball pythons. For a lot of keepers they are a little smaller then they would prefer but still the best choice because the larger pythons are too large especially for keepers with young kids like me. Retics were always my favorite but I switched to ball pythons for my children's safely and so they can enjoy the hobby with me. I would love ball pythons even more if they had just a little more size on them.

The biggest one I've ever had was a rescue female. She was 4500 gr (1500 gr BIGGER then Jag!!!). She was kept in a 10 gallon tank with a small water dish and a heat lamp on top. No hide. She took up the entire space all curled up. It was sad.
Despite all that, she was actually quite healthy. And unbeknownst to me, gravid. Found her on eggs one morning, now that was a surprise !! She only had 6 eggs (one went bad) but they were huge eggs. I remember that the largest hatchling was 116 gr and the smallest 89 gr, out of the eggs.

Jag really IS quite big around. Sometimes when I look at the pictures I think they make him look smaller then he really is, LOL. I know he is no "retic/burm" or giant of that sort, but man, he IS really strong. When he wraps to hold on or to try to move around my body, he can squeeze hard!!

[Kam]

Handsome little fellow you have there. He is by the far the biggest male that I have ever laid eyes on.


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[MD_Pythons]

Interesting, they're from the Volta region. Between Ghana and Togo. Definitely something I'll look into.

[Aerries]

Wow such a beautiful boy! Our male BP if only 400g atm and about a year old


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[Godzilla78]

the biggest one i've ever had was a rescue female. She was 4500 gr (1500 gr bigger then jag!!!). She was kept in a 10 gallon tank with a small water dish and a heat lamp on top. No hide. She took up the entire space all curled up. It was sad.
Despite all that, she was actually quite healthy. And unbeknownst to me, gravid. Found her on eggs one morning, now that was a surprise !! She only had 6 eggs (one went bad) but they were huge eggs. I remember that the largest hatchling was 116 gr and the smallest 89 gr, out of the eggs.

:o

[zina10]

Wow such a beautiful boy! Our male BP if only 400g atm and about a year old


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He's still a Young'in

Give it time !!

[zina10]

Hard to believe he was ever such a tiny one...

Here he is on the day he arrived (he was in shed)




and a few days later, after he shed




and then he started growing and never stopped



















I know..I have a ton of pictures of him 8 years is a long time..