Ball pythons are a rare species of snake that doesn’t have any subspecies. Instead ball pythons have different patterns and colors called morphs.
A ball python morph is another name for a gene or set of genes that determine a ball python’s colors and patterns.
There are over 7,300 different ball python morphs on the market with more still being discovered.
New morphs are discovered when ball python breeders make a snake with a new combination of genetics or if a gene is proven out by breeding.
All ball pythons in the United States are linked to ball pythons imported from Africa.
Ball pythons imported from Africa sometimes have colors and patterns that are different than a normal ball python.
These patterns and colors are proven to be genetic by ball python breeders. If that gene hasn’t been discovered yet, a new morph is born.
Some morphs are more popular than others and some are rare to have.
There is no lab testing that tells us a ball pythons morph so we have to go by how a ball python looks.
How much does a ball python cost?
Ball pythons cost anywhere from $60 to tens of thousands. A ball python’s cost depends on its morph. Rare morphs will cost more while more common morphs cost less.
The least expensive ball python morph is a normal ball python. Normal ball pythons don’t have any special genetics that change their patterns or colors.
A normal ball python’s value can increase if it has recessive genes. Different recessive genes have different values, but usually the more recessive genes a ball python has the higher its price.
The more desirable genes a ball python has the more expensive it will be. A ball python’s pattern and colors make them desirable to those wanting a pet, but ball python breeders will look for morphs that they can breed to create a ball python with their desired genes.
Certain ball python morphs are more expensive than others based on rarity. When a new ball python morph has been discovered, the breeder who discovered that morph is the only one in the United States that has a ball python(or many) with that particular gene.
The exclusivity of a new ball python morph makes that particular snake go up in price.
One example of a new ball python morph selling for thousands of dollars is when the banana gene was discovered. The first clutch of Banana ball pythons to ever exist sold for around $25,000.
What are the rarest ball python morphs?
A ball python morph is rare when only a few people have a ball python that carries that gene. Rare ball python morphs don’t always stay rare since breeders will start creating more of them to sell to others.
The more they sell, the more common that ball python morph becomes.
There are a few ball python breeders that have discovered a large chunk of ball python morphs. Some names you’ll see often as ball python morph discoverers are JKR, NERD, Osborne, Brian Bode, Triple B, and BHB.
All of these breeders have had some part in discovering ball python morphs with many more in the industry.
1. Sunset ball python
Hidden Gene Woma is also known as HG Woma. It’s a morph that originated from NERD, a well-known ball python supplier. The morph was discovered in 2000 from what they thought was a Woma ball python but ended up being a completely different morph.
HG Woma is a co-dominant gene so it has a super form called “Pearl.” Pearl ball pythons have been proven to be fatal, but can be created when paired with Woma, Champagne, and sometimes Spider genes.
Since the super form of HG Woma causes issues with the babies, the Pearl ball python is a rare sight to see.
The ball python community refrains from trying to make Pearl ball pythons because of this known issue.
5. Albino Piebald ball python
Albino Piebald ball python is a double recessive morph that has beautiful bright oranges and yellows with the classic white areas from the Piebald gene.
Both Albino and Piebald are recessive genes so both parents had to have passed the genes to an offspring for it to come out as Albino Piebald.
This is one of the many reasons why Albino Piebald ball pythons are rare. Another reason is their cost. You can get a baby Albino Pied for as low as $550 on Morph Market today.
The attraction to this ball python morph is not just because of its rarity, but also the variation in the morph.
Albino ball pythons lack melanin so their patterns come out yellow or orange. Albino ball pythons can be pale yellow or bright orange depending on their lineage.
Piebald ball pythons have a wide variation too. Piebald is a recessive gene that creates white patches on a ball python. Some Pieds are high white, with just the ball pythons head showing any pattern, and some are low white, showing only a small patch of white.
Each of these recessive genes has been around since the early ‘90s, but the combination of Albino Pied was only discovered in 2006 by Steve Roussis.
Rare Multi-Gene Ball Python Morphs
6. Calico Coral Glow Enchi Orange Dream Pinstripe Spotnose ball python
Ball pythons become rarer when they have more genes in them because it becomes more difficult to “add” genes into a lineage. Take this ball python for example. It has 6 different genes that are popular in the ball python community.
As of now, there are no ball pythons on Morph Market with this killer combo of genes and it was just born in 2019.
7. Clown Ultramelamistic
Another rare combo of genes is this Clown and Ultramelanistic. Like the Albino Piebald ball python morph, this combo is made up of 2 recessive genes complementing each other.
This snake was born in 2020 and currently, there aren’t any available for sale. This combo gives you a ball python with rich browns and deep yellows.
If or when this ball python becomes available for sale your looking at dishing out $6,000 or more.
Paradox ball pythons
A paradox is not a ball python morph, but it is a genetic phenomenon that influences a ball python’s colors or pattern.
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