Did you know that there are over 3000 Ball python Morphs available today? There are new ones emerging all the time. Ball Pythons, also known as royal pythons and scientifically known as Python regius, are among the most popular snake pet species in the world because, they are small in size, hardy, and docile.
We will look at the 26 most relevance and popular morphs, which include but not limited to white ball python morphs, GHI morphs, axanthics morphs and leucistic morphs.
What Is A Morph?
The term snake morph is used to refer to snakes that have different coloration and patterns to what is generally found in the species. Morphism is as a result of a mutation that alters the appearance of the snake but not the species or breed.
Ball python morphs are basically ball pythons with different colorations and color patterns. Technically, morphs are not created but rather discovered. The mutations that result in morphs happen randomly.
However, once this takes place, the mutation can be passed on to the subsequent offspring. The inheritable nature of morphs has created a market for different morphs with breeders specifically breeding morphs and combining different morphs to create thousands of subspecies of morphs.
We will look at the 26 primary ball python morphs from which almost all ball python morphs are gotten from.
The Most Popular Ball Python Morphs
Acid Ball Python
Contact our friend Will Bruce at https://ballpythonbreeder.co.uk/ to see about getting your own!
The Acid ball python is a relatively new dominant morph that is just starting to become more widely available – albeit it at a fairly high price. As far as we know, this morph is synonymous with the highly popular Confusion ball python.
Characteristics of this gene include a very dark background, increased colouration of the ventral scales, a lighter pattern on top of the head (known as a “head stamp”) and black bubbling in amongst the animal’s brown patches of pattern.
Interestingly, Acid ball python hatchlings have an indigo hue to their black background, giving them a very striking appearance when seen in person.
Will acquired this male to explore the potential of the morph by breeding it with some of his best Butter, Pastel and Pinstripe ball pythons. Combination morphs that contain the Acid gene tend to have wild, leopard-like spots or even stripes, making this an incredibly exciting project!
Albino Ball Python
This morph is one of the first recessive mutations to be discovered within this species. Albino morphs lack the dark pigments, as such, the snake is white with bright yellow markings and pink eyes. There are many several types of albino ball pythons around including the high contrast and low contrast (faded) albinos. High contrast albinos have more distinctive markings, while low contrast morphs have faded almost white markings.
This mutation is recessive ( andcan be bred through selective breeding). This mutation is also known as Amelanistic and Tyrosinase (T-) Albino.
Albino ball pythons cost between $300 and $400.
Axanthic Ball Python
This ball python lacks the red or yellow or even both red and yellow color pigments. As such, these snakes are a varying shade of brown, black, white, and silver. Although axanthics ball pythons are generally silver and black as juveniles, they usually turn brown as they enter adulthood. The genes responsible for this morph are recessive.
Generally, axanthic ball pythons cost above $375.
Blue Eyed Leucistic Ball Python
These snakes have pure white scales and blue eyes. They are rare and as such quite difficult to obtain. This morph is created when morphs including Mojaves, Lessers, Butters, Phantoms, and Het Russos breed.
BELs cost about $400 to $600.
Bongo Pastel Ball Python
Contact our friend Will Bruce at https://ballpythonbreeder.co.uk/ to see about getting your own!
Typical Bongos are pretty animals that have subtle brown hues, reduced dorsal patterning and a white belly. A co-dominant morph, they have been around for some years but are finally becoming popular thanks to the effect they have when combined with other genes.
The animal pictured here, for example, is an incredibly bright Bongo Pastel. As many ball python enthusiasts will know, some pastels are brighter than others, and all morphs vary a little.
Finding a bright Bongo that also has such a bright pastel gene was too good an opportunity to miss! From this guy Will is expecting colourful, unusual babies.
If combined with other co-dominant morphs such as Cinnamon, Bongos can produce heavily striped hatchlings with beautiful, contrasting markings – the kind of animals that drew my attention to ball pythons in the first place.
Butter Ball Python
These look very similar to lesser platinum ball pythons but descend from a very different bloodline. They have yellow (butter colored) marks on caramel brown backgrounds. A homozygous form of the butter ball python is the Blue Eyed Leucistic. The genes of this morph are co-dominant.
Butter balls cost about $100.
Bumblebee Ball Python
This morph has black and yellow coloration thus the name “bumblebee”. They are offspring of the pastel ball python and the spider ball python. Because of this specific requirement, they are rarely ever found in the wild.
Bumblebees cost about $175.
Candy Ball Python / Candino Ball Python
The gene responsible for the candy ball python is recessive and creates a ball python with yellow scales on a gray/silver background. The cross between the candy ball python and the albino ball python is the candino ball python. This python looks a lot like the albino ball.
These will cost about $400 to acquire.
Champagne Ball Python
This morph may also be known as Puma ball pythons. The champagne ball python is light tan to dark brown in color. The underside is almost white while the top of this snake is very tan. The champagne morph gene is co-dominant.
These striking morphs cost about $300.
Chocolate Ball Python
This morph is very dark in color. The background color is dark brown to black in color with light brown rings. The gene responsible for this mutation is co-dominant.
Chocolate ball pythons cost about $100.
Cinnamon Ball Python
This is one of the more popular morphs on the market. The cinnamon ball python is dark brown in color with light brown rings that are surrounded by black markings. The brown cinnamon color of this morph gives this snake its name. The gene responsible for this morph is co-dominant.
Cinnamons cost about $75.
Coral Glow Ball Python
Also called the white smoke ball python, the coral glow ball python is a beautiful snake with golden rings on a bluish-purple background. Because of their unique appearance, they are very expensive. The gene that creates this mutation is co-dominant.
They cost about $400.
Fire Ball Python / Super Fire Ball Python
This morph has light toasted brown markings on a brown to black background. The gene responsible for this morph is co-dominant. This morph can be used to breed the blue-eyed leucistic, the superfly red stripe morph, and the super fire ball python.
A fire and a super fire ball cost about $400.
Fire Ivory Ball Python
Contact our friend Will Bruce at https://ballpythonbreeder.co.uk/ to see about getting your own!
Fire Ivory, or Fire super-Yellowbelly, ball pythons have the overall white colouration and soft yellow glow you see in a typical Ivory, but as they grow some grey freckles usually appear.
Something particularly attractive about hatchling Ivory ball pythons is the light-yellow stripe down their back, bordered by patches of purple. A Fire Ivory ball python is incredibly attractive to look at, but what makes it exceptionally useful for breeding is the awesome effect that the Fire and Ivory/Yellowbelly morphs have when combined with other genes.
Yellowbelly adds more intense yellow colouration and contrast to combination morphs such as the Yellowbelly Bongo for example, whereas the Fire gene can add a nice pattern to the flanks of an animal, known as “flaming”.
Though essential to Wills projects, the female pictured is subadult, and will only be bred when she is more than big enough to reproduce healthily. Healthy snakes are happy snakes after all.
Ghost Ball Python
The recessive gene that produces this mutation reduces the black pigmentation. This gives them a hazy appearance as if they are in shed. Ghosts come in varying shades of brown, yellow, green and grey. Ghosts are also known as Hypo or Hypomelanistic. As already mentioned, the gene is recessive.
These pythons generally cost about $75 to $100.
GHI Ball Python
This one of the more recent mutations discovered. It was discovered and made public by Matt Lerer in 2007. Because of this there very few GHI ball pythons. This means they are quite expensive with prices reaching as high as $10,000. This python is very dark in color (ground black) with golden rings. The GHI gene is co-dominant.
Ivory Ball Python/Super Yellow Belly
This is a whitish yellow ball python morph. Some ivory ball pythons look very similar to albinos, but unlike albino ball pythons, the ivory has black eyes. They are also called super yellow belly and result from the breeding of two yellow belly ball pythons. The yellow belly gene is co-dominant.
Ivory morphs cost about $300.
Lesser Ball Python
This is a base co-dominant morph and is used to create many other morphs, the homozygous form of the lesser ball python is the Blue Eyed Leucistic, which has already been discussed. The lesser is known to add color and blushing to offspring when bred with other morphs.
They cost about $90.
Mojave Ball Python
The Mojave is a co-dominant gene, which creates ball pythons with varying shades of black browns, yellows, with creamy highlights and flames. They have a different pattern to normal ball python known as the ‘Mojave pattern’. In addition, they have a completely white underside. Breeding two Mojaves results in a 25% likelihood of Blue Eyed Leucistic, 50% likelihood of Mojaves, and 25% likelihood of normal ball pythons.
They cost about $60.
Mystic Ball Python
This is another of the newer morphs discovered. The mystic gene is co-dominant. Juveniles and babies are purplish in color, which turns into a grayish purple tint as they grow. It is not uncommon to find mystic ball pythons with brown spots and rings.
Mystic morphs cost about $100.
Pastel Ball Python
The pastel ball python is a result of a co-dominant mutation that intensifies yellow colorations. Pastels also have pale or green eyes, white lips, and high blushing. The super form of the pastel keeps its intense yellow color but has fewer patterns. The pastel is bred with many other morphs so as to produce ball pythons with intense yellow pigmentation.
A pastel will generally cost you between $75 and $150.
Phantom Ball Python
The phantom gene is co-dominant and is responsible for creating many different types of morphs out there. When bred to a Lesser, the resulting offspring is a Blue Eyed Leucistic. Similarly, when bred to a Mojave, the resulting offspring is a purple passion. The phantoms themselves are light brown to black with golden rings.
A phantom costs anywhere from $125 to $200 although you can acquire them for less.
Piebald Ball Python
The piebald has unusual patterns where part of their body is pure white, while part of their body has the normal coloration as a normal ball python. This makes for a unique looking snake. The gene responsible for this mutation is recessive.
The piebald ball python cost between $200 and $600.
Pinstripe Ball Python
Another very popular morph is the pinstripe also known simply as pin. This snake has stripes along its backside and the base of its body is caramel brown in color. The pinstripe gene is dominant.
You can acquire this morph for between $70 and $100.
Spider Ball Python
The spider ball is black, white and light brown in color. The black coloration forms stripe patterns on its back. This morph is usually bred with other morphs to create pythons with the unique black stripe patterns present on the back of the spider ball python.
Spider ball pythons usually cost around $70.
Spotnose Ball Python
The spotnose has spots on its nose, thus its name. Also, they have a faded head pattern. Lastly, its dorsal is lighter than that of a normal ball python. The spotnose gene is co-dominant.
The spotnose cost between $100 and $175.
Super Blast Ball Python
This morph is as a result of breeding pinstripe and a pastel. The distinct coloration and pattern created make this ball python morph a favorite among breeders. This snake is bright yellow with pinstripe patterns. The head is light lavender in color. The pastel gene is co-dominant, and the pinstripe gene is dominant.
The super blast can generally be acquired for between $200 and $350.
Vanilla Ball Python
The vanilla ball python is brighter in color than other ball pythons. Additionally, the head is also faded. As this snake ages, their coloration becomes lighter thus their name. The vanilla gene is co-dominant.
They are quite popular pets and will cost you anywhere from $150 to as much as $400.
Yellow Belly Ball Python
The last popular morph we will be looking at is the Yellow Belly. As you may have already guessed, this snake has a yellow belly. Apart from their unique underside, they look like normal ball pythons. There are bred to create the super yellow belly also known as ivory. The yellow belly gene is co-dominant.
They cost about $140.
Acquiring a Morph
Many ball python breeders have different morphs available. Similarly, you can find morphs at pet shops that sell ball pythons. However, acquiring a particular morph can be difficult as they are so many different morphs available. Similarly, there are many morph combos available.
For instance, acquiring a GHI morph is usually much harder than acquiring a morph that is a combination of a GHI and other morphs such as a GHI Fire Coral Glow.
Acquiring morphs online can be easier since you can browse and peruse several ball pythons over several online stores. Some popular online shops include Morph Market USA, BHB Reptiles, Snakes at Sunset, xyzReptiles, Underground Reptiles, and Backwater Reptiles.
Conclusion
These are the primary ball python color morphs available. However, these can be bred to create thousands of other morphs such as the albino axanthic ivory, super pastel yellow belly, super fire super butter, lesser spider, arroyo bumblebee and many countless others.
Thanks to these morphs, ball pythons come with countless patterns and colorations with new morphs being discovered every day. Which do you think are best ball python morphs? Drop us a comment.
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