The many uses of the beautiful Pied Ball Python

There are Ball Pythons and then there is the Pied Ball Python and simply put it is the most striking and attractive of the morphs out there. It has been crossed into everything from Albino to Clown and so far every new combination looks like a winner.

The original Pied Ball Python

There were at least two or more Pied Ball Pythons floating around and going from breeder to breeder before they landed in the hands of Peter Kahl. The original animals were seen as interesting looking but when they did not reproduce themselves the first generation F1 breeding due to being recessive the project sat around and was not treated with the urgency or respect that it deserved. I recall a conversation with Pete about the first Pied clutch to hatch and how he instantly realized that he had an absolute game changer on his hands. To this day Pied Ball Pythons are the one animal that almost every observer notices and likes at shows and in the reptile shops.

Finding the perfect Pied Ball Python for sale

Unlike most other ball python mutations the Pied morph is a highly variable one. In the same clutch you can have degrees of white ranging from almost no white bands to an almost all white pied ball python. This makes the hunt for the perfect Pied ball Python for sale an interesting and frustrating challenge. Since low white pieds can make high white pieds and vice versa, breeders tend to keep back the low white animals for breeding and sell the high white animals but since most people look for high white animals for pets this tends to keep the market price on these animals higher than almost all other recessive traits.

The Leopard Ball python, an unexpected bonus

Another interesting side effect of producing Pied Ball Pythons was the discovery and ultimate development of the Leopard Ball Python gene. Although Pete was aware of the few different looking Pieds in his collection he was not really paying attention to or developing this trait since all Pieds were of such high monetary value at the time. It took the keen eyes and curiosity of another great breeder Greg Graziani to isolate and brings this fantastic gene to life. There are currently a few dozen great looking Leopard combos and more are being developed every day. Since Leopard Balls are so closely related to the Pied gene we have included them in the Pied category at xyzReptiles and will be offering a growing number of their combos in the coming months.