Do morphs drastically fade over time?

[Zelg]

Well, title says it all pretty much. I have my normal BP that I love and think he looks great but if I every got another BP I'd probably want to get something like a pied....more flashy I guess. Anyways, do these morphs fade and if so do they fade a great deal or is it minimal? Does it apply to all reptiles/snakes or mostly with BPs?

And kind of a related question, excuse me if its ridiculous. For GTP, do they all start out as either red or yellow and then grow into their green?

[jpsteele80]

Depends on the snake, I have seen albino retics that the colors fade as the get bigger and I have see 15 footers that retain the color the same as the day they were born in the same exact morph, and yes baby GTP 's are usually a red or yellow color as babies

[smy_749]

It depends on the species, and it depends on the morph. Some stay the same, some change colors completely, some get dull, and some brighten up. There are too many examples to list, but you need to be more specific or you can google an adult and a hatchling and see for yourself.

[Zelg]

Thanks for the replies. I did see a video on youtube but it was very much conspiracy theoryish in its presentation. Like "you think you're getting a crazy morph and you're paying out of your butt for it and you think its going to last!? Think again. I have proof" and then shows a couple examples. So aside from it being a small sample size I felt I had to take his video with a big grain of salt.

I guess its best to just accept it could change. Pretty crazy though when you see these morphs going for thousands and thousands.

[reptileexperts]

Its true that most ball pythons will fade drastically over time. Pied is not one of those - they usually retain a good bit of their contrast, but they loose the oranges pretty quick as they turn brown into adults.

Anything with pastel will fade and mostly brown out - only the best lines will retain their high yellows. It's mainly enhancer genes that add color that you notice the pull out though later in life with the balls.

In retics most get astonishing better with age, very rare for one to fade out IMO. My tiger motley was awesome at 3 months old, but now that its turning 28 months old, its astonishing!

[reptileexperts]

Thanks for the replies. I did see a video on youtube but it was very much conspiracy theoryish in its presentation. Like "you think you're getting a crazy morph and you're paying out of your butt for it and you think its going to last!? Think again. I have proof" and then shows a couple examples. So aside from it being a small sample size I felt I had to take his video with a big grain of salt.

I guess its best to just accept it could change. Pretty crazy though when you see these morphs going for thousands and thousands.


The people who pay the thousands and thousands are breeders who want to make the next big combo. Multi-gene animals come down as more become produced. And single gene co-doms that are new come down in a matter of 2 years to be available at much reduced rates. Look at coral glow aka banana