Ghost ball pythons?

[Nicky]

I've only ever known one person whos owned a pure ghost ( by pure I mean just a ghost not orange ghost or green ghost.) which he got for free off reptile rescue. My question is does anyone know someone who is working with just normal ghosts? ( The grey kind) And about how much they would go for?($1500 and up?)I'm a big fan of the darker faded looking Balls and would love to own one.
Thanks:)
Kayla

[mykee]

As far as I know, there is no "pure ghost" that you speak of. There is also no "normal" ghost. However, there are different lines of ghost; Orange ghost, butterscotch ghost, yellow ghost, desert ghost, burgundy ghost. I'm also pretty sure that there is no chance that your friend got a ghost of any kind from an animal shelter. Anyone who would have owned a ghost would have known what he had and would have made a profit off of it rather than 'give' it to a shelter. My guess is a faded normal and not a ghost at all.

[Nicky]

Ahh i c thanks. That kinda sucks it be pretty neat having just a pure grey ghostly ball python. I was surprised too when he said he got it from a shelter it probably was as you say a faded old female. Hmm so how much do the ghosts you mentioned for, quite a bit i assume?:(
Kayla

[RandyRemington]

I had one for a little while but then she started to get more pigment (both black and an odd yellow).

http://homevtour.home.comcast.net/images/Snakes/f01safrShed.jpg

Hopefully she is big enough to breed this year and I'll eventually find out if she is genetic or just one of those that looses pigment with a shed for unknown reasons (skin condition, liver parasite, who knows).

I'm not sure how the desert ghost and burgundies work but I suspect that the rest of the proven lines of ghosts are just variations in background color coupled with a common ghost gene.

I did see a nice ghost once that supposedly came through a pet store as an imported hatchling and was sold as a normal. Maybe she was in shed or they thought she was in shed but I have heard that baby ghosts can be less stunning. The guy who bought her as a baby brought her back when he decided that she was too big. I just happened to be in the store right after that in July of 2001 and she was very ghostly looking at 1,000 grams. I don't know what they gave the guy who raised her up to take her off his hands but I think I could have bought her for $800 USD but I didn't have it. The store owner kept her and paired her up with a proven ghost and got 4.4 ghosts the next year. In the mean time NERD produced the first ghost crosses and those proven babies where listed for $1,200 USD each and at least the females have gone up in the several years since then. I saw one of her granddaughters at a show this fall listed for $2,400 USD.