Ghost ball pythons?

Nicky · 10-30-04, 11:46 AM

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 · 10-30-04, 05:06 PM

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 · 10-30-04, 08:16 PM

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 · 10-31-04, 11:05 AM

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

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.