The history of hybrid pythons is much debated. I have told it started with crossing a blood python with a ball python to create what is called a superball. The other beginning story and the one I think is the true start was the birth of the Burmball (Burmese to a Ball Python) in the UK. The story is a python breeder was cleaning some cages and put a male ball python in with his breeding albino burmese pythons. He forgot about the ball python and after a few hours he grabbed the mall ball and put him back. Eggs were laid and when they started hatching instead of 100% albinos the breeder found a few that were not albino and had ball python shaped heads. Thus the Burmball was born.
Years later the star of the Superball python, Roussis Reptiles, took things to a new level. In mammal hybrids the offspring is usually infertile while Roussis discovered that the same does not apply to pythons. He crossed Superballs to ball pythons, blood pythons and to each other. Each mix yielded eggs and those eggs started a short hybrid craze. Mudbloods (75% blood x 25% ball), Mongrel Ball (75% Ball x 25% Blood python) and then the F2 of superballs which were from a superball to a superball breeding. People wanted hybrids and they were getting bought up like crazy. In the past few weeks the announcement and photo of a 75% Burmese x Ball python hybrid that is an albino, which has the reptile community arguing more about the hybrid debate. The craze has died down and now there is constant debate on if they should be allowed or not.
Here are some of the mixes you can find readily on the market in pythons. Each one will be discussed in detail on this blog and even a list pf places where you can make purchases of them, general care, and what is being done in morphs. Ball x Retic = Baltic; Ball x Burmese = Burmball; Ball x Carpet = Carpall; Ball x Angolan = Angry Ball; Ball x Woma = Wall; Ball x Blood = Superball; Superball x Ball = Mongrel Ball; Carpet x Tree = Carpondro; Carpet x Woma = Coma; Carpet x Boelens = Coelens; Carpet x Scrub; Carpet x Blood = I have seen Carplood but I call them BloodClots lol; Carpet x Diamond; Burmese x African Rock = Cateater , which will be discussed in several posts due to issues in Florida; Burmese x Angolan; Retic x Burmese = Bateater; Have yet to see a retic x blood but rumors say they exist; and Retic x African Rock which also is mostly rumor. There are more possible mixes but the ones I will discuss are just the ones I have, have seen and can actually research.
The posts will follow as such:
- Morelia mixing hybrids and also the debate on crossing carpets with carpets. Yes some feel Coastals shouldn’t be mixed with Jungles because they are different species while others say a carpet is a carpet is a carpet. This will be several posts
- Ball python mixes
- Larger mixes
- Dangerous mixes
- Other Hybrids on market
- Morph genetics in hybrids
- Professional hybrid breeders
- Possible futures of hybrids
- My closing remarks on research and views
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