Orange Hypo

A hypomelanistic ball python that has an overall orange appearance.

Orange hypomelanistic ball pythons or orange hypos are very beautiful ball pythons. Some refer to them as ?ghost? ball pythons, but the better term would be hypomelanistic. The term hypomelanistic means a reduction in melanin. Melanin is responsible for the black and brown pigments in ball pythons. There are different levels of hypomelanism. Some hypomelanistic ball pythons only display a small reduction in the amount of melanin while others show a larger more obvious reduction in the amount of melanin that they have in their scales. As hypomelanistic ball pythons have been selectively bred they have only gotten lighter and better. Orange hypo ball pythons have an overall orange/yellow look to them and some of them are very spectacular. They also have many areas of their pattern bordered with orange scales. As hatchlings they are similar to xanthic albinos. As with other ball python morphs they do go through a color change as they age. Adults are much lighter in color than hatchlings. Many breeders are using hypomelanistic ball pythons in many of their projects to produce some very great new looking ball pythons. The orange hypo ball python has been used to create such new morphs as the hypomelanistic spider ball python and the caramel glow ? a hypomelanistic caramel albino, (xanthic albino). Demand for hypomelanistic ball pythons has risen this past year as breeders are discovering their awesome potential.