Desert Ghost Ball Python

Anthony Caponetto Reptiles

Ball Python Collection

This is, without a doubt, the rarest mutation in my collection. There a lot of morphs that you really have to see in person to appreciate, but anyone who has seen an adult Desert Ghost (or even a Pastel Desert Ghost at any age) in person will tell you they are awesome.

Upon hatching the Desert Ghost resembles the co-dominant Desert - and without going off topic, the first Desert was assumed to be a Desert Ghost and that is basically how the Desert got its name. Both are fairly light and very clean in color as babies, but that is where the similarities end. Unlike the Desert, which keeps that light khaki color throughout adulthood, the Desert Ghost develops a clean ivory white color as a full grown adult.

A lot of people say that certain morphs get better with age, and in my experience that usually never holds true - but with the Desert Ghost, there is absolutely no denying it. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Desert Ghost is the only ball python mutation that has more contrast as an adult than it does as a hatchling. That alone makes this gene extremely valuable in producing a "perfected" version of your favorite co-dominant combo morph.

2009 Desert Ghost (recessive) female at around 500 grams

Desert Ghost at 500 grams with a subadult female Fire in the background for comparison. Even at only 500 grams, with the color change being less than half-way complete, you can already tell the Desert Ghost is a much more extreme color mutation than the Fire. As an adult, she will be a clean ivory white color.

This is a 2009 female Desert Ghost at around 900 grams. She is starting to lighten towards that sparkling clean, creamy white color that makes this morph so unique.

This is a 2009 female Desert Ghost at around 900 grams. She is starting to lighten towards that sparkling clean, creamy white colorthat makes this morph so unique.