I cannot remember who it was that had some normal female ball pythons from a specific region in Africa. These are the females that have a very high tendency to become larger than normal.

I remember them being identified by location and nothing else......lol

Just wandering if any info available on these?

i know Wilbanks has a line of normals that tend to big bigger an lay huge clutches....where he got it (them) from i have no clue.

Pitoon

I cannot remember who it was that had some normal female ball pythons from a specific region in Africa. These are the females that have a very high tendency to become larger than normal.

I remember them being identified by location and nothing else......lol

Just wandering if any info available on these?

That is a good question for Dave or Tracey Barker.

I want to say it is the Ghana population that is touted for being larger but I am not 100% certain I am recalling that correctly

I believe its the sub-Saharan giant line, outback is said to import them. I heard they tried to get a 12k BP in but the largest I was told they imported in was only 3k. Apparently cause the largest ones take up so much space they don't come in. Imagine what someone might pay for such a large BP! Would seem well worth importing wouldn't you think?

yep thats the line i was thinking of sub-saharan giant line............thank you for reminding me :)

stefan broghammer from ms reptilien in germany imports them too. hes always in daytona so im sure he could bring em if someone preorders them.

but he brings in babies. the ones he sells weight over 100g as baby. most of the babies he brings in are in the 120g range at birth.

he flys every year himself to africa and hand picks his animals himself, so he knows theyre really this heavy babies and not older ones which have had a few meals.

but wilbanks would be a good address too. iirc he has a 10kg ballpython which was bred by a champagne this year and laid 17 eggs (10 champs btw).

so yeah- theyre worth some money if u pair em correctly

I want to say it is the Ghana population that is touted for being larger but I am not 100% certain I am recalling that correctly

this is my recollection too.
ck

So is it genetic, like would a captive bred baby from one of these larger females also grow to be larger than normal??

So is it genetic, like would a captive bred baby from one of these larger females also grow to be larger than normal??

The short answer is yes and not necessarily.

Yes, it is probably a result of genetics. BUT, in all likelihood you are looking at a polygenetic trait (i.e. the result of multiple genes and not a single gene). That being the case, there is no absolute guarantee that the babies from a large female will also be large. Factor in the genes the male is carrying and you might end up with babies that grow to be typical sized.

I could be wrong but I seem to remember the people at Carolina Reptiles having some large females up for sale that they said almost this exact thing about. They were from an area in Africa known to have larger than normal pythons.

I have heard Ghana mentioined in the past. I have 3 girls that are between 3500-4500gms and gain a bit every year. One of them is reportedly over 10 years old when I got her 4 years ago and she does look it. She lays 9-11 big eggs and the babies hatch out around 100gms.

Most of my other older females stay between 1800-2500gms.

I have A funny feeling my girl is a Sub-Saharan, She is over 3.5 kilo at last weigh in and still felt skinny ( I had her straight after she laid and she looked like a triangle and she is now putting on awesome amounts of weight )

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/393708_287836991267773_100001244224795_926531_2037497473_n.jpg

I have a couple(3) girls that were purchased from Amir last year and they were biggest I have seen.
One girl weighed in at 3800g and is now after laying and hitting the food hard right at 4200
Another girl was 3000g and now pushes 3500g
Last but not least is a girl who was 4800g and is now 5200g
These are in my experience the biggest I have personaly seen/own for myself. They have all the signs of being older ladies but they all bred perfectly last year and the smallest girl laid 10 eggs and the biggest girl laid 12. They took a lil longer to put weight back on then the smaller girls I own but the 5200g girl did have a hatchling weigh in at 111g right pita the egg.
I didn't think anything of it until this thread so kinda stinky pink right now with happiness I got them up to weight again for this year...
Later, J

The locale is VOLTA as I am told

I have a couple Volta girls imported by Outback several years ago, that I have acquired from my buddy Tom... He still has a few himself.

They are all very strong eaters and in the 4000g-6000g range and they have wide bulldog heads on them...People who have seen them in person always comment on their heads.

They are all consistent 10+ egg girls... The last one I took off of him I believe he said laid either 15 or 16 eggs her last breeding season.

According to the threads i read on ballpythons.net the way to tell if a ball is a subsarharan giant is the head is alot bigger

The locale is VOLTA as I am told

I have a couple Volta girls imported by Outback several years ago, that I have acquired from my buddy Tom... He still has a few himself.

They are all very strong eaters and in the 4000g-6000g range and they have wide bulldog heads on them...People who have seen them in person always comment on their heads.

They are all consistent 10+ egg girls... The last one I took off of him I believe he said laid either 15 or 16 eggs her last breeding season.

Do you have any pics of these girls?

come´on with some Bulldog head pics.. would be fun to see

Brian Gundy has at least 1 giant female(over 5500g) that produces 13 egg clutches. can seen her on youtube. no idea on how to add link to vid. his handle on youtube is fgs9 if I remember correctly.