Coral Glow Ball Python – Genetics, History, & Pictures

The Coral Glow ball python is arguably one of the most attractive basic morphs that exists today. This stunning morph has an unrivaled physical appearance and can be used to create some extremely interesting and beautiful offspring.

They also boast an interesting past that experienced ball python breeders and collectors are all too familiar with. Let’s take a more detailed look at this fascinating morph and see the impact it’s made on the community.

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History Of The Coral Glow Ball Python

The Coral Glow was first proven back in 2002 by Kevin McCurley of NERD. When this line of the Banana morph was first making its rounds among the ball python community, it was fetching quite a bit of money.

The unparalleled physical appearance combined with the rarity of the mutation would regularly fetch $10,000+ in the first couple of years. This was further exacerbated by the uncertainty surrounding the Coral Glow offspring production.

Over time, Coral Glows have become a lot more popular. The fantastic colors and the possibility for beautiful offspring made these snakes very desirable, resulting in breeders producing quite a few of these snakes.

The price on these snakes have dropped considerably due to two main factors — both of which are discussed in the following paragraphs. This price drop hasn’t drastically reduced the desirability of this morph, though.

Coral Glow Genetics

Coral Glow is a line of the Banana and is a co-dominant morph. This means that only one Coral Glow ball python needs to be used to create many more. The ease of breeding due to this genetic characteristic has drastically reduced the price of this morph over the years.

One interesting trait of Coral Glows is that sex is a massive determinant in their offspring. Female Coral Glows / Bananas will produce a normal mix of 50% male and 50% female.

Any males produced from this female will be “female makers”, meaning that around 90-95% of their offspring will be females. “Male makers” also exist, and these are simply males that are produced from other males.

Succinctly, a female Banana mating with any other morph will produce 50% male and 50% female. The males that are produced are female makers, producing 90% female offspring. If one of those female offspring produces a male offspring, that male will be a male maker, producing 90% male offspring.

So, the sex of the parent ball pythons plays a huge part in determining the sex of the offspring. There is a bit of controversy, with some breeders stating that their male makers produce a 50/50 mixture of males and females, but that characteristic doesn’t seem to be extremely common.

Price Range Of Coral Glow Ball Pythons

When Coral Glows were first introduced, they were fetching $10,000 to $50,000 regularly. Many breeders decided to invest early into this morph, and a lot of breeders made a lot of money while others suffered some losses.

However this surge of interest worked to make these morphs more accessible for enthusiasts.

In addition to the increasing amount of breeders interested in this morph, a few other factors also reduced the price drastically.

The fact that Coral Glows are co-dominant genetically makes them very easy to produce, increasing the supply to match the demand. Additionally, the “male maker” issue has brought down prices over time, too.

Today, you can regularly find Coral Glows selling for around $150. Of course, this number can be a lot higher if it’s a particularly visually-appealing snake or combines a Coral Glow with another highly-desired morph.

However, they are still way cheaper than they were selling for even 5-10 years ago.

Coral Glow Morph Appearance

A Coral Glow ball python has an extremely unique appearance. This morph is classified by its very bright yellow and orange colors in addition to a faint purple hue in some places.

As this snake ages, it starts to develop small black dots like those on a Banana, thus the reason for the name “Banana ball python”.

When mixed with other morphs, Coral Glow offspring can have even more vibrant colors with patterns that aren’t regularly seen in other morphs. It’s for this reason that so many enthusiasts gravitate to this morph.