Colour change in Juveniles

[Switch]

Please Help
I am considering buying a Jungle Carpet and the fellow that is selling them, sent a picture of a six month old that had beautiful black and gold colouring. But it was a picture of one from last years hatchlings. The photo of the one I am buying is a motley browny colour with lots of patterns. It also is the last one left and only weighed 18 grams at birth and the rest of the clutch weighed around 28 grams. My questions are will it change colours at around 6 months like he is saying it will? and does such a low birth weight indicate a weak animal that may encounter problems later?
Any responses would be much appreciated wether from literature or experiences.
Cheers Michael (Switch)

 

[pythonss]

colour change

hi switch

coulour change in jungles is far from a general thing..at 6 months some will be starting to show good colour but others can take up to 12 months to be at the same stage..it depends on a lot of things..how much they are eating and how fast they are growing and maturing.

we have had clutch runts turn out to be very nice animals once they have got going well. we have also how ever had runts that strugle there whole life. Jungles are a gamble with getting desired colour as you cant garentee mother nature totally..all you can do is go by parents and previous offspring from the same pairings. A runt is also a gamble to a degree so the choice is up to you.
cheers paul.

 

[snakehunter]

The answer to me seems to be no, but can snakes change colour shades from light to dark to absorb/ reflect heat like some lizards eg bearded dragons?

 

[hey_im_sam]

i know that some snakes have different colours in winter and summer (inland taipan for example).. but i don't think they can change colour as instantly as some lizards can.

 

[almaron]

There are a few that can. The Paupan "Olive" Python comes to mind. I know there are a few others, but can't think of them off hand.

 

[Greebo]

Are you a gambling man?
I would venture that this snake will more than likely not develop the striking black and gold colouring that most people want.That doesn't mean it wouldn't be a nice snake anyway.Is he offering a good price for it?
It is good of him to provide you with so much information.It sounds like he is a good bloke.
If it is your first snake,maybe you should wait until something better comes along.
Then again it could turn out to be a perfectly good snake...it's all a gamble.

 

[Switch]

Thankyou all for your input, greatly appreciated.

 

[shorty]

I don't know about the colouring, but our Macci was the runt also, but we haven't had a problem with him. After a year he is eating regularly, never turns down a meal and is around 2'6", so we haven't had a problem with him.

 

[Pinkie]

We bought a jungle python a few months ago.
We were sent a pic of a beautiful black and yellow one, it was from last years batch, and the photo was taken at 9 months old.
When the jungle arrived it looked just as you have described, black and mottled brown where we thought it should be bright yellow.
After speaking with the breeder at length about it, he sent us pics of the hatchlings from last year when they were born. They all looked the same, black and mottled brown. He sent us pics of the same snake at 3,6, and 9 months and it got yellower as it got older.
We kept the hatchling and it has shed a couple of times, and its does seem to be getting a lot more yellow where the brown was.
We trust the breeder, he's a well known jungle breeder, and we are happy with the purchase.