Willow
O.o
It's hard to explain, but she doesnt look normal
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Actually she looks exactly like a normal....
the pattern or look of a snake truly has nothing to do with what the snake really is...it matters what genetics are actually in the snakes DNA. (and unless you produced the snake, or spoke with the person who actually did, trying to "guess" its DNA is bad)
So many people seem to forget just how versatile a normal ball python can be...with blushing and flames and spots and colors and zig zags and reducdeness and yellows or blacks or browns or whites....clear bellys and black bellys and speckled bellys.....dark eyes, light eyes, mustaches and head spots.
A normal can appear similar to enchis, fires, spectors, yellow bellys, mojaves, cinnomons, black pastels, and on and on and on and on
There is no set standard for normals....they can look however they happen to look when all those difference factors have combined, with all the truly different options.
BUT
to label it a fire...place it for sale....is bad....since it most likely isn't able to make more DNA copies of the fire gene.
When a snake is "guessed" to be something other then a normal....about 98% of the time, it really is just a normal.....there is no "guessing" "thinking" or "assuming" it's something different just because it happens to have a few oddities that are perfectly normal in ALL living creatures.
That snake very well could be a fire....or spector...but it also could very well just be a normal (which sadly, is most likely the case, since it pretty much always is in these situations)
Even a local breeder cannot tell you what that snake is....she is to close to normal looking that he would just be "guessing" too...and thoses guesses cannot be trusted much since she is so subtle looking...you will have to breed her to figure it out. Otherwise she is a normal/fun dinker
(plus please connect the dots...if the person you got the snake from couldn't even accurately tell you the sex of the snake, why on earth would you listen to their genetics advice....your situation is very close to common "it's not a normal" scams)
If you want to sell her....best to post her as a dinker if not a normal....but normal pricing should apply. Do not sell her as anything else until you prove her out and know for a fact she has something else going on. Otherwise your setting yourself up for a very bad situation with the person who buys her from you.
Excellent post, Willow.