WhatMorph
Species / Ball python / Lesser

Lesser

Lesser Platinum · Lesser Platty
incomplete dominantBEL complexhealth cautiontext read from the page's sources

First produced: Ralph Davis Reptiles, 2001 (offspring of the 'Platinum Daddy' bred to normals in 2000)

Complex: BEL. Complex membership is as reported by breeders and community lists; most memberships have not been proven in a lab.

How to recognise it

HeadLight brown crown, usually with a small blushed pale spot toward the neck.
PatternNormal-style alien heads but heavily blushed/washed; dark borders thin and often brown rather than jet black.
ColourBright yellow to orange side blotches with tan to mellow-orange blushing; individuals range from bright yellow/light brown to darker brown/cream.
BellyClean, crisp white with little or no marking.
EyesNot yet verified against a source.
With ageNot yet verified against a source.

Rows marked "not yet verified" are withheld until they can be cited. Inheritance is the trade's usage unless a source below states it.

Visible in a single copy?

This IS the visible heterozygous form; reliable as a single gene.

Super form (two copies)

Super Lesser (BEL)
White, blue-eyed leucistic; ProHerper describes Super Butter/Lesser as the most colour- and pattern-free super in the complex.

Easily confused with

Mojave
Mojave has a dark head, greyish base colour and one-dot keyholes with strong flank flaming; Lesser has a light brown blushed head and warm tan/orange blushing.

Photos

Ball python identified by the photographer as Lesser with a black-back trait
Identified as Lesser with a black-back trait by the photographer; not verified by us.
Photo: Eclipse Exotics, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Health and welfare

Reported issue. Evidence for the main finding: breeder consensus. Other points in this paragraph are breeder reports unless a source below says otherwise.
Homozygous (Super Lesser) animals are associated with bug eyes.

DNA test

A test is listed for Rare Genetics Inc: Lesser/Butter (list read 2026-11-13 on MorphMarket's page for that lab). All listed tests

Sources for this page