If you are squirmish around snakes, this ball python's might be the one to change your mind thanks to its super unique—and super cute— smiley face pattern.
This special snake is a ball python bred by Florida-based Branden Nicholson. Nicholson often shows off the new reptiles he has through his social media accounts, so it wasn't unusual that followers found him recording a TikTok Live of his ball python eggs hatching. However, after one user pointed out the unusual marking on the freshly hatching snake, it was clear Nicholson had a star in his hands. Though she was born in January 2022, her fan base has kept growing and growing through Nicholson's social media videos which oftentimes have more than 150,000 likes.
The cute snake's back reveals a smiley face pattern that contrasts with her unusual white body. Her smile looks like it's winking with the left eye. Many have compared her pattern to an emoji; the yellow "face" is even encircled with dark scales. Though the two eyes and mouth are clear to see, the uneven, cone-line top of the face's circle looks a bit trippy, like an emoji melting away.
One Instagram user exclaimed "Oh my GOD. Actually friend shaped!" Another even dubbed her "the serotonin snake." After all, this snake radiates a permanent smiley face along her back.
The smiley face is apparent due to a genetic mutation called pied or piebald which causes large patches of white along the snake's body. Pied is generally considered a type of partial leucism. For Nicholson's snake, pied causes everything but her head, tail, and smile-patterned back to appear unpigmented.
@b.n_exotics Pretty girls bouta explode lol #fyp #reptile #snakes #foryou #animals ? Radio - Lana Del Rey
Pied or leucistic mutations happen across the animal kingdom, including other snake breeds. Scientists theorize that the pigment cells within the embryo of pied animals did not multiply as quickly as they moved throughout the skin, causing underdevelopment in certain areas. This particular abnormal coloration does not affect the snake's health in any way.
Though each individual pied snake takes on its own unique pattern of pigment, they generally look as if they were partially dipped in white paint. This striking appearance makes them attractive to pet owners.
In fact, leucistic ball pythons are some of the most sought-after for their all-white or almost all-white appearance. Unlike albino snakes which have red eyes, those with leucism have a darker-colored eyes, usually blue or black. While this mutation does occur in the wild, it is extremely rare. However, the popularity of this appearance has led this type of snake to be bred more often.
Last Mother's Day, Nicholson shared a post of the snake that Smiley came from, in which we can see the less unique (but still beautiful) pattern from which the smiley face scales were born.
@b.n_exotics Happy mothers day!! #snakes ? See You Again (feat. Kali Uchis) - Tyler, The Creator
Though an articulated smile pattern is rare in the world of pieds, Nicholson's snake is not the first of her kind. There have been other smiley-faced snakes sold in the last few years. One breeder hatched a "dreamsicle" pied ball python that had three pure orange smiley faces along its body. It sold for $6,000 in 2017. Though a female born in 2021 adorning a similar pattern to Nicholson's snake sold for only $400. This is not an uncommon figure, as most snakes with a pied color mutation often sell for anywhere from $400 to $2000.
Followers regularly ask Nicholson if he would sell the snake, but he has commented that "I would but it would have to be a whole lot more than thousands."
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