Volta
Type: Locality
Aliases: Sub Saharan
First Produced In: Unknown
Availability: Lower
Last Updated: 2022-01-24
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About
Volta refers to a montane region in Eastern Ghana next to Lake Volta, along the border into Togo, which extends up into the north along the White Volta river. The ball pythons in this northern Volta area just routinely get larger than they do in other areas. [1]
History
No history yet
Appearance
Head
These large animals also get HUGE heads, which is one thing that makes it painfully obvious when comparing a Volta to a “normal” animal from another region. When placed side by side, a small 3000 gram Volta will have a much much larger and wider head compared to say, a big 3000 gram animal from another region. [2]
Body
Volta balls tend to get very large compared to most other ball pythons. We have imported dozens and dozens of them over 4000 grams, and have routinely gotten in 5000+ gram animals. We have brought in several in the 6000-8000 gram range over the years but of course even among Volta / Sub Saharan ball pythons this is extremely rare.
Another common characteristic, and perhaps what makes these animals so alluring to breeders, is the tendency for Volta females to lay exceptionally large clutches of eggs. 16+ is not uncommon and we have gotten many clutches upwards of 18 to 20 eggs from a single female. The babies usually hatch quite large as well – I’ve seen plenty of baby Voltas hatch over 80 grams out of the egg, compared to your average baby ball python that is more commonly in the 60 gram range or so. Obviously anybody looking to maximize their morph production could use genetics like that added into their collection. [3]
Controversy
What is this “Sub Saharan” ball python that I’m hearing about? Is it the same thing? Aren’t all ball pythons found south of the Sahara Desert, making them ALL Sub Saharan ball pythons? The answer is both yes and no. So this area up in the northern Volta region is very close to the northern border, just south of the Sahara Desert – hence the term “Sub Saharan.” This area is actually more of a band extending from the northern Volta region in Ghana, through Togo and into Benin. The vast majority of these Volta animals are from the Volta area in Ghana, hence the name that stuck.
Over the years, the term has gotten confused and ****ized because rather than understand that Sub Saharan in this context means literally the area at the southern edge of the Sahara desert, many people miss that and say “well all ball pythons are found south of the Sahara so they are all Sub Saharan.” I think another factor in the confusion and blending of the two terms is that “Volta Ball Python” sounds a lot more palatable to the Morph breeding crowd who is used to catchy names like “Shatter Ball Python” “Sentinel Ball Python” “Soul Sucker Ball Python” or whatever poison you may choose. But anyways, over the years the terms have gotten confused and mixed up and to the layman, “Volta ball python” has become a sort of blanket term for any large ball python, which is of course not true.
Volta/Sub Saharan animals come from very specific regions and no trustworthy dealer will apply the term to an animal that they do not know was from (or descended from animals that were from) these regions. [4]
Proven Lines
No known proven lines
Related Traits
No known related traits
Combos
Volta Black Pastel Acid 50% Het Clown Ball Python by Bronze Serpent Reptiles
Mojave Fire Spider Volta Ball Python by Backroad Morphs Llc
Jigsaw (From A Volta Mother) Ball Python by DB Exotic Morphs
Volta Black Pastel 50% Het Clown Ball Python by Bronze Serpent Reptiles
Pure F1 Volta Ball Python by Big T's Exotics
