Not to dig up an old topic, but i stumbled upon this thread while looking to purchase a mate for my scaleless Texas rat sake. I have had my little scaleless for some time now, and he is doing incredible. I have not had to change any of the setting on my colubrid snake rack, nor change out the generic bedding that I use for my colubrids. My little guy sheds better than any of my other colubrids to boot. One quick bath the day after his cloudy eyes go dark again and he sheds in one piece, that rolls up like a little condom. Just a little cage aggression, but that can be expected of any snake that spent over a year on the shelf in a pet shop. I understand this was originally about how neat that scaleless burm was, but quickly was filled with misconceptions and negative bias. (btw I would love to get my hands on one of those here in the states.) Being a nosy and self aggrandizing man from the states, I feel that I must throw my subjective personal opinion into the mix.
If we take a look at many of the common dogs that are kept, we will see many common breeds that in the wild would do fairly well on their own. ie Husky, pit bull, terriers, German Shepard. But, there are a select few, that without direct human intervention would have been gobbled back up by natural selection. ie, Pomeranian, pugs, Chihuahua. Do we generally not readily accept their unlikeliness of survival in the wild for aesthetic appeal? Just because the animal would not do well in the wild because of certain attributes does not mean we as Herp enthusiasts should not help them survive and dare I say thrive? I understand that some the only reason that the dogs are more acceptable is because they have been around for long enough to have become common sight. Unfortunately us herp enthusiasts have not been common place in most parts of the world for very long. Maybe 50 years. Anyway, that's my rant.
Recently, Brian from BHB reptiles here in the states has produced a 100% scaleless ball python. It lacks any scales, including ventricle scales used in the locomotion of the animal. Due to the lack of scales, it also appears to have no heat sensing pits. Brian has assured the public that the snakes are doing well, and eating well. These snakes have the potential to re-revolutionize the market for ball python morphs. And as a aspiring Herp breeder and owner of a scaleless snake, this excites me greatly.
I do not expect to change minds, I just hope to give a bit of information.