Nature
PUBLISHED
Watching the video below, I imagine you’re going through the exact same thing we did here in the IFLScience office. “That’s not real, is it?”, “I think so…?” and, of course, “FAKE SNAKE!”
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.Having run the gamut of reactions, it would appear this is, in fact, a real snake – possibly the most on-trend snake on the planet.
A selective python breeder really has managed to create what is being dubbed the “Emoji Ball Python”, after eight years of trying. The snake is a lavender albino piebald ball python, which are distinctive for their white and orange coloring and their piebald pattern, which due to recessive mutations that occur naturally can throw up the occasional “happy face”.
Justin Kobylka, from Georgia in the US, breeds snakes with distinctive patterns to sell them. He has spent the last eight years trying to perfect the round “emoji” smiley faces, and has now succeeded.
The incredibly rare snake could be worth at least $4,500, but Kobylka told Business Insider he wouldn’t be selling it due to the animal’s spectacular “uniqueness".
