Non-breeders do not understand the sense of accomplishment there is when you cut an egg and instantly know you’re looking at something no one in the world has seen before. For many of us, producing a world-first ball python morph is one of those cringey goals that doesn't really matter, but we all still get a sense of pride whenever we achieve it. We have hit a few over the years, but this one, the Super Orange Dream Ultramel Sunset, is definitely our highlight.
Here’s how this milestone Sunset ball python clutch came to life.
When we decided to build a serious breeding program, we wanted to anchor our efforts around one high-end recessive project. The Sunset ball python immediately stood out.
We were blown away by its deep reds, saturated oranges, and the glowing “sunset” effect that only this morph produces. After seeing some incredible animals in Brian Kusko’s videos, we knew this was the gene we wanted to build around.
So in 2020, we purchased a visual Sunset male from Brock Wagner — an animal so bright that we couldn’t stop staring at him. At the time, genetic testing wasn’t on our radar, so when we were told he might be Vanilla Sunset, so we made plans to pair him to some Fire animals in order to try to prove him out.
One of his first key pairings was with an Ultramel female loaned to us by Troy at Balls and Strikes Pythons. That pairing produced a group of babies, 5 males and 5 females, and from the split we ended up with 2.3 DHs including the mom for this clutch.
As our holdbacks grew, we wanted to supercharge the project. We picked up a Bongo triple-het Sunset Ultramel Hypo male — again from Brock Wagner — hoping to work some extra genes into this project since it takes so long to work a multi-recessive combo.
When it was time to start pairing for the Ultramel Sunset, we paired the Bongo TH boy to one of our holdback females, he locked early… then completely checked out. Not wanting to lose momentum, we brought in the backup: one of the double-het Sunset Ultramel males we had produced with the females and held onto just in case.
The backup male performed flawlessly, locking consistently and staying on feed. When the female eventually laid a gorgeous 10-egg clutch, all we could do was wait which nearly killed me.
Egg cutting day for a ball python clutch is always exciting, but this clutch was different. It was our first shot at a Sunset Ultramel and was a project we had been working on for over 5 years.
We cut the first egg, and immediately froze.
(Me telling Courtney who didn't believe me in the slightest, July 2025)
As we cut the remaining eggs, the results were unbelievable:
Another Sunset Ultramel
A visual Ultramel 66% Het Sunset
Two visual Sunset 66% Het Ultramel
Five 66% Poss hets
We were in shock. I was so hyped I couldn't fall asleep and stayed awake until almost sunrise. It was easily one of the best days we’ve ever had in the Sunset ball python project — or in breeding, period.
Once the babies crawled out, we realized something surprising: the two Sunset Ultramels looked noticeably different.
One had electric orange coloration and a crisp, clean pattern.
The other was more subdued — still gorgeous, but clearly different.
We suspected one might have an extra gene, such as Bongo, but that male had only locked once months before the clutch was laid.
To find out, we sent shed samples to Rare Genetics Inc. for genetic testing.
But before the results came back, an older mystery resurfaced.
For years, our original Sunset male produced babies brighter than standard Sunsets. We suspected he carried something extra, but since Fire pairings didn’t produce Vanilla Creams, we ruled out Vanilla.
Then, during a collaborative clutch with Shane Kelly of Small Town Xotics, we finally got the missing piece. Shane ran a full genetic panel on one of the babies he holdback from the clutch and realized it was heterozygous of Orange Dream:
Our original Sunset male wasn’t a Vanilla Sunset — he was Orange Dream Sunset.
We confirmed it with our own shed test, and everything made sense. All the unusually bright Sunset ball pythons we had been producing for years now had an explanation.
This discovery would become essential to understanding our UltraSun clutch.
When the test results came back for our two Sunset Ultramels, our expecations were broken again.
One baby was Orange Dream Sunset Ultramel.
The other was Super Orange Dream Sunset Ultramel — a true world’s-first.
That electric orange baby was blazing for a reason — it was the super form.
Years of work, pairing decisions, and a few lucky odds all converged in this moment. Producing a world’s-first Sunset ball python combination felt surreal.
This clutch represents the best odds we’ve ever hit and the most rewarding moment in our breeding journey so far.
We have 1.1 DH UltraSuns left at the time of writing this post (12/7/25). Feel free to check out MorphMarket to see if they are available if your are interested.
If you’re exploring the Sunset ball python market, we highly recommend these U.S. breeders pushing the project forward:
Brandon Nixon
Justin of Morph Jungle
Brad Boa Reptiles
Krista of Neuro Fi Exotics
Internationally, check out:
Gavin of Balls2You
Dragon Labs
DJ of Reptiles for Century
Their work in the Sunset and Sunset Ultramel space is top-tier.
This clutch embodies everything we love about breeding: patience, surprises, discovery, and the joy of watching years of effort pay off.
The Sunset ball python project is only gaining momentum, and we couldn’t be more excited for the future. We’re already planning the next steps — but for now, we’re simply enjoying the milestone:
After five long years…
we produced a world’s-first Sunset Ultramel combination — and that Super OD UltraSun ended up being a male too.