Sure...

That's why I said it COULD be a motley bloodred there in the pet shop, but that the odds against it were, in my opinion, stacked against that being the case. The reason I think this is true is because of two factors: Money and Time.

Money:

Until very recently, bloodreds simply weren't as widely bred as they are today. In the not too distant past, bloodreds were known among most hobbyists as picky lizard eaters that might just starve themselves to death before ever accepting a mouse. Combine that with the fact that bloodreds are the original morph among our snakes that has kept its prices relatively high (even today, blood hatchlings routinely fetch between $75 and $100), and you have a recipe for not as many do-it-yourself breeders to have them as they have other morphs. Of course, today, there are more and more of them out there, but that brings me to the next point...

Time:

It takes usually two years, sometimes three, for hatchlings to mature to breeding age, as we all know. Even if you assume that a breeder had a BR and a motley of opposite sexes, that were mature, threw them in together, and produced viable eggs...you would STILL have to have another 2-3 years before those F2 snakes were then bred to one another, whipped murphy's odds, and produced a motley bloodred. Even if that DID happen, it would still be another 2-3 years before that F3 could be paired with BOTH a bloodred AND a motley to prove it was double homozygous, and even that might not get it done in one breeding season (murphy again).

So, I still submit that it is unlikely that anyone other than those few who have put the time, money, and effort into this project to have a verified motley bloodred. If it has been done, I still haven't heard of it. But even if it has occured, the then further unlikelihood that those F3 snakes are being sold in a pet shop for $80 bucks is...well, improbable.

It COULD be. I just really, REALLY doubt it.
-----
Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

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