As many of you may remember, last year we hatched 3 eggs from the first ever Tiger x Jaguar clutch, and one of the offspring was a "Jaguar." I instantly noticed this Jaguar was very different from any of the others we produced that same year. The colors were extremely light (copper/red and peach), and the pattern was greatly reduced and faded toward the tail. It also had a huge dorsal stripe and bright eyes. I thought to myself, is it possible this is the "Tiger-Jag"? It sure looked like it, but I couldn't say for sure because of the extremely low hatch rate.



This year we tried again and successfully hatched 14 of the 19 eggs (1 egg went bad during incubation, 3 were stillborn and 1 died soon after hatching -- all but one were normal siblings). So, we now have a pretty clear picture of what this particular breeding is capable of. Within this clutch, 3 of the hatchlings look identical to the one we hatched last year (Tiger-Jags), 5 are Jaguars (some with minor Tiger characteristics), 1 appears to be 3/4 Tiger and 1/4 Jaguar, and the rest are siblings (some with obvious Tiger influence).



Here is a photo of the '04 Tiger-Jag and an photo of an '05 Tiger-Jag for comparison (both after their first shed):





I am now convinced that this appearance is the desired "Tiger-Jag," and with good reason. I have also confirmed this with other well respected Carpet breeders.



Another thing that makes these guys so special is their incredibly clean color, which I feel is a direct result of both the Red Hypo sire and the Tiger dam. Since Tigers already have excellent color (they are a pattern and color mutation), they make an excellent breeding match for the Jags. I think the end result is quite unique.



This is a two year old regular Jaguar:





Notice the color and black tipping, both commonly seen in Classic/Regular Jaguars.



Here is a close-up shot of the a two year old Hypo Jaguar:







If you look closely, the raised portions of the scales are darker. This is fairly common in Hypo Jaguars and creates a slighty (for lack of a better term) dirty appearance.



Now compare to the yearling Tiger-Jag:







The scales are really clean. And regarding actual color, this snake is also more of a light lemon yellow in person, which unfortunately doesn't seem to come thru in the pics very well. Nevertheless, I think the color will continue to intensify over the next year. I think these three pics clearly demonstrate my point.



Hope I've answered your question.
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Will Leary

Reptilicus Reptiles

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