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Hey all,

I'm a bit flustered over here!! My Anery female dropped her litter (I think last night) about 102 days POS. She is a 2001 Anery poss het snow that I bought from Rich Ihle way back then. I couldn't try to prove her out this year since my albino male didn't show any interest in breeding whatsoever. So I placed my 2001 Het Anery from Basically Boas in with her, so that I could at least get some new little anerys, which is by far my favorite morph anyway. This was his second female for the year and he did the job. I believe this male het anery was from a ghost litter, so I expected some pretty good looking anerys in this litter.

So I came home this morning and found that she dropped her litter 3 days early. Already, I was pretty psyched because I could see some handsome anerys in there. I went to grab my digital camera in my home office, come back to take a another look at the litter and I was floored when I saw a little white worm in the bunch. I thought it was an albino, which would have been enough for me to lose my breath, but after taking yet another look, I think it's actually a snow. The little guy/gal is in the top left corner of the pic.

I'm a bit worried about him/her because there's a lot of yolk that hasn't been absorbed (as can be seen in the pic). Please advise as I've never really had to deal with a baby with that much yolk still needed to be absorbed. I gonna leave the entire litter alone in the Vision cage and spray with lukewarm water until they start moving off on their own. I only think it's a snow because I really don't see any orange on it as would be seen on normal albinos. I'd take a closer look, but I don't even want to touch that little white guy until he absorbs more yolk and starts crawling around a bit more. Any other advise as to what to do would be extremely appreciated.

I guess the female is a definite Anery DH Snow, but the male? When I bought the male 5 years ago, Mike from Basically Boas didn't really mention anything that would lead me to believe that he had any albino genes at all. I doubt that my albino male did the job, since I would expect there to be more albinos in the bunch plus, didn't carry any genes for anery. So maybe I hit the jackpot with the percentages and the het anery male was in fact a dh snow? Regardless, I'm very happy with the results.

Anyway, enough babbling from me. This my 4th and final litter of the year and what a way to end it. I hope and pray to the boa gods that this litter does alright, especially my little surprise. Here are a couple pics to show a bit of the excitement I got to experience today.

Thank you all for looking and any advice about premie albino/snow boas would be greatly appreciated.

All the best,

Jay A.

Here's the little surprise I found amongst the anerys and hets.

Congrats, with all the poss. dh. out there it is not really a huge surprise that you you got lucky, it is awesome though. I don't think you can hardly buy an anery anymore that is not atleast a poss. het somewhere down the line. AWesome litter and it sounds like you are doing good by the babies by not taking them out right now, keep them moist, check temps and you should be okay. Again congrats on the great litter. Craig Kade

You hit the jackpot. Congratulations! Best wishes for all of them! Keep us updated.....

Lots of crazy things going on with the boas this year. Wierd shtuff just popping up everywhere lately it seems....

Jesse
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"Continuing to cling to the patterns you know, inhibits your ability to discover what you don't know." - Eric Allenbaugh

That is SOOO Cool. It looks like Both parents were hets, and you have a beautiful Snow. I just had a litter from a Snow to an Anerythristic Poss het Snow, and she proved out NOT to be a HET, so NO SNOWS FOR ME. I think Baby snows are some of the coolest babies to look at. Many snows do yellow out, but even some of those Big ones BIll Gaines has are AMAZING animals. THe snow project is still very rare. You don't see many of them out there. The 1/16 thing is a lot harder then people think, and to get some good numbers, you have to do what you did. CONGRATS and thanks for sharing. Chalk it off as a blessing. You got hooked up. Patience pays off.

Jeremy

Here is a photo of the "high yellow" Snow boa to which Jeremy is referring. This is probably the best example I can provide as to why I prefer the "yellowest" Snows. I guess this is good for my customers who always want the "whitest" ones I have ... "different strokes for different folks".

And yes, there are years of longevity in the Snow boa projects due to only very limited numbers being produced every year.

By the way, for those who may recall my post of this specific female months ago, she was bred by my pure El Salvador Blood boa. And after having a great litter last year, she let me down this year ... 8 stillborns (triple recessive color hets) and 41 slugs (yep, that's right, 41). She will probably have next season off, and the male will have to settle for my Blood females.

bill@gainesreptiles.com

www.gainesreptiles.com

PS: Jay ... Good Luck with your Snow.

I am so sorry that the litter didn't work out. I know you told me before, but it still sucks.

Going back to my "super morph" I'd love to produce so many different colors in one litter. I guess add at least another year of waiting (if someone else does it that is).

... hey Bill, thats the COOLEST Snow Boa ...I love that yellow ... PLEASE send me a photo like that for my next edition of Designer Morphs !!! ... and maybe we should talk about how I can get a "high Yellow" Snow boa from you !!! Yes, I can really see a need for Bloody Snow boas now !!!

cheers, John
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www.johnberryreptiles.com
www.designermorphs.com - new site and book, Sept 06.

Bill, that is one of the COOLEST Snows I have ever seen. I have a few adult snows, but NONE like that. People can bag on the "Yellowing" out of snows all they want. However when they do, all I think about is YOUR KILLER snow, and I just say to myself, "They have NO CLUE" LOL

Cheers Bill, thanks for sharing. You have a very nice collection.

Jeremy

No doubt, she is a real "Sweetheart" ... great temperment, good looks, and a fantastic breeder.

And yes, I kept back 6 or more 2005s that I hope will look just like her (time will tell).

These days you need to hold back some of all color tones since you never know what they may get bred to in the future.

Thanks to all of you for your positive comments on Snow boas ... one of the most under-valued (or maybe best buys) morphs on the market today.

Oh yeah, I think there are a lot more surprises down the line ... nothing that I am specifically breeding or doing, just that some of last year's litter from the female Snow have some fantastic colors (even reds) and maybe offer some cleaner and even whiter Snows in the future.

Bill

obviously they have not seen that boa. She is awesome. Vinnie

Believe I was completely caught off guard by this little surprise snow. I'm very glad to have proven out the female to be a definite Anery DH Snow. I waited 5 years to make sure she was healthy and ready to breed and really didn't expect to try and prove her out as a het snow until next year at least. So I'm psyched about proving her out now.

And I do love the snow boa. Seeing one of Pete Kahl's snow boas back in the 1999 on the internet is what got me interested in wanting to keep and breed boas in the first place. I've always thought of a snow boas as my personal "holy grail" of boas. Sounds pretty cheesy, I know. But the snow boa is what got me started in the first place. And now, I just hope that this little guy/gal pulls through alright. She seems to be alright so far. Just sitting there absorbing the remaining yolk. I still haven't touched him/her and don't plan on doing so until it starts moving on its own. Just keeping everybody moist and warm, still in the cage they were born in. I'm on pins and needles here and cannot wait until this bunch has their first sheds.

Thank you all for your replies.

Jay

Jay,

That is an AWESOME post. I love to hear what Gets people jazzed and how they got started. I know exactly what you mean. The Snow IS A VERY SPECIAL BOA, and actually still quite rare. I know what you mean. In 2000 when I produced my first snow, I was on CLOUD NINE!!!! I'm happy for you. Thanks for sharing. Your patience payed off, and I love it when people take the LONG route and get rewarded.

Take Care, Jeremy

n/p

Congrats That is just great!!! Andy
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How cool to prove those animals out and baby snows are awesome!

Holy, that sure is a wonderful surprise.
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Joel Pretz
JP Reptiles