Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is a comparison of two siblings from the same clutch so that you can see the difference between the Suntiger and the Sun-Super-Tiger. The color is pretty awesome on both of them, probably because they are het albino, but they were both looking so good that I had to share. This may not be the best looking Sun-Super-Tiger, by any means but we're pretty happy with it. It is an absolutely amazing snake in person. Instead of being dark and black, there is purple coloration along the sides on the back third, similar to a Purple Albino. I have no doubt that there will be something with a more reduced pattern, something with a nice pinstripe down the back. Between another female Albino Tiger x Suntiger het that we have that is about to lay or any others that are produced this year, it will be awesome to see how the Sunfire genetics look with the variation in patterns with the Super Tiger gene.

The pictures don't do these snakes any justice. If you get a chance, you really should come down to take a look and see them in person! Thanks for looking.

Patrick Powers
Manager of Prehistoric Pets

WOW Patrick unbelieveable..Hey i was wondering, could i get your e-mail address, i would like to talk to ya amd ask u some questions and stuff..

But I really like that SunTiger Patrick! both are awesome of course! Big Jim

I would call you crazy, but that is an awesome example of the extreme "classic" tiger pattern that seems to have blended nicely with the Sunfire gene. It also has some pretty killer contrast. Thanks for the comments.

Patrick Powers
Manager of Prehistoric Pets

Will you be attending Daytona this year Patrick? it would be nice to meet you and Jay after all these years! I used to be one of those people that wasnt crazy about albino morphs, I thought the normals were better and could not be imporved on! But when Pete Kahl sent me a large pic of his amel female I was sold on Albino Retics! And after seeing the animals produced at Prehistoric Pets I see a bright future for you and those working with such awesome animals! Regards, Jim Elliott

regular sunfire retic, for example here is a pic of one of my regular retics I produced in 2001 from line breeding for comparison of the double diamond pattern....that doesn't look like a suntiger to me patternwise???

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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Well I guess I am one of these crazy people that like Pattern and color! I never thought I would see the day that all my heros would sell out to moprhs and the mighty dollar!Big Jim

what do you mean? I was thinking that the snake ( P.P )in lower left isn't a suntiger, to me it looks to be a reg sunfire and the other one looks like a suntiger not a super-sun-tiger, my reg retics are the goods to me I have 10 reg retics, 2 tigers, and some albinos and hets, mostly old school tics lol. Most of my retics Originated from my 1980ish wild caught male(RIP) bred to a friends wild caught female pre-80's. she just passed this year, so they live quite some time.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

My bad then! lol I thought one was a tiger sunfire and the other was super form_ both are nice of course! Because of the laws here in Fla., starting next year its going to be harder for some people to enjoy the larger constrictors in the future. I am excited about the future regarding retics but I see a trend with no end! Good luck with your animals, Big Jim

They are a Sun-Tiger and a Sun-Super Tiger. If you look at the Super's head you will see that it has 4 spots on its nose and the head stripe stops at its eyes, and the back third is patternless. The Tiger head stripe also stops at its eyes. If you look at Frank's picture, it is not a Tiger because it has a stripe to the tip of its nose. It is a gorgeous snake with great color, but it is obviously not a Tiger. So don't worry Big Jim, it's not your bad. Photos can be deceiving anyway. I could take 40 pics of the Sun-Super Tiger and you would never believe the true color. It depends on the color of the computer monitor, too. We have a few different monitors that make the colors look different in all of them, it can get confusing. That's why it's best to see them in person. I'm sure that Frank's snake even has more color than the photo shows. I like to take photos right away because I'm excited about it. After they shed a few times, I try to get a few more glamour shots. I will hopefully take a pic of an Albino Sun-Tiger soon. It has glowing orange and a red line down its back. The back half glows orange with an orange stripe all the way down the back half. I'm very excited about it and even more excited that it's a male. There's even a small chance that it's an Albino Sun-Super Tiger. It's a sib to the two snakes in the photo above.

Jay Vella
Owner of Prehistoric Pets

I did get it right then! Awesome animals as always Jay. I look forward to seeing the animal you describe, sounds like a true beauty! I guess you and other breeders have just touch the surface of what can be produced from these aweseome animals! I look forward to seeing what combos come from the Tit.suns.Ivorys.Stripes.Albinos and so on. Big Jim

it says its a regular, I was thinking the suntiger did not have much of a tiger pattern, looks normal to me is what I said. After the head the snake looks normally patterned with double diamond like pattern all the way down, then again I can not see the entire pattern to begin with from that photo.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

thanks for clarifying.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

When I produced my first albino tigers, I only had two eggs and they were both from a poss het tiger. When I cut the eggs, I wasn't even sure if they were tigers or not. I had to double check them, but then my daughter said, "It's a tiger, look a the stripe that goes to the nose." I called Bob and asked what he thought they would look like and he said to check for the stripe, too. He told me if they both have the stripe, then I am lucky with the odds! Sure enough, they had the stripe. I couldn't believe it. It's easy to forget about the little differences. The sunfire gene compresses the black and reduces the pattern appearance towards the back third of the snake which can make it confusing, especially compared to the normal in Frank's picture.

Jay Vella
Owner of Prehistoric Pets

the sunfire gene is usually pretty obvious, but I have produced some high orange retic's. I have also seen a few "fires" from questionable ads in the classifieds, the one (reg/mine)pictured exhibits a lot of speckling and orange coloration and I have had ones more orange than normal in that litter, which in the wrong hands could leave someone scammed when buying this mutant, If I where to get one, I would get from You, Nerd, Clark, and Willibanks. I know there are many more people working with them, but at least with you I know I am getting an actual sunfire, funny I skipped over the sunfire's, But those titanium are just too unreal, probably better in person as well. Before you know it there will be MANY MANY combinations (ball python like)becoming available, your on the cutting edge now, I remember my first clutch of retic's made me "feel my oats" (1995). I find you and Patrick rather modest. I cannot wait till you post more pic's as they hatch, this appears to be the "year of the retic". I forgot the stripe and spots when I first looked at the snake.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research