Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I havent hatched out a Crystal in a few years so it was very nice to get to see some of these little guys in the egg... Here are a few different variations of the Crystal project!
Let me know what you think,
Tom Baker
Crystal

Pastel Crystal

Together

Pastel Super Special

Super Pastel Special (clutch from late 08 that hatched on New Years Day)

Idea...

So we know that Lessers and mojos make blue eyed lucies right?

Do you think maybe that kooky lesser mystery gene might have something to do with the crystal?
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

No, I dont believe that the Special gene is related to the Platinum gene since BHB has produced a Lesser Crystal that does not look like a Platty. Originally when the first Crystal came out I did email Ralph and ask him if he thought it was a Platty. He also said no...

Oooh, see, I didn't know about BHB's snake.

Guess it will be a mystery for a while.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

I never know what to call it but I've seen "hidden" for the mutation that combines with lesser to make platy and I think that is as good as any because it describes the mutation. Other names I’ve seen are platy sib or now mystery. Apparently they look like normals unless combined with another mutation in this complex. Even the homozygous hidden seems to be a normal.

But the fact that platy X normal never produced a platy and that the butter platy was produced without inbreeding tends to indicate that hidden is another different mutation of the same gene as lesser, butter, mojave, phantom, mystic, special, Vin Russo, and mocha (and I'm probably forgetting some).

Many of the combos of different mutations of this gene are white (like lesserphantom = karma) but some aren't like mojavemystic = mystic potion. So the lesserhidden = platy combo appears to be another non white combo in this complex like mojavespecial = crystal.

The important thing to remember about different mutations of the same gene (alleles) is that each parent can only give one copy of each gene so a combo like platy can’t give both lesser and hidden to the same offspring. This prevents platy X normal from producing platy and crystal X normal from producing crystal but these breedings also don’t produce any true normals because they all get one or the other mutant version of the gene from the combo parent.

I never really delved into the whole Mojave/Lesser/Phantom/Platinum/etc./etc... theories and discussions, but that brief post explained it so that even I understand!!!
Thanks again...
Paul

Those are some beauties!!!
Paul

Thanks Paul!

They are amazing....and that's an understatement! Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
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Cheers,
Jessica
10.15 Ball Pythons; 8.9 Corn Snakes; 0.0.1 Green Tree Python
2.2 Jungle Carpet Pythons
6.6.1 Bci
3.0 Crazy Dogs and 2.0 cats
Some Tropical Fish
...........and growing!

No problem! I am glad you like them!

Tom, all are simply outrageous! I personally like the pastel crystal the best but I'd take any one of them as a birthday present or under my Christmas tree.

What does their coloring look like as an adult? With this amazing project and the mystic potion, adult mojave females are going to maintain their worth for a while!

Congrats!
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Alice Cobb
Florida Reptile Room

Thanks Alice,
I can update the adult Pastel Crystals photo once he sheds, but I will show a pic of him breeding this season so you have an idea!

Tom,

Beautiful,,,,,,,,,,, congrats!
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Proud supporter of USARK and Kingsnake.com
“We stand together or we fall apart”

Kyle
www.royalvariations.com

"be safe, be happy and dont let anyone make you afraid"
David Coverdale

Thanks Kyle!

Awesome man, congrats!
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-Jeff
http://jefflumanreptiles.com

Thanks Jeff! Thanks also to everyone that has showed interest! The Crystal combos are just starting and I bet we will see some interesting things this year from those working this project!