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after many years of having the adults on loan to a friend, then sold to a Long Island aquarium to be placed on display, this piece of history may very well have been gone forever. The great-grandparents of these campbelli were collected circa 1985 from the Zapotitlan Basin, Puebla, Mexico by David Blody. After having spoken to Dave several months ago, he confirmed that indeed many original animals have perished and the integrity of many lines being potentially compromised over the last decade.

The adults of these hatchlings were purchased from Don Wilson (Seven Gen. Reptiles) back in 1994/1995. The line was refined from this specific locality to produce some spectacular-looking specimens referred to as "white-coral" Pueblans, which were initially produced by Dave Blody and sold via Don Wilson for several years until Don unfortunately withdrew from the captive-breeding scene (as Don was an incredible person in many respects). Don also marketed the awesome orange Pueblans that are very infrequently seen nowadays, and which I regret selling off in 2002 in preparation for graduate studies. Luckily one of my best mates, Andy, happily took on a few white-corals to work with. I turned down the offer to take them back, looking specifically to get back into zonata. After some thought and speaking to a few mates such as Dave Blody, Shannon, and Scott Ballard, I was convinced that turning them down was a mistake due to their rich history. I endeavored for almost a year in trying to re-acquire them from the next change in hands -- Atlantis Aquarium in Long Island, NY, where they were used for an educational mimicry display.

Thanks to an understanding marine biologist by the name of Todd Gardner (now also a good friend who gives the best behind-the-scenes tours), I was able to get them back into their original owner's hands (MINE) and continue their history. Needless to say, Dave was ecstatic to learn of the fruits of my efforts.

So, without any further adue, the first Zapotitlan Basin hatchling campbelli seen in........who the heck knows but it's probably been a while..........................LOL..............

and mom.....................pic of dad has just been delayed, but he's perfect in every way, complete confluence (no black crossovers), and is evenly-banded all the way.................

Hope you enjoyed!
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

That's great! Good luck with the project. I passed on some orange ones too and also regret it now....can't keep em all
Tom Stevens
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TomsSnakes.com
twitter.com/TomsSnakes

Ahhh!, how grande!!!.LOL!

Great narative on the interesting history of those guys too. True classics bro!

I had some insane orange ones as well back in the mid-90's. Wish I still had those too....arrghh!!. Well, on top of lots of other stuff I also got rid of and can NEVER replace..LOL!..oh well...

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Very nice Jerry. It is not too often that you find snakes where the history can be traced like that unless they were personaly captured of F-1's. Very nice indeed.

LMAO, Jerry, great job! People in the trade now dont understand that these were just discovered in the 80's(!!). To have any locale specific pueblans....man that has to hold up to scrutiny.Be prepared. Lines have been compromised. I think you remember the super nice adults that used to be displayed at the NY and PA shows before we understood what "hypo" meant, and the onslought of Hondurans...which I singly blame for the numbing to pueblans. OK, let the stoning begin....

LOL, I think the scrutiny is beginning. I could care less. I know what they are, I worked hard to acquire both the physical specimens AND the historical data from the original source. What more need be done...anyway, thanks for the support! When amI going to see you at another show??? I will be in both WP and LI show this fall. Hope to see you there!
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

Well, the mom sure is a beauty. I have always loved pueblans with wide white bands and no cross-overs but they are hard to find. You going to bring her to the WP show to show off? I might stop by just to see her

Vinny
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“There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that whilst this planet has gone on cycling according to the fixed laws of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” -C. Darwin, 1859

Natural Selection Reptiles

I for one, will always have wc stock in my collection regardless of quarentining problems. The end justifies the means. Tom I really think too many people are hung up with little things like "changes in the law" and are losing what got us into snakes to begin with.... the idea of taking something from the wild and making it our own. Too often its easier to to buy something than it is to make it ourselves. Too often we breed snakes now to get the one baby we covet not the 100 others we force into slavery. Think about it.

Very nice... long winded... but nice =)

Seriously though it comes to show how we can take things for granted. We'll always need a healthy balance of locale nuts in the pile! Congrats on getting them back. Well done.

Chris

WC stock collected by Dave B. circa 1985 Zapotitlan Basin, Puebla, Mexico.

The line was refined from this specific locality to produce some spectacular-looking specimens referred to as "white-coral" Pueblans. Dave bred these pure and marketed them through Don Wilson (7 Gen)

The adults of these hatchlings (I'm assuming parents of the pictured hatchlings) were purchased by you from Don Wilson (Seven Gen. Reptiles) back in 1994/1995.

You put the animals on loan to Andy while doing graduate studies and later turned down the offer to take them back, looking specifically to get into zonata.

They eventually ended up in the Atlantis Aquarium in Long Island, NY where you were eventually able to reacquire them.
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“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emmerson

Your thoughts?
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

I'm not questioning the snakes. Just trying to get the story straight.
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“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emmerson

That's a very cool project Jerry, Very nice animals!

Congrats on the hatch!

~ Mike Russo

for the kind words and input......I know it's a really unusual and seemingly-questionable circumstance, but I worked closely with both Don and Dave back then in not only acquiring some of the best campbelli at that time but also getting to know them more intimately in obtaining detailed, factual information about the lineage and the efforts taken to bring this line into the hobby. I've no reason to question their integrity, however skeptics will be skeptics and that's fine. Out of respect for David, I can't help but coin them Blody campbelli as a direct result of his hard work and efforts during his heyday at the Forth Worth Zoo.

I'd say let's enjoy them for what they are until Don or Dave can come forward and claim them to be something other than how I'm representing them as well as hoping to carrying on their historical roots. Blody just spent a couple hours in total several months ago with me via telephone/e-mail re-capping historical data and sharing his own import photos with me. We were discussing these campbelli only, while affirming that his captive-bred progenies went straight from his hands at bulk cost to Don Wilson's for re-sale to the general public. AFAIK Don had NO OTHER campbelli in his possession/collection other than the white/coral and orange lines that stemmed from the original w/c specimens from the Zapotitlan Basin. SO.......Blody is covered.......Don, if you're reading this, kindly fill in any blanks. However I don't think there are any. Again, thanks for any and all support...oh, and the first one emerged with no crossovers and is awesome (for both phenotype AND genotype purposes...).
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

Could you PLEASE be a little more specific???

I hate it when someone posts cool lookin' stuff with absolutely NO details whatsoever!......hahahha!!!

All that type of stuff is exactly what I like to know about things I own too, man!...I want no stone unturned!..LOL!

later, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Jerry,
I love it! A big part of what make those animals unique (along w/ how exceptional they look) is the locality and genealogical information you can provide w/ them.

Great post, and keep up the good work.

-Dell

Bighorn county, MT 2009

Kind words that are much appreciated go a loooong way with me. But seriously, thank you. After all these years i'd like to think I'm contributing SOMETHING to the hobby...and although it's not any kind of new morph, etc etc, some knockout zonata or Pueblans-as-pure-as-they-come are okay by me.

All the best Terry.......
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Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."