I am still pretty speechless about this litter … I don’t think it has quite hit me how special it seems to be 72-hours post pariturition. It is the second sunglow litter of the year for me and after seeing the first I thought I had seen the best glows I would produce this season. While the first litter did produce (in all fairness) higher contrast babies (best compared to best each litter respectively), and have deeper reds in the saddles … color-wise they do not hold a candle to the babies in the second sunglow litter pictured below. Now part of this might be a play on the eye … since this litter is so colorful (underlying pink/reds/oranges) it can appear to take away from making them appear contrasty/how contrasty they actually are. Not the one light based sunglow in a few pics from the litter … it has a white base and does in fact appear to be a nice high contrast red and white sunglow. So while I say these are not very contrasty sunglows, I feel this may be due more to the fact that they have so much undedrlying coloring that it just makes it look like this. These are pre-shed pics as the litter was just born on Sunday (72 hours ago), but will be sure to take some individual non-tub shots upon the litter having first sheds.
After looking at the first few shots I took on my PC, I was thinking nobody was gonna believe that these sunglows are that pink/colorful … so I went back and added one of the litter’s sunglows to the tub that does not have as colorful-base and has more of a red and white look going on (her head still has some nice pinks in it) for reference in a few shots, so you can see the difference together. Yes they really look like this. Most pics were shot under photo quality bulbs (without flash) that have natural light balance. Then the two tub shots were with flash.
This litter is dear to my heart since it is the first litter that my own stock produced/fathered … so it makes it extra special to see such good restults coming from stock I produced that came from a non-known line(s). A sunglow I produced in 2008 ended up fathering this litter. Now while he is pink now, he was barely pink when he was born. A sibling from that 2008 litter I sold to another breeder was much pinker than the male I kept .. but the one I kept was a lot more contrasty, and did end up getting pretty darn pink at about a year of age, but not anywhere close to as pink as these are even just born.
So as we like to think/know … this shows first hand that when you selectively breed, the babies can show increased traits the parents carry (greatly increased underlying pinks/colors in this case). I can only imagine what will happen (or might happen) if one of the super pink males were bred back to the female Dh that started this line for me (she is where this pink came from), or one just as pink. While we might be approaching (or maybe not) the limit to just how pink a coral sunglow can get, I do think with certainty that you would see a higher percentage of the babies from said litter carrying this intense coloring next generation.
In this litter there are about 5 glows that are comparable regarding the intense pink coloration. Then there are about 5 sunglows that are still exceptionally pink in the litter that I would have (prior to this litter) been blown away by. But even the 5 least colorful sunglows in the litter are still exceptionally well colored … having visible pink washes in their heads and body(s). Even the albinos in this second litter are just drenched in pinks/oranges … something I am not used to seeing in coral albinos at all until they get close to a year of age.
Since I usually get asked about the genetics behind what I produce, the 2008 breeding that produced the father of this litter was produced from a het stripeline normal bred to a super pink Dh sunglow that I picked up as a ‘no-name’ bloodline after I saw the potential she was carrying with her stunning underlying pink color from head to toe and the hets and then glow that might come from her. I would have never guessing in my wildest dreams that that male offspring from the 2008 breeding would give me babies like this.
This litter was from my 2008 bloodline male coral sunglow bred to an out-crossed coral albino (a meduim grade coral specimen regarding pink color) … this female albino is the most muscular boa I have in my collection and this genetic freak build has proven to be very viable when it comes to breeding and most important, getting good litters. This was her second year in a row that she bred. First year was a kinda small 16 count litter. It took nothing off of her regarding body composition. Now a year later, and just giving me 30 healthy babies, two slugs and one still born, it again looks like the pregnancy took nearly nothing out of her! Her muscle mass is STILL there for the most part. I bring this up as these babies will no doubt (in theory) also carry these strong genetics along with them, making for equally strong breeding stock down-line (again, i say should if theory is true regarding this).
Like I said … I am still pretty speechless and was not expecting this … but I am not gonna complain that you can count on! Just when we thought we might not see anything newly impressive or interesting from Kahl strain animals (sunglows specifically), the 'Genetic-Gods' thought otherwise. Above all, Progression is what this litter means to me in my personal breeding efforts.
Enough jibber-jabber … Hope you enjoy the pics and will be sure to post some first shed pics in the next few weeks for everyone to see what they look like with ‘fresh tires’ on 
First pic of litter in tub without flash....
Second pic with flash ...
As always ... hope you enjoyed the pics ... and thanks a million for taking the time to have a look!
Warm Regards to All,
Trey Stowell
Wichita, KS
www.BoaCraftReptiles.com
