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What do you guys think of this Thayeri? I'm not sure of it's lineage.

>>What do you guys think of this Thayeri? I'm not sure of it's lineage.
>>

True it is interesting....
If you don't know lineage then you can never really call it a thayeri....It could very likely have alterna or other subspecies of mexicana mixed in its bloodline......

With the aberrancies you really cannot go on phenotypical markers such as a trifoliate head pattern and a post ocular spot, nuchal blotch, etc......

Have you done any scale counts....ventrals? subcaudals? dorsals? Try it on the next shed......
Even if you do there is still no way to prove thayeri......imho.....

It is a nice looking snake though......I would try and trace the lineage down though.....Who did you get it from? Did they produce it? If so, who produced the parents? If not, where did they get it from and so on.......If you run into a dead end then it is a generic mexicana.....I have a pair and I label and advertise them as such.......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

I remember seeing that snake in Monona. Really caught my eye. He said it was a pet that was surrendered to him, so it will be near impossible to trace lineage.
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

That's a pretty cool looking snake. However it does look suspiciously similar to what a man-made cross of alterna x thayeri might look like, or even some of the other mexicana complex would if crossed with thayeri. But to know for certain without tracing it's lineage, it would be virtually impossible as the others have already mentioned.

I wonder what color the irisis are.......silver/gray?, tannish?, or intermediate?

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Not to be argumentative but I'm wondering exactly what other form would so lighten the ground color or cause splitting of the blotches? This seems to me to be the expected continuation of what to expect from line bred thayeri, last up bow-tie now twin spots.

I was thinking however how odd (for lack of a better word) some of these line bred strains are becoming. One of the beauties of thayeri used to be that you could count on them to throw some really unique examples amid a sea of more normal types. Now screamer peach phase are so common we hardly give them a second look....... Is this the nature of captive breeding?
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“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emmerson

WWW.TDSNAKES.BLOGSPOT.COM

Is this the nature of captive breeding?

Well let's take a look at some of what is doing some full circles now. Melanistic Thayeri- yrs ago couldn't give them away now you have a hard time finding them. TriColor Hognose were very easy to get yrs ago and now they are common but still are some what pricey. Those 2 are the only ones that pop in my brain right now but I think there are more. Breed them til they are reasonably priced and then let them go to the way side, only to come back later...
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Jimmy Tintle

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean Jimmy. After a while of any type of snake or trait being out in the hobby mainstream for a while, people tend to treat something that was once extremely unique and special as almost normal, everyday occurrences after just a short time of being in the hobby. Yours were good examples of that. Some of the blinding "high-orange", and "peach" thayeri now days would have left most folks jaw drop to the floor in amazement years ago. Same with hypo Hondo's, and countless other things in the hobby now.

I remember in the early-mid 90's a SLIGHTLY "peach" colored thayeri would easily fetch $400 $500 bucks.

Nice hypo Hondo's that were simply "clean" and you could just see a noticeable reduced appearence to the dark rings would go for $1800 to $2000 bucks around 1995-96 as well. Now you hardly see any Tangerine Hondo's that AREN'T very clean reduced hypos, and they are considered common as rocks.....which they pretty much are..LOL!. At least the insane "extremes" are still a very sought after animal though. Mine are always sold before they even breed, which is great.

Anyway, yeah, things certainly change over time, and supply and demand govern all aspects of any trade in this world as we all know..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Yes, I often wonder about those very same things too Tony..*shrug*

Line-breeding certainly causes bizarre hidden traits to pop up, but so does crossing things......only "the Colonel" knows the precise secret recipe and percentage ratio's of some of the things out there now days.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Well you know how I feel about speculating on captive animals for the simple want of information. Its either locality or it isn't. Don't know why people can't just leave it at that.
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“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emmerson

WWW.TDSNAKES.BLOGSPOT.COM

I like it! It sure is different...Good luck with it...
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Jimmy Tintle

Good feedback folks, thanks for that.

Very interesting snake indeed, but as Aubrey mentioned, the shop had no history on it. I'd like to keep my lines clean so it didn't come home with me.

>>Good feedback folks, thanks for that.
>>
>>Very interesting snake indeed, but as Aubrey mentioned, the shop had no history on it. I'd like to keep my lines clean so it didn't come home with me.

Good choice in my opinion........
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...