Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It should be about time for someone to let us know a female desert has laid fertile eggs.

I would love to see a Desert on eggs myself, i just bought a baby female desert so im very interested in this

I was actually going to wait until I had something definitive to share, but since you put it out there Terry, I thought I'd join in. All I can say for sure is that I've had several desert females breed this year and I’ve had one tiger (desert enchi) slug out with 5 total eggs. *This pic does her no justice for sure and all of these images were intended for my own records, so I'll apologize in advance for the quality.

I have another desert female that is gravid and is due to lay in about 3 weeks. Again, not the best pics (obviously), but you can see the bulge and then the pic below that shows her lying inverted with a large swell (taken a couple of weeks ago).


While I can’t guarantee these eggs will be fertile, I have high hopes that they will be and she looks gravid - not like she’s full of slugs.
Here she is pictured with one of the males she was with this season.

I have another desert female that is starting to show signs of an approaching ovulation, so we'll see how that goes. Obviously no guarantees, but that's true with any pairing.
Despite all of the drama surrounding desert females, I remain confident that someone will soon prove that this argument is futile and that desert females can indeed lay viable clutches.
I wish everyone well that is working with these beautiful animals and send my best to you all.
Cheers!
John
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John Woolard Reptiles

The question was never if they can lay viable clutches...thats been proven (only once it seems). The question is, can the majority of desert females lay (and/or consistently lay) viable clutches. The argument before was never said that they can't lay good clutches...it was that they rarely do.
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Luke Martin
Bronze Serpent Reptiles

It will be interesting to see if desert combo females do any better. If they do prove to be difficult layers...to me it's like any other morph with issues...you work around it and make the best of it. Still one of the most sought after and hottest morphs out there!!!
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Matt Lerer
Ghi Reptiles

Well stated, Matt. I agree and think the more transparent we can be about our experiences (positive or negative), the more opportunities there will be to learn from each other and build on these newer and exciting projects.
Hope your season is going well.
John
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John Woolard Reptiles

Clearly some morphs may have/have "issues". If the morph is remarkable enough we work around said factors that are less than ideal. I am working with Caramels and have eliminated kinking within my stock -- as have other breeders. If Caramel females prove to have significant fertility issues, all that means in market reality is that Het females, PH females, and the ability to make Het females (homozygous males and Caramel combo males) become MORE valuable/expensive -- not less expensive.

A similar equation of the above could be a reality for Deserts, or any morph, IF there is a less than ideal factor in their reproduction. In other words, if the odds for producing Deserts and Desert combos are DECREASED due to limited fertility of visual females and combos -- then the Desert males and Desert combo males "should" be MORE valuable.
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Bill Buchman

"if the odds for producing Deserts and Desert combos are DECREASED due to limited fertility of visual females and combos -- then the Desert males and Desert combo males "should" be MORE valuable."

In such a situation, obviously males would be more valuable than females. However, I don't see any way that this would actually increase the value of a male desert or desert combo higher than what they already are. If females do in fact turn out to be worthless for breeding, this will cut the value of each desert clutch nearly in half . . . making the gene as a whole less valuable.

Matt your GHI ball is the Hottest ball out there. Just saying. Yea Desserts are pretty sweet, but your GHI is better and there are less of them out there. I would much rather have a GHI than a Dessert.
We do eventually plan on adding them both to our breeding plans.

Matts GHI's are WAY WAY hotter than deserts.... heck IMO hotter than ANY single gene dom or codom! Mmmm loves me some GHI. When are they gonna be available Matt?
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Brian Hettinger
480 Pythons
Next year = True ghost pastave's!
Contact us

I've sold a limited number of them in the last two seasons. There are 3.8 regular GHIs out there in other collections and one combo animal I sold this season. It's an amazing project!
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Matt Lerer
Ghi Reptiles

Thanks John,those snakes look good.I hope this works out for you so I can have positive input on this instead of all the B S that is going around.Again Thanks

Hi Terry and other, I just read through the posts here and I dont want to sound like an idiot but is everyone saying that the female Deserts do not lay viable eggs ? I would be very interested in hearing more and anyone with extensive experience with this please drop me a note to my email.. Is it female Deserts or Desert x Desert or ??? Thanks, Jay
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JEMreptiles@gmail.com from sunny AZ.

Lots of cool Ball Pythons along with
0.0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty and some great Bull snakes.
1.1 Argentinian Black and White Tegus
1.0 Gotti Pitbull (Tank)
2.0 Beautiful Bengals (Stryker and Cynbad)
12 Tarantulas
Last but most Important 2.2 Children

desert females...period....

it's been said....

but not proven either way...

keep watching...!!!!!!LOL
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........JY

Are we still looking for "The Truth" about desert females? It was deserts that all of the commotion was about, wasn't it?

It seems that there may be at least some "Truth" to the rumor.

I hope not, or at least that combos do better.

Sorry guys......I believe it.......I haven't seen any pics, nor have I seen photos in enough numbers to make that info seem false.

I have a desert. And when that issue came out, I wondered what to do. Do I sell it now? Is the morph still worth it if you can ONLY breed male desert or crosses to morph females that DO NOT have the desert in it? This means many things.......the morphs are beautiful......crosses are beautiful......the males are worth something, but the females would essentially be pretty pets, except for those that still want to see if there is a super, or if this rumor was false. And why do I listen to one guy? Because there is no proof otherwise, especially for how long deserts have been around. Other reason, I haven't seen too many trolls that stick around to defend their view point over and over again to try and convince people. Not many are that bored to keep it up.....they strike, amuse themselves, and go away...

Good luck to all those that have females......I'll keep one or two crosses when I produce them........IF I choose to breed. But the fact is, you WILL see in my ads...."There might be a chance these females don't produce viable eggs.......take your chance!" I'll sell them for less, and I don't care who judges me for it. Until it's proved false, I WILL NOT RIP OFF MY CUSTOMERS.

And one more thing guys......if this rumor IS IN FACT TRUE, then there are some BIG BREEDERS out there that have some questions that need to be answered......if you have more than 5 females up to size, and none produce eggs, then you are RIPPING PEOPLE OFF WHILE YOU CAN......results are not being posted, and those that keep up the lie for the sake of money are not like those of us that love these snakes.......they care more for what's in their wallets. People spend there hard earned money on these snakes......I got judged for selling "possible mystics" when I bred a mystic to a mojave.....I got people that emailed me claiming to be experts, and I still told them the same thing....I know what I'm selling....if I don't, then I will let you know....it's not worth the risk on my end.

I could be wrong guys. I have been around for a while, so don't take that as I know everything. I just know one thing for sure.......an ignorant person can spread a rumor, and more often than not, it goes away. But when you hear it too often, and there is no proof otherwise, sometimes that's all I need to decide what I am personally going to do.....I trust my gut.

Let the bashing of my name begin......bring it......I don't know who the "truth" is, and I won't throw my name in with him......I'm just saying that I don't like the looks of things.....deserts are still worth money, but maybe the females more often than not may be the best pets for kids! LOL

Who knows.....eh, it's late, and the wine tastes fantastic tonight......lol

Brandon Boeke
Priceless Pythons

All good points ! I see no reason for bashing,this season should give us the info we need .

I don't have any knowledge about the desert, much less first hand knowledge. But ever since I first questioned the nature of homozygous spiders on this forum (which we still don't have an answer for like 8 years later, don’t remember for sure when that post was) I've been saying don't assume any combo of mutant genes is viable and capable of reproducing until it's proven. Hopefully it will turn out most will do just fine and those that had the guts to buy them before they where proven will benefit from their risk. Wish I did know some big breeders as there are a ton of morphs that I haven't happened to notice posted documentation of viability/fertility that are probably long since proven ok but are still in my suspicious category. With some luck I might hatch some super chocolates this year. Can I sell any without confirmation that older super chocolates of both sexes went on to breed? I don't have any reason to believe they would have a problem but my point is that the risk should be considered for any morph that isn't proven yet. I feel for the trail blazers who regularly work with unproven morphs but I guess with the risk comes with the potential for the glory seen when most of them work out great.

You're absolutely right Terry....I read it, and perhaps it did come off a bit like bashing, which I didn't really intend. I just wanted to state my opinion.....and to caution those until we really find out, and also include my stance and what I intend to do, one way or the other. I feel that they have their place, and males can still be worth money, but I have heard enough stories on the deserts to not sit back while so many choose to stay quiet.....the fact is, this morph has been around long enough, and there are enough breeder size females out there that the warning that was given, along with some stories I have been told, could turn out to be fact.......

However, in the end, I really hope to see SEVERAL desert females on eggs this year......I really love that morph, and I want to know that I can hold the females back, if I choose to breed my male!

Brandon Boeke
Priceless Pythons

I meant no need to bash you on this.My sources don't have any positive results on female deserts.I pulled my add for them until I see something to prove they do produce .I am with you also on the bigger breeders keeping this quiet to sell snakes.

Thanks Terry.....

Brandon Boeke
Priceless Pythons