Reptile & Amphibian Forums

These pics are of my first clutch from breeding a blackhead male to a spider female. Results were 0 spiders, and one definite blackhead (far left of first image). I wanted to show how these guys look as hatchlings and how they progress over time.

Blackhead and sibs post shed (BH is bottom center with ringer):

Blackhead and sib about a month later:

Blackhead (right) and sib (roughly two months old):

My adult breeder Blackhead:

Thanks for looking.
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Reid Begnoche
http://www.tallgrassreptiles.com
tallgrassreptiles@gmail.com

I want to get into blackheads so bad.
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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)

www.youtube.com/reptilenexus

I'm in the black head project, got my stock directly from Ralph. Your hatchling is darker than its clutch mates, but I'm not sure your it's a BH. Do you have any belly shots?
Here is a picture of a black head right out of the egg that I hatched out earlier this season next to a black head pinstripe.
John

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John Woolard Reptiles

John,

Good to hear from you! I've tried to reach out a few times over the past few months by email, but I havn't heard back from you... Everything going well with your season?

You may have already known this, but my adult blackhead male also came directly from Ralph. He was purchased by my good friend David and I purchased him last year as an adult.

He was the 2008 sibling to Markus' BH from Reticballs: link below.

My adult male is the BH in the bottom right (clutch #5):
http://www.ralphdavisreptiles.com/birthing_record/pythons_08.asp

The first blackhead I produced here, was pegged by Ralph Davis as a definite blackhead. No better way then to go directly to the source for help! (thanks Ralph)

I would love to see some pics of yours as they progress so we can compare notes. My guess is, like most genes, they vary a bit.

Thanks for looking!
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Reid Begnoche
http://www.tallgrassreptiles.com
tallgrassreptiles@gmail.com

Is this the snake Ralph identified? Do you have a belly shot?
I hope you hit on a black head and it would be helpful for other people here to see the ventral scales on this animal (I think).
Thanks,
John
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John Woolard Reptiles

Yes, this is the animal Ralph idendified as a Blackhead both pre-shed and post-shed.

Would you mind posting some detailed pictures of the blackheads you have produced? Or, even a full clutch picture so we can compare your normal offspring as well?

If you are going to question the validity of my post and snake, you should be prepared to share some information yourself.

Up to this point, you havn't returned any of my emails, or offered any insight to me what so ever...

A full uncoiled body shot of the male you posted would be great to see. Also, how does he look now?

Please educate us on all of the markers for blackhead. I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Or, feel free to drop me an email, if you want to take this offline.
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Reid Begnoche
http://www.tallgrassreptiles.com
tallgrassreptiles@gmail.com

Reid,
I apologize if you took my request for a belly shot as an attack, as that was not my intention. In this case, the white ventral scales would make the ID on your black head more conclusive and that’s what I was after.
Every week I engage in similar conversations with people in attempts at identify various ball pythons - some of those are my own snakes that puzzle me. A friend of mine, who happens to be buying my next BH male, text me last night about your pictures and was trying to ID the stereotypical BH characteristics that distinguished it from the normal clutch mate you have pictured with it. My response to your thread was for partially for his benefit and I was hoping it was for yours and mine too. If black heads are varying that much we all need to know that and the best part is, everyone who sees this thread will know your animals are the real deal and what to look for before handing over thousands of dollars.
If Ralph helped ID this snake then that's awesome and congratulations are in order for you (maybe that’s where I made a mistake –by not congratulating you first), but Ralph’s private conversation with you doesn't add knowledge to those considering investing in the project who may have their first exposure to black heads on threads like these.
I don't doubt the picture of the breeder male as being a black head, but the hatchling just isn’t as obvious when I compare it to animals I’ve made and those made by friends of mine over seas. Again, this comment and my response to your thread is not an attempt to question the validity of your post, but rather a way to help you, anyone who views this thread and me, as we identify animals we produce from our BH projects.
If anything is obvious it's that black heads are throwing animals that don't make a lot of sense…and it’s an awesome problem to get to figure out! I feel fortunate to be in this project as it’s just getting started. Ralph and I have both produced animals that are not easily identifiable and it's as if some of the siblings exhibit black head characteristics, but they are not black heads - many of those do not have a clear white belly (thus the basis for my question). Like Ralph, I'm holding onto snakes that are questionable (2 of those are males from my black head x dream bee YB pairing). Only a few people have seen these and they don’t know what to make of them, and in reality, I may not know exactly what I have without breeding them. My point in saying that is that any animal I've sold or intend to sell in this project must be a black head without question - I owe that to my customers and it's a way for me to protect the integrity of this project. That does not mean I’m saying your snake is not a BH as it very well may be one.
As an educator by trade, and a father to young children, I live in a world of inquiry…and from my perspective, most of our learning comes about from asking questions. If you or I, or any breeder for that matter, is going to sell animals, we must be accustomed to answering questions people have about animals we produce without assuming their only intention is to discredit our integrity.
Best of luck with your black head projects, Reid. I wish you success and I look forward to seeing some new black head combos from you in the near future.
Regards,
John
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John Woolard Reptiles

Hey John,

My frustration with your responses has stimmed from the fact that I tried to reach out to you 3 times via email in order to talk about this project and identifying animals and you completely ignored me for months.

It wasn't until I posted a thread about the project that you finally responded. And then you come right out of the gate to try and discount the animal I've posted.

That may be why my responses have been a little defensive.

The only snake that has left here from the BH offspring so far was to a friend whom has been helping me try to identify these animals. Him and I have an agreement and are both on the same page with the project.

I agree, I would never sell an animal I wasn't 100% sure of and I too have quite a few questionable animals I'm holding on to. That is why I would love to share some pics and communicate on the project with you.

I've got another clutch hatching right now from BH to bee. Looks to be some awesome snakes in there.

Would you be willing to work together and share some notes?

If so, let me know. Thanks.
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Reid Begnoche
http://www.tallgrassreptiles.com
tallgrassreptiles@gmail.com

Sorry, not a great pic, but this is what I have on hand. Hes got a clear belly.

Also, I've noticed that some of the animals have "het pied" like markers at the base of the tail. I even have some with slight ringers and have a clear belly, but don't look entirely BH.

Check this guy out...

Ever known a normal to have an orange ringer?

There is definitely something unique going on with this gene.
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Reid Begnoche
http://www.tallgrassreptiles.com
tallgrassreptiles@gmail.com

This is not Fauna and I have no interest in publicly discussing anything that is not relevant to the project.

I've explained the rationale for my response to your thread and my request for a belly shot shouldn't be all that surprising since it's a VERY important detail of the morph.
Not to mention it's the first image of an offspring from your black head male that I’ve seen from you...email or otherwise. So, I responded to it, like I do with ALL other inquiries I get. But, this type of arguing is not at all productive at all and it's the same reason why I chose not to respond to you offline.

I'm sorry your feel that this was an attempt to discredit you, Reid. Even if I have question about the genetics/markers of animal, whether it's yours, mine or someone else's...that's just not how I roll. I get questions about my orange dream combos all the time and people want to know details - like "How do you know it has yellow belly in it?" If I get my feelings hurt and take offense to their question, then what I have I gained? If I take my time to share what I know about how the yellow belly gene reacts with the orange dream then that approach goes a lot further. I had a similar questions about a black head yellow belly female I made this year that had not started showing a lot of the blushing and color change, so I pointed out the identifiers and everyone was happy. She will make a great breeder for him and will open his projects up to amazing possibilities.

People who choose to invest their money with me know that I am passionate about the projects I work with and I am very open with the knowledge and experiences I have. I don't have all of the answers, but I'm willing to work with people to find them. Most of that quest for information comes from asking the right questions with the right people.

I'm more than willing to start over here, Reid, and find that common ground with you.

Best of luck with your projects.
John
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John Woolard Reptiles

Awesome, I would love to share some info!

I'm gonna hold you to it!

I'll send you some more pics and we can talk offline.
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Reid Begnoche
http://www.tallgrassreptiles.com
tallgrassreptiles@gmail.com

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. I need one of these guys bad.
Matt Ozsvath
ozsvathreptiles@embarqmail.com
717-637-6409