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Mega X Falcon Extreme Clutch

RG Sep 27, 2012 10:59 AM

The sire, Mega Het Snow:

The dame, Falcon Extreme Vanished Hypo (one the most interesting Hondos I've seen):

My goal was to test the compatibility between the Falcon Extreme Hypo Line and the Mega Hypo Line. The Falcon Extreme (a breeding loan from Don Shores) has many of the polymorphic recessive "hypo genes" being expressed, so it was a perfect snake to test the theory.

Here are the photographs of the clutch below...

Pre-Shed Shots

Flash:

No Flash (I know the focus sucks, but the color is right):

Post-Shed Shots

Flash:

No Flash:

Can you guess which one I kept from the last pic above?

Comparison Hypo Pics

The two pics below show a Ghost with the Mega X Falcon clutch.

All of these neonates have been sired by the same Mega Het Snow male, but come from two unrelated females.

The above two shots illustrate the differences between the two "black pigments". The Ghost is chocolate, where the Vanishing Hypos are more saturated purple/black. It's difficult to photograph it, but I did my best.

Don't misunderstand what I'm stating, these neonates are really nice light hypos, they just aren't what I consider "Extreme" or "Mega" when comparing them to previous clutches that I've produced. I have observed a very similar type of phenotypical result regardless of which "hypo" female I pair with him.

Here's a few shots of an Extreme clutch that Doug has produced:

When you have an Extreme, it basically looks like an Amel.

Here's a few other neonates from a clutch last year. These were VERY VERY light, lighter than the Mega X Falcon clutch shown above, and the female that produced these was not an "Extreme":

The female that produced the neonates pictured above:

After looking at these pics again, I think I'm going to repeat this breeding next year!

Oh, and this is the one female I held back:

Don Shores has the remainder of the clutch (I believe the sex ratio was 1.2).

Thanks,
Rusty

Replies (15)

denbar Sep 27, 2012 03:37 PM

Can you guess which one I kept from the last pic above?

Very nice Rusty. I'm guessing you kept the coiled one with the bands reduced to dots. Is it a male?

--Dennis

RG Sep 28, 2012 10:22 AM

it's a female!

Forgot to mention...all these babies have a 50% chance of being Het Amel and Anery too.

She was the lightest female out of the bunch...and the most reduced pattern as well.

I wasn't going to keep any of them, but I changed my mind. I want to see what happens when I breed her back to her older half brother!

Denbar Sep 28, 2012 11:33 AM

She's great! I'd keep her too! I was wondering if light coloring would be true, like you said is often the case with ghosts.

--Dennis

DMong Sep 27, 2012 04:09 PM

Congratulations Rusty!,....that little holdback you picked out is definitely an awesome animal!..

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

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

RG Sep 28, 2012 10:23 AM

Yeah, she's really cool looking...totally patternless on the side!

-Rusty

rodneyj Sep 27, 2012 08:37 PM

are making to try and understand the "mega" trait!! You have stayed on the trail like a blood hound.I sincerily hope you are the one to unravel the mystery.Thanks for your efforts.

P.S. what do you think would happen if you crossed the "mega" poster DMong with the "extreme" line?? Would you get Extreme Mega poster???? I can only imagine.

RG Sep 28, 2012 10:28 AM

you are one of the VERY few people that I don't have to try and convince!

I just spoke with Jeff Alloway about the original "Mystery Male" origins; it was a good conversation for sure.

Did you get another Hondo? That looks like something you or Randy produced?

-Rusty

robhaneisen Sep 28, 2012 12:35 PM

Wow. Very nice Rusty!

RG Sep 29, 2012 09:29 PM

Thanks Rob!

tspuckler Sep 28, 2012 06:40 PM

Crazy-good, Rusty!

RG Sep 29, 2012 09:30 PM

Thanks Tim!

RG Sep 29, 2012 09:36 PM

Yeah Jimmy, I've been following this Mega stuff for almost 10 years!

I have another clutch that has hatched out, I'm waiting until they all shed to take pics. There are a couple that look really interesting, but nothing like last year.

Keeping with a project is so time consuming, but hopefully it will be rewarding in the end!

Dniles Sep 30, 2012 07:55 AM

Fantastic stuff Rusy! Those are some awesome looking hondos. I think I guessed correctly the one you kept!

Dave
DNS Reptiles - Milk Snakes

RG Oct 01, 2012 08:32 AM

Thanks Dave!

RossPadilla Oct 07, 2012 08:54 AM

Very interesting post, Rusty. Thanks for sharing.
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