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Here is a more recent photo of my 04 male brooksi, N.E. Axanthic

Steve

Very nice snake indeed.I would like to make a comment and hear some feed back please. The lemke strain axanthic that I purchased as an adult produces axanthics such as yours,{very shiney,}blueish black,purplish,but all very glossy as hatchlings,some become dark,some lighten as adults,so my question is what is the visual factor in determining N.E. or L.L. strains.Thank You, Tim Ricks.

hey Tim and everyone heres an ol pic youve seen a few times of a N.E. strain axan.Chris

I had comparison pic's of the NE and Lemke strain from a few years back when I was working with both strains. I have to scan the pics and post them as I don't have them stored in my computor any longer.

Basically the Lemke strain juvies start out a nice blue and the NE juvies are kinda muddy looking as neonates. The interesting thing is the Lemke's start to get drab as they grow and the NE gets prettier.

Today people have outbred the Lemke's and I have seen some stunners but none quite as nice as the NE's. I crossed the Lemke and NE strain (yes they are allelic)a few years ago and it downgraded the NE genes. They came out drab just like the normal Lemke's.

I would like to see some pictures and I too will post some.So if I have a drab looking adult it is probably a Lemke strain and if I have a pretty adult it is probably a N.E. strain.I was hoping there would be better descriptive characteristics for differentiating the two strains.Are drab looking and pretty looking the only visual determining factors.Thank You ,Tim Ricks

Tim, drab and pretty are not determining factors. I also have both strains, and to be completely honest, I can't tell a bit of difference in color as babies. The N.E. strain has a tighter side pattern, usually only 1-3 scales wide. The cross-bars are thinner. As for color, I can't tell a difference.....at least with my animals.

As for production, I've also noticed, the N.E. strain has given me lots of trouble. My first breeding of these produced 10 eggs, in which 9 were fertile. For the duration of incubation, 3 of the 9 started to sink in and mold withing a couple of weeks. Although, I did manage to hatch 6, there were 5 with massive kinks. The second year wasn't any better. There were 12 eggs, 8 fertile, and I ended up with 3 hatchlings. One was normal, one had a slight hook at the end of the tail, and the other with prolapse hemipenes. I cannot tell a difference in color between the two strains.....only a differnce in pattern....at least from others' pics.

You have some beautiful brooksi. They are more than likely Lemke animals, as I didn't start seeing the N.E. line until the very late 90's.

So when are we going to see a hypo white-sided???? Hurry up man!

Brandon Osborne
Pictured is a NORMAL white phase het for axanthic.

Brandon,thanks for the info.I've been asking questions and making comments all day.I'm taking in a lot of good info and viewing some fantastic pictures,a great learning experience.I experience some of the same mishaps as you in eggs and hatchlings.From what I've seen so far in adults today ,I can see a difference between the two.I agree with you in hatchlings.This was my first year breeding white-sided to hypo,so 2006 would be the soonest for me. Thanks for the comments and info., good evening to you,Tim Ricks.

Tim,

I've been breeding the Lemke strain since 97. I've bred axanthic to het and axanthic to axanthic with absolutely zero infertility problems. Some of these were even siblings. It wasn't until this past season I started having fertility problems with one of my females. She hit the 10 year old mark this summer and that may have something to do with bad production.....but then again, my production was down overall this season. Maybe I need to breed some hets from the N.E. line to get better fertility. So far they have not proven well for me. This has been a great discussion so far.

Brandon Osborne

2004 Ghost holdbacks. (Lemke)

Chris, I remember you posting that pic a while back for me when I had asked if anyone had any pics of adult N.E. Axanthics. Right after you posted that pic I purchased my 04 male. They are stunning animals, no doubt. Thanks,

Steve

yeah! when i show my friends my mess"i usually get an Awe from them for the Axans. i have a different pair that are HET Ghost but the axan is het ghost and the male is hypo-melan. het ghost. as far as comparison the ne,s are better than the axan het G. and the hypo could also use some refining heres another ol pic of my fav hypoM ....L8r Y'all Chris