Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I noticed recently, that many breeders are very anal retentive about colors. For instance, the deeper the green on a GTP, the better. Bland and midiocre green tree's will not fetch the price and interest of that of an above average speciment. So my question is; what about the bloods??

Why are many bloods so ugly and poor in colors? Borneos and blacks aside, what about red bloods? Clearly there are those specimens that are very RED colored...so by now you'd think that RED colored bloods would be the desired norm. However, most bloods for sale are orange, pale-ish, murkey brownish, and not especially pleasing to the eye. Why is it?

In any event, does anyone know of a breeder or company that specializes in producing deep red colored bloods? If so, please let me know as I would like to purchase one.
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Many feel that I need to be balanced with equal time. Wrong. I AM equal time.

-Rush Limbaugh, 1992

My web site will be up and running in a couple of weeks. On it I will have pictures of a very broad spectrum of blood colors. I personally like the variety. I positively love my big fat yellow female "Buttercup". Having said that I will tell you that I have some very red "reds". I do agree that they seem to be the more desireable, and thus pricey, color variety. I dont alwasy agree with that but it seems to be the trend, along with stripes. With captive breeding really kicking into high gear I think you'll see the washed out and dull color varieties fade into the background. Most of the animals for sale on KS right now are wild caught and/or farm raised. The CBB season is just starting to kick in. Be patient and you'll see some nice red babies pop up pretty soon. Several people on this list also have some very high contrast orange animals that are just spectacular. I might even have some before the year is over. Pictured is Ruby one of my adult females. She is as red as they come, I think.

Thats a very nice red blood 5Rings, and shes is gorgeous, and please dont take this the wrong way, but their are much redder reds then that, I would really call yours an orange phase red. Check out the thread above this one. Kara's Rolo and Livid are true reds. THEY dont get any redder then that!
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Sam Craver
Cage Crafters

Actually I say that 5 rings blood python is redder. Sure pattern is important, but all snakes have cool patterns. I havent once seen a blood and thought "ugly pattern". Though, I have seen bloods and wondered why they werent red. Thanks for some of the tips...

best,
ohn
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Many feel that I need to be balanced with equal time. Wrong. I AM equal time.

-Rush Limbaugh, 1992

I've got snakes the color of Karas, though I dont have that gorgeous head and probably lack the contrast. Ruby is fire engine red and doesnt have shading anywhere. There is no orange to be found on her anywhere. She is just red. One of my other girls is blood red with some darkening along the dorsal region. I should do a side by side with all of the shades of red side by side.

Also, the red color develops more as they age. This is straight from VPI's website:
"Hatchling blood pythons are never red. Most youngsters undergo a dramatic color change as they mature. Animals typically don’t begin to show some red color in their pattern until their second year, and the brightest red colors usually develop from 2½ -3½ years of age. Thereafter, the red coloration of most adults darkens with age."
I've seen some pretty red babies though. I'm just wondering what my baby girl will look like in a year or so. -chris-

As with anything, there are varying degrees of color. A Red Blood doesn't have to be Red to be nice looking. I've seen many that were orange/orange red/yellow/Yellowish Red, and even brown or Brownish red that were absolute killers. For me, pattern is what makes the animal. If the animal has a striking pattern, then your really not going to pick up on the color that much. But to answer your question, VPI are the only ones Breeding Red animals in numbers. Alot of people are working with them though, so they shouldn't be too hard to find

It does not breed true and that is why you don't see large numbers of deep red bloods being produced even when breeding together animals that show this trait. It is not unusual at all for two bright red parents to produce a group of young that show all color phases when they become adults. Actually, it's more the norm.

Kelly

There are a lot of breeders/hobbyist that have some great looking blood babies. Check out the post on here and look for the kind of animal you would like to own, and then you can cantact that person and see if they can tell you where to get one like it. The great thing about bloods is that there are so many colors and patterns. Ugly or hot is in the eye of the beholder. You can also check with the big breeders and get some great stuff there too... Best of luck, and I hope you find a blood that make your heart melt!

I wonder why the color doesnt breed true???
Interesting...thanks for all the posts.

I do have a blood. His name is hot dog, and he's much larger now in person. Cheers,

john

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Everything I saw was a terrible bore because I'd seen it all before

The Civil Surface, 1974

You also have to understand that true, actual "red" bloods that are really and truely red are very, very, very, rare. The ugly specimens are far more common, so when one does appear, it usually goes to the larger breeders because they are spending the most money with the importer. So you never see the real nice ones for sale on the classifieds. And Kelly is right, red to red doesn't really make for red offspring. I know a guy that has been breeding Bloods since 1975 and he had some of the reddest bloods you can imagine. And I bought a lot of bloods from him throughout the years and none of them ever turned out to be really really red like stop sign red. And it never happens in babies. This particular gentleman did have one baby once that was born red, and I mean unmistakeable red, and it was just a baby. I've got a pic of it hanging in my house. The best Bloods out there right now as far as red goes, and they are very expensive, is the red head albino Tracy Barker came up with. They are exceptionally red, even as babies. They are unreal.
Paul Edwards