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This is one of the males I kept back from last year and he's quickly moving toward peachies...big pig! The other two pics are of one other male holdback and an albino Ruthvens I picked up. Also a very good eater.

Russ

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albino ruthven

Nice looking leonis Russ. Those keyholes saddles on this one really look good.

thanks man, he's growing on me....I kept him back for some reason and now it's becoming evident why. This picture does him no justice, honestly. His background color is the neatest pale yellow with a slight hint of green...cool.

I've been meaning to call you but I've been really busy with work and my family....I'm sure you can understand.

Russ

No problem Russ I've been meaning to do the same thing too LOL.

I've been busy as heck with kids graduating fom high school, pounding the pavement, taking care of snakes, and mini vacations.

I'll try calling you here soon Bud.

I like this one alot too Russ....He kinda looks like the ones Chris G. and I have with the nice washed out, hallow or keyholed saddles.
Which female do you plan on pairing him up with in the future?
I want to produce some nice orange keyholed thayeri one day. An orange leopard thayeri would be awesome in my opinion.
Great looking thayeri as always Russ,
John Lassiter

I rarely think breeding projects through wrt the variable kings. It doesn't really make much of a difference at least in my experience...they are so variable

Thanks for the comments. I had over 50 eggs so far from my variable kings however it appears some of the eggs did not get good sperm from the male and have died off. I've probably lost 12 or so eggs in all. Second clutches are underway as I type so time will tell if they turn out good or not.

I'm still waiting for my mexmex to lay....hopefully today.

Russ

They ARE real variable and it really doesn't matter what you breed what to, but they can, in fact, be line bred for desirable outcome. Look at Vivid's website and ask Tim Gebhart how he can continually produce bright oranges, reds and yellows with little to no speckling into adulthood.....selective breeding
Also, how do you think Dan Vermilya eventually produced his leopard thayeri and continually produced keyholed thayeri?.....selective breeding.

Don't get me wrong.....I am not knocking you one bit. I used to just breed what I had not thinking anything about what they produce. I still do just to make things work from time to time.. Now I am working on a few projects...They are in their infancy at the moment, but I plan on seeing them through. (PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE !!!)
I plan on producing orange keyholed thayeri that will eventually lead to orange leopard thayeri. I also am working on a "no black" thayeri. I don't think they are the most gorgeous thayeri, but they are different and worth a try producing. Then, I have to start producing my own yellow leonis and yellow milksnake phase thayeri.....I know it has been done time and time again, but I haven't done it yet and I do need to satisy my want/need to produce some....LOL I think I got the right male to eventually produce some with.
Some of my selective breedings went down the drain this year. The two I really looked forward to were my Vivid line orange milksnake pair and my dark phase mexmex female X light splitbanded male mexmex. I will just have to try again next year, eh?
Russ....I hope you produce some more of those yellow, creamy, green tint thayeri this year....I think they are awesome.
John Lassiter