Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Earlier this summer I posted a pic of an imported Mojave like male that I was working with.. Well he just proved out! I have 1 baby out of the 6 egg clutch that is without a doubt a co-dominant/ dominant animal that will look very much the same as his father as an adult! This is very cool news as according to Dan Sutherland and Ralph no other Mojaves have been brought into the country that they knew of out of Africa, making this animal the first to either be a new line of Mojave or in my opinion to at least be compatable to one , once I breed this line into the existing Mojave line I'll know for sure, but I have no reason to believe that they won't match up together! I will be breeding this adult this winter to make a nice group of babies to hold back for the future... It may be possible that this may have a Super that is different than the Mojave Super (like the Super Phantom for example, most thought it would be a white snake as well, yet Ralph proved it otherwise) but If I were to take a educated guess here I would say the Super form of this line would be a type of white snake, regardless it looks to have Super potential written all over it at this point so I'm tickled regardless of what the Super looks like, a white snake Super or Phantom like Super , it's ALL GOOD to me! I may consider letting a few of these gems go next season but I'm not sure I want to potentially let something new out in case this proves to be yet another weird type of codom, if I do they will be priced more than the existing Mojaves that's for sure, and in my opinion should be valued closer to the Lessers, being new and having the potential that comes with any new morph.. Once the baby gets some size on him I'll be posting his pic , he's a 55 gram baby now and I want to get him feeding before worrying about any pics... I would like to thank Ian Gniazdowski and David Van Houten for working with me on this project , without their assistance I wouldn't have had the chance to work with this new line of co-dom... Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles.

If you check NERD's webpage it mentions they have their own line of imported mojave.

Cut and pasted from NERD's webpage:

"We are extremely excited to be working with a new Mojave bloodline here at NERD, starting with a lovely established, imported serpent who has decided it rather enjoys being waited on and fed juicy rats at its beck and call. Stay tuned for exciting developments with these beautiful animals as we both refine our Mojave stock and combine its attributes with other ball python mutations!"

And I seem to recall that the 'Pastaves' made by Renaissance Reptiles in 2004 were made using their imported line of Mojave.

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, just stating some facts.

Besides, your Mojave male looks great all on his own. Heckuva pattern on him! And that blushing is nothing to frown at.

BB
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"Have you hugged your drummer today?" --- Me

Just curious........

Thats AWESOME. If its not compatible with the mojave than name it something else!!!Get your name on a morph.

Anthony,
Congrats on your success. Ron
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The Crawl Space

Congrats on the new project. It's been a very exciting year for ball breeders. Hope it does prove out to be unique but even if it turns out to be just a Mojave with nothing unique about it, the cost of admission is worth the journey. Stick with it, see it through to the end and prove it one way or the other. In my opinion that is one of the differences between the wanna be's and big boys.
Best of luck
John Q

Congratulations - can't wait to see the babies!

Best of luck on the rest of the project too!!!
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

Thanks for all the input People, once this hatchling ( I only have 1 baby morph on the ground so far) gets a few meals in him I'll post pics for you to check out. I'm still not sure what to do about naming this line, it does seem like it should be called something as to call it "Mojave Like" isn't really a good idea, we have Lessers and Butters seperated and to me those seem VERY much alike so maybe I need to come up with a name for this line as well , any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks again for all your input/time folks! Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles.

This might sound dumb (infact it does even to me sort of) but how about just putting random letters in a hat (i.e B,L,R,S,D) and draw out some letters, if the letters actually make a word then thats what the morph is called. You would just have to make sure you have an even amount of vouels to start with. OR you could name it "sky", or "cloud". I don't know.... you asked so I typed

Anthony, I am basically in the same boat you are with my Ember Balls. I am 99% sure they are a new Fire line, but like you and your new Mojave project, will have to prove them out with a white snake before I am sure. I named mine Ember keeping in line with the Fire theme. I think you should name your line something that goes along with the Mojave theme, something to do with the Desert. If they do prove out to be another line of Mojave, you can keep the new name to differentiate your line from the Sutherlands line. Even if my Embers prove out to be Fires, I will keep the Ember name and just call them Embers or Ember Fires, which will differentiate my line from other lines. I would name your line after a Desert, or after something found in the Desert. Good luck man! Pic is of two Mojaves and an Ember.

I agree - right next to the Mojave is the Sonoran - maybe thats a good name for them.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

Too many other snakes with a name that has 'sonoran' in it. Maybe take a desert name from Africa?

>>I agree - right next to the Mojave is the Sonoran - maybe thats a good name for them.
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>>Tosha
>>
>>"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"
>>
>>7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
>>1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
>>0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
>>0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
>>0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
>>2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
>>0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

That's exactly what I was just thinking, an African name would be best, this may be something to consider! He is directly from Africa too even more reason to name him after his origins, Thanks, Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles.

How bout these:

Ade - The Royal One

Ghali - Expensive

Zwanga - Mine or that which belongs to me
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

>>Too many other snakes with a name that has 'sonoran' in it. Maybe take a desert name from Africa?

Wasn't aware of that - hmm Africa has three deserts - The Sahara, Kalahari, and the Namib.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

There is a transitional region bordering the Sahara desert that is a savanna habitat called the "Sahel" in north central Africa, that from what I can tell on the map looks to be a legitimate area that one may find Python Regius roaming free...It's not a catchy name but perhaps a good one for this morph.. Afterall what the "Sahel" else should I call em, LOL!!! Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles.

Isn't there a name for a Desert sand storm? That might be cool, or I would go with Sahara Ball. You really need something that looks like you did not try "too hard", and something that rolls of the tongue.

Hey Anthony,

How about "SHIKA" It means GOLD in Ghana?
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Rob Trenor
RK Reptiles
www.rkreptiles.com
www.rkreptiles.net
www.oldworldchameleons.com
www.ballpythonmorphs.net
www.beardedragons.com

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How about you call him Mojavier

Or how about Motley when means "having components of great variety, heterogeneous, varied". Seems to me with the similiarity between Lessers, Butters, Mojaves, Het Russo Leucistics, Phantoms, etc that the name Motley would fit in quite nicely to this mix! I realize Motley is a common term in the reptile world but doesn't it fit here as well as anyplace, and as far as I know the name isn't taken yet anyways for the Ball Pythons? If my line proves to be the exact same as a Mojave then I could seperate this line from the existing line by calling them Motley Mojaves so people know the origins and know they are from this strain... Input please !!! Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles.

I gotta say I'm not too keen on the name 'Motley' for this morph.

Reason being that the two snakes, Motley Corns & Motley Boas, already being sold under that name share the name because they share the same appearance, and both produce a wide variety of appearances in the homozygous form.
There is also a Motley Black Ratsnake variety that I'm sure has been proven by now.

To quote Kathy Love from 'The Corn Snake Manual'....."The popular name[motley] is an abbreviated version of 'motley mutant', a term coined by Dr. Bechtel to describe this unpredictably diverse abberation."

From just the one hatchling can you accurately say that the inherited appearance is 'unpredictably diverse', or as you put it, 'variety, heterogeneous, varied'?

I'd have to say that this another case where, to avoid confusion, Corn Snakes set the precedence. lol
I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks 'True Ghost' sounds like a dumb name. Maybe when it's produced the visual will inspire a better name than 'True Ghost'.

I do see where you're coming from with your definition of 'variety, heterogeneous, varied' but I think it better describes the entire group of "het for white" ball pythons. (Lessers/Mojaves/Phantoms/Fires/RussoLemons/YellowBellies and quite possibly Butters)

You asked for input.

Good Luck with naming your new morph.

And the name 'Motley Mojave'? I'm sure most snakekeepers would hear the name and expect a ball python with the colours of a Mojave Ball and the pattern of a Motley Corn or Motley Boa.

BB

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"Have you hugged your drummer today?" --- Me

And I'm not keen on any African place names, because people might take that to mean they are locality snakes.

I was looking at the picture in the original post. It's got a lot of the lateral light areas pinched off into circles instead of connecting to the light venter. Maybe something like "circlesided" would work.

I also asked myself whether a morph mated to a normal could produce normals and a morph among the babies if the mutant gene was a recessive. The answer was yes, if the normal-looking snake was heterozygous for the mutant gene. I hope the mutant gene is a dominant of some sort. But, in my opinion, there is a lot of breeding to do before it is proven.

Paul Hollander

Paul actually the mother is a 66% Pos Het albino , I immediately stopped breeding the albino male to her once this new animal arrived, he bred her for a month before she ovulated, just for the record I have never produced ANYTHING that looks like this from my albino line so I highly doubt she was a recessive het for this trait , I'd even be willing to put money on that one! The mother was a line bred animal from Het x Het albino and I know exactly what that line produces and they look nothing like this newest addition! Look at the new pics I put above and tell me it doesn't have CODOM written all over it !!! Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles... PS it's a cool bonus that this hatchling may also be a Het albino based on his mothers genetics, I'll breed her (the mom of the morph) to the albino again this winter and if she produces any albinos then this new gem is also a 50% Pos Het albino.....

>Paul actually the mother is a 66% Pos Het albino ... just for the record I have never produced ANYTHING that looks like this from my albino line so I highly doubt she was a recessive het for this trait ,

Good point. Not conclusive but adds weight to the dominant hypothesis.

>Look at the new pics I put above and tell me it doesn't have CODOM written all over it !!!

Very impressive snakes!

The pictures do not have codominant written all over them. You forgot to load any of the pictures into PhotoShop and add that. In a few years, your breeding records should tell us what the genetics are, though.

The most surprising thing I've seen in snake genetics to date is the possibility that homozygous Mojave is blue-eyed white.

Paul Hollander

Paul , your welcome to stop by next summer after I breed this adult morph to several normals and produce more visuals , at that point the genetics should clearly speak for themselves. I'm confident that it is a co-dom ,I wouldn't be wasting nice normal females if I didn't think this one baby is how the morph looks at the F1 stage , my question /concern is what the F2 babies look like when he is bred back to his daughters! For now the project is "in the works" but it's looking to be a worthwhile venture that I think I'll enjoy tackling! Now lets "Evolve Some Balls"... Take care Paul! Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles...