# Ball Pythons > BP Morphs & Genetics > Is This A Morph? / What Morph Is This? >  My Dinkasaurus Rex

## TJ_Burton

Here is a project I am proving out this season for a dinker that is likely a part of the Super Stripe / Ivory complex. This male is an African import brought in by a local reptile store years back as a hatchling. The owner thought he looked unique and picked him up as a pet. After growing him up they decided they would like to find out if anything genetic is at play, and attempted to do so with a friend. Unfortunately that pairing did not result in eggs and the owner decided to try again with another breeder (me).

I first spotted this snake in a thread on reptilescanada.com and messaged the owner almost immediately inquiring about offspring for sale. That is when they notified me that there has yet to be a successful pairing, and discussions began about my working on the project.

Without further hesitation,
Here is "Dinkasaurus Rex" 

Here are some various photos (taken by the owner)










These are more recent photos:





And lastly an older belly shot:



We are putting him to a couple of our 'extra' normal females to try and increase the odds of a) having a viable clutch, and b) hatching offspring that carry the trait. Either way, this is my first dinking endeavor and pending the results, probably wont be my last.

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_Anya_ (07-15-2013),_DNACurtusK_ (01-28-2013),_Valentine Pirate_ (11-16-2012)

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## Valentine Pirate

Very cool project! I _love_ his head pattern. Be sure to keep us in the loop

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## Flikky

> Very cool project! I _love_ his head pattern. Be sure to keep us in the loop


x2!

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## Mike41793

Id definetly say hes dinker worthy. Maybe just a nice YB though? He looks very YB-ish to me.

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_Aes_Sidhe_ (01-25-2013),AlexCaldecott (01-25-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

> Id definetly say hes dinker worthy. Maybe just a nice YB though? He looks very YB-ish to me.


It is quite possible - that is why I mentioned him likely being in the Super Stripe complex; also talked to some big breeders regarding him and they all said I should throw him to a YB female.

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_Mike41793_ (11-16-2012)

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## DooLittle

He is cool!  Love his head.  Good luck, keep us posted...

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

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## alittleFREE

Wow, he's awesome looking. Best of luck and keep us posted!

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## snakesRkewl

Looks like a yb to me, good luck proving it out.

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## meowmeowkazoo

That looks a lot like a yellowbelly.

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## SquamishSerpents

Put him to an ivory female! Go right for the gold!

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## SquamishSerpents

Or send him to my place to be paired with my kinda sorta Specter looking female. She produced a normal with funny-like markings and bright yellow splotches on her belly.

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## TJ_Burton

> Put him to an ivory female! Go right for the gold!


Not in a rush to waste a season with one of my nicer females on the off chance he isn't genetic. If he produces offspring that look like him, I will put him to a couple morphs next season.

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## Solarsoldier001

Love his funky pattern. I also can see yellow belly in him too. Have fun with this project. Looks like awesome babies will be made from this little guy XD


Sent from iPhone 5 using tapatalk  :Smile:

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## TJ_Burton

Quick update,
This little stud has already locked with his first lady of the season.

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## TheSnakeGuy

What makes a dinker? Everytime someone posts a picture or talks about them all I see is a normal ball python. So what makes a dinker a dinker?

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## DeadGirlSuperstar

wow hes a nice boy! all the best in getting some gorgeous babies! x

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## TJ_Burton

Another quick update on this project

The male has been doing great with both his designated females. He locks consistantly, and I don't doubt we will see at least one clutch sired by him this season.
More exciting for us, we have come to an agreement with the original owner and have since purchase this male. This means we are able to keep all offspring he produces as he is now owned by us! 

I am hoping for at least a couple females with his traits to hold back ad tool around with.
Fingers crossed!

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## SylverTears

I love the name Dinkasaurus Rex and his pattern is insane!!

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## xFenrir

> What makes a dinker? Everytime someone posts a picture or talks about them all I see is a normal ball python. So what makes a dinker a dinker?


A dinker is just a snake that looks unusual/out of the norm. Usually people find "normals" as dinkers, but they have a funky pattern or an unusual coloring/blushing, and someone wants to prove it out as a morph.

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## snakesRkewl

Pretty sure it's a yellowbelly  :Good Job: 
The "other" yb complex snakes do not have that kind of flaming, and are not nearly so visual as yellowbelly is.
It doesn't say yb, it screams it

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_Aes_Sidhe_ (07-25-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

> Pretty sure it's a yellowbelly 
> The "other" yb complex snakes do not have that kind of flaming, and are not nearly so visual as yellowbelly is.
> It doesn't say yb, it screams it


Ain't nothing wrong with new yellowbelly blood straight from Africa; especially if the offspring are all going to be this visual.

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## snakesRkewl

> Ain't nothing wrong with new yellowbelly blood straight from Africa; especially if the offspring are all going to be this visual.


Absolutely  :Good Job: 
I have my own line of yb, couldn't happen if there wasn't new stuff coming in.

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_TJ_Burton_ (01-25-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

> Absolutely 
> I have my own line of yb, couldn't happen if there wasn't new stuff coming in.


Post up a pic - I'd love to see your line for comparison.

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## snakesRkewl

> Post up a pic - I'd love to see your line for comparison.


My line is different than anything I've seen anywhere ...Very dark

sRk line yellowbelly's

Female


Male


Baby female yb from the male ^^


Ivory also produced by the male

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_TJ_Burton_ (01-26-2013)

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## xFenrir

> My line is different than anything I've seen anywhere ...Very dark
> 
> sRk line yellowbelly's
> 
> Female


Now THAT'S hot!!  :Good Job:

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snakesRkewl (01-26-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

> My line is different than anything I've seen anywhere ...Very dark
> 
> sRk line yellowbelly's
> 
> Female
> 
> 
> Male
> 
> ...


Yeah I can't say I've seen any YB quite like those before. Great looking snakes.

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snakesRkewl (01-26-2013)

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## angllady2

That little guy looks like a combination of fire and yellowbelly and maybe a little something else thrown in.  I've certainly never laid eyes on a yellowbelly with blushing like his.  Add me to your waiting list for a male that looks just like daddy when you get some you are willing to sell.


And Jerry, that white-sided yellowbelly female of yours is something else!  She looks slightly calico to me.  Do you know if her offspring carry the white as well yet?

Gale

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## snakesRkewl

> And Jerry, that white-sided yellowbelly female of yours is something else!  She looks slightly calico to me.  Do you know if her offspring carry the white as well yet?
> 
> Gale


Here is a sRk line yellowbelly 100% het clown baby from that female ...





So different than anything I've seen, I took several years to search to make sure this line was different, and after making Ivory's I started my search for a name.

TJ_Burton ...Sorry for hijacking the thread, good luck with your snake(s) and I've no doubt they'll prove out for you, probably yb's but who knows, definitely good looking and worth proving out.

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_angllady2_ (01-26-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

> That little guy looks like a combination of fire and yellowbelly and maybe a little something else thrown in. I've certainly never laid eyes on a yellowbelly with blushing like his. Add me to your waiting list for a male that looks just like daddy when you get some you are willing to sell.
> 
> 
> And Jerry, that white-sided yellowbelly female of yours is something else! She looks slightly calico to me. Do you know if her offspring carry the white as well yet?
> 
> Gale


Shoot me a PM with "dinker male offspring" as the subject and I will keep you updated.




> Here is a sRk line yellowbelly 100% het clown baby from that female ...
> 
> So different than anything I've seen, I took several years to search to make sure this line was different, and after making Ivory's I started my search for a name.
> 
> TJ_Burton ...Sorry for hijacking the thread, good luck with your snake(s) and I've no doubt they'll prove out for you, probably yb's but who knows, definitely good looking and worth proving out.


No worries at all.

I haven't seen any YB with so much checkering on the belly that it has creeped up the sides until yours. Great look line IMO. The only thing I see less of is the orange flames, do they still show? I am curious to see how your line translates into combos compared to others.

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_angllady2_ (01-26-2013)

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## snakesRkewl

> I haven't seen any YB with so much checkering on the belly that it has creeped up the sides until yours. Great look line IMO. The only thing I see less of is the orange flames, do they still show? I am curious to see how your line translates into combos compared to others.


The flames are different every time I take pics, but they are orange but also have a greenish tint to them depending on how the light hits them.
I've only got the one female going this year so I can't really answer yet how this line will combo up since I'm only making superstripes.
I think for darker combo's this line will be hot, I'm not sure I want to throw pastel or anything bright at it, but we'll see when our younger female hold backs breed next season.

The orange shows well under bright light ...

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## TJ_Burton

> The flames are different every time I take pics, but they are orange but also have a greenish tint to them depending on how the light hits them.
> I've only got the one female going this year so I can't really answer yet how this line will combo up since I'm only making superstripes.
> I think for darker combo's this line will be hot, I'm not sure I want to throw pastel or anything bright at it, but we'll see when our younger female hold backs breed next season.
> 
> The orange shows well under bright light ...


I see what you mean. The flames are certainly nice and blushed, but not as orange as what I am used to seeing. Mind you, your line is much darker tan anything I've seen as well. I think the amount of checkering on the sides more than makes up for it.

The dinker  I have is orange. Side by side with any normal ball, he looks quite orange in overall looks.
I am really looking forward to see what his offspring looks like.

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## snakesRkewl

> The dinker  I have is orange. Side by side with any normal ball, he looks quite orange in overall looks.
> I am really looking forward to see what his offspring looks like.


I wish you luck!

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_TJ_Burton_ (01-27-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

Found a photo I was looking for earlier of the dinker next to a normal; it gives you a good idea of what I mean by _looks orange in overall appearance_.

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snakesRkewl (01-28-2013),_Wapadi_ (05-26-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

The more research I do, the more I learn about the Ivory/SS complex. The closest match I can find for my dinker (visually) is the Orange Belly line of YB. http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/orange-belly/

Similar overall orange appearence, Similar amounts of blushing, I can also see the Fire-like smudged/burned dots inside the alien heads (especially along the neck). The head marker and nose spots are the only major difference I can see between the two. 

Just thinking out loud and using this thread as a journal to collect my thoughts leading up to the conclusion of this project.

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snakesRkewl (04-30-2013)

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## Slowcountry Balls

> The more research I do, the more I learn about the Ivory/SS complex. The closest match I can find for my dinker (visually) is the Orange Belly line of YB. http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/orange-belly/
> 
> Similar overall orange appearence, Similar amounts of blushing, I can also see the Fire-like smudged/burned dots inside the alien heads (especially along the neck). The head marker and nose spots are the only major difference I can see between the two. 
> 
> Just thinking out loud and using this thread as a journal to collect my thoughts leading up to the conclusion of this project.


That's my snake on World of Ball Pythons and this past season was his first for breeding. Based on the 18 eggs he sired (all hatched), I am beginning to believe he may have a second gene at work. So you might want to keep that in mind. I bought him from a breeder who says he bought him from a breeder who bought him from Ben Siegel. He was sold to me as an Orange Belly (or Orangebelly, depending on who is spelling it), so I sent the picture in before I bred him. To my surprise, none of the 18 babies look quite like their father. 4 of them have great flames and checkered bellies like their dad, but don't have his color, blushing, nor his banding. So hopefully when a few of his daughter's get big enough, I can breed them back to him and find out if there is more at work than just the Orange Belly gene.

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_TJ_Burton_ (02-05-2013)

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## catzeye21138

I really like what's going on inside his alien heads, as well as those 'hook' patterns on his body. I haven't seen a thread about it in a while, but the general consensus was hooks mean something special, or hidden.

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_TJ_Burton_ (02-06-2013)

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## Slowcountry Balls

Just so you can see what I mean, I've posted some pictures of one of the babies and then that same baby with the sire (who is the snake on World of Ball Pythons).  This baby is very typical of the 4, which were produced by 3 different females.

Top shot of baby:


Belly shot of baby:


Baby with father:

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_TJ_Burton_ (02-06-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

*slashlax99

*I see what you are saying. The babies do look great though, and share similar markings to the father. The father does have more blushing along his back and is a different color, but the color may change with age. Did you obtain the male as an adult snake? Have you compared pics of the father as a hatchling to the offspring you've recently produced?

Very interesting info.

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## Slowcountry Balls

> *slashlax99
> 
> *I see what you are saying. The babies do look great though, and share similar markings to the father. The father does have more blushing along his back and is a different color, but the color may change with age. Did you obtain the male as an adult snake? Have you compared pics of the father as a hatchling to the offspring you've recently produced?
> 
> Very interesting info.


I acquired him as an older juvenile, about 400 grams. The pictures that I posted are from mid August, and so far the babies still look different and haven't really developed their father's color (2 of them are around 200 grams). I traded 1 of the 4 and am still watching how the other 3 develop. I'm pleased with how the babies look, but am stumped as to why, out of 18 babies, none look like the father (if it is a second co-dominate gene, the odds of getting both at the same time are 1 in 4, missing those kind of odds 18 times would be really bad odds, so maybe it is a recessive gene, or maybe a real subtle co-dominate gene at the same allele, or maybe something like the Platty Daddy, or maybe just the variety of the Orange Belly gene, only time and more breeding will give definitive answers).

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_TJ_Burton_ (02-06-2013)

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## tikigator

I would absolutely pair with a yb female at the very least.  #1 if it's a yb you should score on an ivory.  #2 if it's some sort of yb complex like a spector or a gravel/het highway or spark/het puma you could score BIG.  and #3 it could be something totally new and different.  

I have a poss yb complex dinker I am raising up as well and will prob do the same, breed him to a normal or 2 and also try to hook him up with a yb girl.  I was going to try to find an ivory female but I haven't heard such great things about ivory girls producing and don't feel like wasting cash so I think I will just stick with a yb girl for him.

Dinkers rock....I've got a few and they are super fun.  To answer whoever's question it was "what makes a dinker a dinker and not a normal"......the term "dinker" comes from the phrase "to dink around with".....we take a unique snake and try to prove it out to be genetic.  Dinker's are (USUALLY) wildcaught or captive hatched snakes where their lineage is completely unknown.  Some people/breeders refer to captive bred and born babies with a unique pattern as "dinkers" to try to prove their traits as genetic, however most people I know only refer to dinkers as wildcaught or captive hatched (mother was wildcaught) and they have no idea if the snake is a new morph or the snake's genetic background.  To determine a "dinker" you look at things like color (is it super light like a fire or vanilla, super dark like a mocha or chocolate), pattern (crazy pattern like a leopard, super reduced pattern, floating alien heads, etc), blushing and flames, head spots and head stamps, and of course belly patterns.  MOST "dinkers" are normals....however some can prove out to be totally new morphs. Every new morph was first an African import.  The most recent ones (that immediately cross my mind, there are a bazillion but the ones that I recall as of the last couple years) being the gravel (het highway), spark (puma), GHI, Huffman and het Russo (both of which look like fairly normal ball pythons), and the Harlequin. There are more but those are just a couple newbies that have popped up recently.  Huffman being the newest I believe.

I have a few Dinkers that I have posted here in this forum that came straight from Africa, and they are very obviously different than normals.  They may or may not prove genetic, but you can see why they were hand picked out of a bin of 200 other balls   :Smile: 

Good luck with the dinkersaurus!!

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## TJ_Burton

> I would absolutely pair with a yb female at the very least. #1 if it's a yb you should score on an ivory. #2 if it's some sort of yb complex like a spector or a gravel/het highway or spark/het puma you could score BIG. and #3 it could be something totally new and different. 
> 
> I have a poss yb complex dinker I am raising up as well and will prob do the same, breed him to a normal or 2 and also try to hook him up with a yb girl. I was going to try to find an ivory female but I haven't heard such great things about ivory girls producing and don't feel like wasting cash so I think I will just stick with a yb girl for him.
> 
> Good luck with the dinkersaurus!!


I actually do not have any YB stock as of yet, and although I have a couple of older YB females availalbe to me, I haven't pulled the trigger just yet. The idea is if/when he proves, I will purchase a breeder YB to put him to for next season.

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## TJ_Burton

A quick update.

We have one female bred exclusively to the Dinkasaurus that has ovulated and should be laying in the next month or so!

Will post pics of the clutch when it drops.

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_interloc_ (04-30-2013),snakesRkewl (04-30-2013)

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## Andybill

Just read this whole thread and am really excited to see how this turns out! Good luck and I look forward to the results!

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_TJ_Burton_ (04-30-2013)

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## tikigator

> A quick update.
> 
> We have one female bred exclusively to the Dinkasaurus that has ovulated and should be laying in the next month or so!
> 
> Will post pics of the clutch when it drops.


woo-hoo thank you for the update!!  what is the female??  normal?  yb??  very excited for you!

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## TJ_Burton

> woo-hoo thank you for the update!!  what is the female??  normal?  yb??  very excited for you!


A normal female,
I like to do my dinking on a clean slate.  :Smile:

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## TJ_Burton

Well, here is a moment we have all been waiting for (especially me!)

Today, the normal female that we have been pairing the Dinkasaurus Rex to dropped 7 big, healthy looking eggs that average 106g each. 
Now the countdown begins!

Pardon the crappy pics

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_Andybill_ (05-21-2013),_Mike41793_ (05-20-2013)

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## majorleaguereptiles

He's a YB with a little mild incubation effect.
Ball pythons can take on an appearance outside their genetics quite often. Even with proven morphs. I see so many imports every year it's interesting to see how many actually do. Most of which are incubated on their natural environment, which means its not just a temperature spike that can cause it. Seems as though almost any developmental issue can arise during incubation.

Here is a couple YBs with mild incubation and extreme incubation effect. Hope this helps. My guess if you'll hatch out some nice YBs, but they probably won't look quite like pops.

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## TJ_Burton

> He's a YB with a little mild incubation effect.
> Ball pythons can take on an appearance outside their genetics quite often. Even with proven morphs. I see so many imports every year it's interesting to see how many actually do. Most of which are incubated on their natural environment, which means its not just a temperature spike that can cause it. Seems as though almost any developmental issue can arise during incubation.
> 
> Here is a couple YBs with mild incubation and extreme incubation effect. Hope this helps. My guess if you'll hatch out some nice YBs, but they probably won't look quite like pops.



Time will tell,
thanks for the input. I have seen quite a few snakes with pattern, color, and even physiological oddities from irregular incubation; It's certainly a possibility.

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## sharkrocket

Can't wait to see pictures of the babies  :Good Job:

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_TJ_Burton_ (05-21-2013)

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## Peoples

Belly pic indicates a YB but I'd see if there's something else in there thats expressing itself or something new good luck.

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## lightpied

Very cool dinker you got there!! congrats on the clutch as well. hope you get a couple more dinkasaurus rexs, but females haha.

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## TJ_Burton

> Belly pic indicates a YB but I'd see if there's something else in there thats expressing itself or something new good luck.


Absolutely, which is why I am confident its in the Ivory / Super Stripe complex. It would be quite the catch if the snake was a YB with other genes at play as well. I am not sure how often multiple gene snakes come out of the wild.




> Very cool dinker you got there!! congrats on the clutch as well. hope you get a couple more dinkasaurus rexs, but females haha.


Thanks; I really hope to get at least one female like him from the clutch. With 7 eggs the odds are in my favor.

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## TJ_Burton

For good measure,



Due to hatch July 19th - Mark it down on your calenders people!

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_Raven01_ (05-28-2013),_snake8myelbo_ (07-13-2013),snakesRkewl (05-28-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

Well, I got a good side by side comparison of the Dinkasaurus next to a normal female, this time from the top down instead of a side by side angle like the previous. This gives a much better idea of his adult color; still blows me away every time I open his bin.

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## TJ_Burton

Just about 3 weeks left before the eggs are due to pip. Being my first dinker project, I must say it is extremely exciting. More so than my Lithium Blaze clutches!

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_Annarose15_ (06-27-2013),Badgemash (07-01-2013),DestinyLynette (07-02-2013),_interloc_ (06-28-2013),_Pyrate81_ (06-27-2013),snakesRkewl (06-27-2013)

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## darkranger69

hope for you that 19 th will be the last day of your Dinker project .... And the rise a the rise of the brand new "saurus" morph.....

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Badgemash (07-01-2013),_sissysnakes_ (06-28-2013),_TJ_Burton_ (06-30-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

> hope for you that 19 th will be the last day of your Dinker project .... And the rise a the rise of the brand new "saurus" morph.....


I appreciate the vote of confidence and well-wishes. Two weeks and counting to go!

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## darkranger69

I just want to believe it for you because it seems to me worthly. your male is insane so it must be something if it s not i ll be surprised.

but it won t happen!!!!!  :Very Happy:

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## TJ_Burton

Well, the day has finally come!

The eggs have pipped and I should have an update on the status of my Dinkasaurus clutch some time tonight.

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## AJs Snake House

Yay!  Ive been following this thread.  I am super excited to see the results!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

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## sissysnakes

> Yay!  Ive been following this thread.  I am super excited to see the results!
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2


X2!!!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

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## TJ_Burton

Well,

The results are in and the Dinkasaurus can officially be labeled as GENETIC!

It took a some time for most of the hatchlings to emerge and give me a chance to get some pictures of them. So far of 7 eggs it looks like we have 5 hatchlings carrying the gene. 

I won't say any more for now, and will post up a few cell pics I took while I get the other photos uploaded from my camera. I will start another thread with post shed photos and better photos of the male who sired the clutch once everyone sheds out.

I must say this was an exhilarating process and will continue to be as I grow out females to prove a super, and pair the founding male to an Ivory female (and maybe some others)  :Wink: 

Without further delay, pics:







And one teaser pic completely unedited from my Canon

 

Thanks for the well-wishes and enthusiasm!
Hope you like what you see.

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_Anya_ (07-15-2013),Kaorte (07-16-2013),_MootWorm_ (07-15-2013)

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## Andybill

Very cool! Congrats!

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_TJ_Burton_ (07-16-2013)

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## Anya

Awesooooome!! Congrats!

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_TJ_Burton_ (07-16-2013)

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## interloc

DIBS!!!!  Lol. Congrats dude. Looks like a promising project. 

P.s. Seriously, Dibs

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_TJ_Burton_ (07-16-2013)

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## dillan2020

Congrats man hope you pop out something brand new when you make some crosses next season.

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_TJ_Burton_ (07-16-2013)

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## darkranger69

so happy for your genetic saurus!!!!

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_TJ_Burton_ (07-16-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

For good measure,

I wasn't going to post this one but I figured a belly pic was in order since this is likely some form of YB

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_MikeM75_ (07-16-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

I have started a new thread now that I have proved the Dinkasaurus genetic. All updates regarding this morph will take place HERE

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## tikigator

Wow congrats!!! I have been following this thread since the beginning too!  Congrats!!!!!!

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_TJ_Burton_ (07-17-2013)

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## TJ_Burton

Thanks everyone!

I have had a request for some specific photos:
- Dinkasaurus beside a genetic hatchling
- Better photos of the founding Dinkasaurus as he looks today
- Genetic hatchling next to a normal sibling

I will get more pics up (including those requests) as soon as the babies shed out.
All pictures from this point forward will be in the new thread.

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