Fire/Black Eyed Lucy Genetics

[gsarchie]

I have been wanting a fire ever since I saw my first picture of a black eyed leucistic earlier this year. I've also noticed of a fair number of people on here talking about wanting to pick up a fire and work it into their breeding plans. I've been looking at fires for sale from kingsnake, people on here and a number of breeders that sell their snakes on websites that they run, and I've noticed that very few are of the high quality that people on here own. Many are not very yellow and others have a high amount of speckling and pattern. I have also seen some BELs with varying degrees of yellow spotting.

I have a question for people here with fires or that have worked with or seen many fires and BELs:
If the reason for my wanting fires is to make a clean, solid white BEL, is it imperative that I but only the cleanest, brightest and most patternless (banded looking) fires that I can find? Also, are the traits that I just mentioned with fires consistently passed down by the parents? This is what I assume but wanted an opinion from someone who has bred them. If so I am guessing that the non-fire parent would also be better suited were it free from any speckling or pattern.

Thanks in advance for any insight into my question!

[Coleslaw007]

From what I have read the cleanest, whitest black eyed lucys are from a pairing of Pro Exotics' line of fire called the lemonback. I believe them to be somewhat rare, however, as Pro Exotics burned down in late '11, destroying their collection and they were not overly prevalent prior to that tragedy. As to cleaner fires breeding cleaner lucy's I cannot be much help, though in theory it sounds plausible.

[Valentine Pirate]

I'd be interested in knowing as well. My fire girl isn't a bright yellow, but her pattern is reduced and she's got an increasing buttery glow to her with each shed. BEL's are my first goal, but it's been difficult finding a matching male for her that I'm satisfied with (I'm a reduced pattern nut)

[Mike41793]

For my personal taste im not really someone who cares a ton about a reduced pattern. I actually have selected most of my snakes for a slightly busier pattern. Im a cinny combo nut and i think busier cinny combos are nicer than reduced one. Im more of a color/blushing person. My fire and lesser both have busier patterns compared to some of the reduced ones ive seen. For a cleannn BEL i dont think pattern plays as much of a factor as the fires brightness. My fire has a reduced pattern compared to a normal but he certainly isnt the most reduced ive ever seen. I wanted him because hes nice and bright and as a little bonus he has a subtle ringer on his stomach.
Heres a few pic of him right now at 360ish grams.

with flash. with my darker normal who is in shed:

Without flash:

This shot compare their heads and really shows how the fires is more blushed:

Now heres a pic of him with my step brothers MUCH lighter normal who isnt in shed. Even compared to her hes brighter and has nicer blushing. With flash:

And again without flash:


Sorry for the sorta thread hijack with all the pics. I just LOVE the fire gene. Im hoping that him and my pastel girl make some nice babies for me this year! Hopefully these photos help show you what a good example of the morph (imo) looks like.

On a side not even tho he isnt super reduced, i also fell in love with his striping along his back!

[Valentine Pirate]

Sorry for the sorta thread hijack with all the pics. I just LOVE the fire gene. Im hoping that him and my pastel girl make some nice babies for me this year! Hopefully these photos help show you what a good example of the morph (imo) looks like.

On a side not even tho he isnt super reduced, i also fell in love with his striping along his back!

He's a pretty boy! No one should ever be sorry for posting pics Love ball pythons, there's something for everyone with busy patterns to reduced to anything in between. Striping is always a plus too.

I think you might be onto something with the bright color. Mike Wilbanks might know something about it, I first saw black eye lucys on his site when I was back in high school.

[Abaddon91]

not to hijack but what are the things to look for in a fire i have a really hard time telling the normals from the less visual morphs and i see the pics but it just looks like a reduced bright normal to me what sets it apart as a fire

[Mike41793]

not to hijack but what are the things to look for in a fire i have a really hard time telling the normals from the less visual morphs and i see the pics but it just looks like a reduced bright normal to me what sets it apart as a fire

Look at my pics lol. Does my fire look like my normal lol?

Brightness, blushing, and a good head stamp (blushed head). Sometimes a funky pattern too.

[Mike41793]

He's a pretty boy! No one should ever be sorry for posting pics Love ball pythons, there's something for everyone with busy patterns to reduced to anything in between. Striping is always a plus too.

I think you might be onto something with the bright color. Mike Wilbanks might know something about it, I first saw black eye lucys on his site when I was back in high school.

Thanks! I wuv him, though he is a bit of a spaz before you get him out.
BlackEL's are def something i wanna make someday!

[Royal Hijinx]

My understanding is the Flame also makes a very clean BkEL.

Can't get much cleaner than my girl. I do not reckon she looks like a Normal...

[aalomon]

A good rule of thumb, if you cant tell an individual fire from a normal you should move on and look for a better fire.

This is my girl, my favorite thing about fires is blushing in their combos so thats what I was looking for.