Starting Axanthics!

Hi there, im new to the forum but have been a lurker for awhile now. having a had a few herps under my belt now, and having been fascinated with herps for a such a long time coming, i am now finally ready and prepared to take the step into breeding.

I would like to ask the experienced people in this community for their help regarding picking a good combo with Axanthics. I managed to get most of my genetic homework down but its still rather daunting i must say. Making money out of the animals is not a primary concern, though i do hope they could at least cover some cost at the end of the day. The most important part is working with the animals that i am constantly in awe of. Having said that, what do you guys propose for a good starter breeding colony regarding Axanthics? And im not really talking about price tags in the thousands, heh.

I have an idea in mind of 1.0 VPI axanthic, 0.1 pastel het Ax, 0.1 100% het Ax and perhaps maybe a spider or pinstripe to get hets to be bred back to the parent. Due to lack of funding, probably possible hets at that.

Your comments, thoughts and ideas will be greatly appreciated!

ian

I'd definitely suggest picking up a female axanthic or two. I don't think you can have enough of them.

Then from there it's just a matter of what combos you want to produce. You can either get male codom hets from a trusted breeder or get a newer codom and shoot for something maybe someone hasn't thought of.

I know I rack my brain for ideas of great axanthic combos :S

Hope that helps and best of luck!!!!

Congrats on a great morph choice ;)

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Originally Posted by ifun.jc

Hi there, im new to the forum but have been a lurker for awhile now. having a had a few herps under my belt now, and having been fascinated with herps for a such a long time coming, i am now finally ready and prepared to take the step into breeding.

I would like to ask the experienced people in this community for their help regarding picking a good combo with Axanthics. I managed to get most of my genetic homework down but its still rather daunting i must say. Making money out of the animals is not a primary concern, though i do hope they could at least cover some cost at the end of the day. The most important part is working with the animals that i am constantly in awe of. Having said that, what do you guys propose for a good starter breeding colony regarding Axanthics? And im not really talking about price tags in the thousands, heh.

I have an idea in mind of 1.0 VPI axanthic, 0.1 pastel het Ax, 0.1 100% het Ax and perhaps maybe a spider or pinstripe to get hets to be bred back to the parent. Due to lack of funding, probably possible hets at that.

Your comments, thoughts and ideas will be greatly appreciated!

ian

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I would probably follow John's advice. Pick up 2 Axanthic females, and then next year, look for a Bumble Het male. I think that Spider Axanthics and Pastel Axanthics are fairly popular and good looking. Lastly, who would complain about an Axanthic Bumblebee.

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Originally Posted by JD Constriction

I'd definitely suggest picking up a female axanthic or two. I don't think you can have enough of them.

Then from there it's just a matter of what combos you want to produce. You can either get male codom hets from a trusted breeder or get a newer codom and shoot for something maybe someone hasn't thought of.

I know I rack my brain for ideas of great axanthic combos :S

Hope that helps and best of luck!!!!

Congrats on a great morph choice ;)

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AND he has some gorgeous axanthics ^^. They aren't VPI, but in my opinion I like the SK better. I would try and get a look at the parents of the snakes you choose. The better lines, the better the offspring. Heather (LadyOhh) just produced some really nice ones from her TSK's. They are just mouth droppers.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...d.php?t=123624

Now if we can just get JD to put some of his hatchlins on his available page ;)

Wow thanks for all the feedback guys! =)

Hmm..So in essence i would want to grab axanthic females instead of males, and morph het axanthic males? Now i see why females go generally for so much more lol. I really hope to grab some that will maintain that gorgeous coloration! VPI and TSK seem to be up there apart from the rest.

Yes i saw her post with her new babies they are really absolutely gorgeous! I do wonder if shes making them available! haha. and yes, Axanthic Bumblebees are insane. =D

Yes, definately snatch up the females first. If you get them as young ones, it will be awhile before they are ready to breed, and it's much easier to get some het males. Even visual males.

For example: I have two female hets, a spider and a pastel. I have a good 2-3 yrs to decide if I want a het male, visual male, or a morph het male. It will also give me plenty of time to save money if I decide to go with a visual morph :)

How much do subadult female Axanthics go for? in the mean time would it be practical to produce the morph hets myself with a male axanthic and a codom and pray for a male from that clutch?

I'm not really sure. I bought mine at a show. I wasn't really looking for them, but the guy gave me a really good deal. Check out kingsnake.com and faunaclassifieds.com

I still think I would go with a female first. If you think about it, even if you produce a female from that clutch, you have 2-3 yrs from that date before she is ready to breed. That's a long time, but if you look at it from a money aspect it is the best cost effective way.

Ahh..that is true i didnt think about it that way. Hmmm so much to think about! But it's been awhile since ive been so engrossed and excited about something.

So female axanthics look like the way to go and possibly male codom hets or visuals down the road as well. so on that note, anyone got some lying around? heh.

If I was going to start out now I would get 2 unrelated visual axanthic females then next year get one or two co-doms what ever you like that is visual or het axanthic. I started my axanthic project with a single pastel het axanthic male and a normal female. I then added sub adult and baby het females. But if you get 2 unrelated pair of visual animals you can start with 2 distinct family trees in your project.