The Josie Ball Updated Picture!!

I produced a bunch of these "Josie" balls this season. One is crazy light. I decided to take a picture of Him (On the right) next to a Normal. I have no idea what is going on with these guys but they are getting nicer and nicer as they age. There is NO PASTEL in this at all. Thanks for looking!!

http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00886.jpg

Joe Ellis

Jeezus! That thing really pops!

I'd guess it'll probably react in combos similarly to desert or fire combos and really make any snake BRIGHT as heck!

I am hoping it will. I am going to breed it to yb, woma, lesser, mojave, josie, and pastel to see what happens. It should be an interesting season. Thanks

Joe Ellis

Ooo! That is gorgeous! Can't wait to see the outcome of the crosses

That is one of the prettiest ball pythons I have ever seen :gj:

Looking great Joe, you really got a looker there.

That thing is hot man, I'm diggin' it.

still looking good, i agree with mainbutter need to mix some desert in there.
steve

That's a smokin' ball.
LOVE the colors!

steve..... buy a desert with all the money you get with your leopard project.... and I will breed it to her :)

Joe

Very cool !!! Thats one interesting snake almost looks like a desert without the pattern :salute:

we will do that, cause thats a snake i want to get. desert josie i think it would look like a pice of carmel candy.

Steve would you take a nice clean picture of the male you got last year next to a normal so I can see how yours is turning out?

Joe

Nice looking snake! Do you mind sharing the story behind these? Haven't heard of them before and they do resemble deserts.

Here are some babies that I just hatched out. (Scroll down to see more pictures of two that really stand out).

http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00560.jpg

The Story Behind These Babies:

I have been working with this weird male for the last 4 years. I always noticed the black mustache, a busy pattern, and a light color (He is in shed in this picture) and figured I would see what he could do. I am not sure on the name so I will just call them "Josie Balls" for now.....

Original Josie Ball.
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00551.jpg

I bred him to a normal female his first year and she laid four eggs. I got three normals and one female "Josie Ball". You can see she has the busy pattern, light hue, light spots on head, and the black mustache. She was produced in 2008 and goes off feed every winter She is around 850 grams now.

Josie Ball Female
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00554.jpg
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00555.jpg



In late 2008 I bred the original "Josie Ball" to two normal female. In 2009 produced 2.0 "Josie Balls" and 0.1 Normal from one female and 2.0"Josie Ball" and 1.2 Normals from the second female. They were not all that crazy looking and they were all males so I decided to give most of them away as pets. I did give one to a buddy of mine just in case it ended up being something. At this time I was pretty much thinking I would only breed this male to his daughter (who hates to grow) so that I would not waste anymore females on a dinker project. I did not take any pics of the "Josie Balls" that year thinking it was a dead end project. I will get a photo of the one I gave my buddy when I see him next week.

Here is where it gets a little interesting. Last year I decided I was going to move out all my normal females and replace them with morphs. I had one normal female that I have had for over 4 years. She is a monster. She has always been over 4500 grams and feeds on jumbo rats like its nothing. She had never bred for me and last season I tried breeding her to the "Josie Ball" and received zero eggs. I figured she is huge and maybe her monster genes will pass down. My sex ratio on this "Josie Ball" project has always sucked and I figured she would be the perfect candidate to see if this co-dom/dom dinker project is genetic. I kept her to try one last time. He bred her and she dropped 10 nice eggs.

Big Momma Normal
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...DSC00552-1.jpg

After 55 days at an incubation temp of 88.6 degrees I had babies hatching. I hatched eleven babies out of ten eggs.

Twins!! YAY!!!

http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00532.jpg

Here is what I hatched out. 0.2 Normals (still light with a busy pattern but no mustache) and 7.1.1 "Josie Balls". One is still in the egg absorbing yolk. 9 of these little guys have a light spot on the head, have the dirty face,a busy pattern and are pretty light. I would take pics of the bellies but to be honest they do not look any different than that of a normal. I took a few pics of two that really stood out to me as well as a group shot (minus the one still in the egg). All the pictures are in natural sunlight except for the first Light "Josie Ball" picture. I have never bred the big female to any other snake than the original "Josie Ball" so there is no way pastel could be mixed in unless Big Momma is the ugliest pastel known to man.

2010 Josie Ball, Light Josie Ball and Normals
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00730.jpg
2010 Light Josie and Normal Ball
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00579.jpg

2010 Light Josie Ball
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00571.jpg
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00575.jpg

2010 Busy Pattern Josie Ball
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00544.jpg

Updated Light Josie With Normal
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/DSC00886.jpg



Let me know what you guys think and thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Joe Ellis

Very nice. Glad to see your hard work paid off.

Thanks for sharing! It definitely seems like something genetic is going on. I'll be curious to see if a super can be produced - hopefully that slow grower will get up to size or maybe one of the ones you just hatched out will be a monster.

I'd also love to see it crossed into other morphs, such as pastel and yellow belly. Do you have any plans for any of those crosses?

man the head spot on this thing is crazy. we got here in germany such busy normals from two breeders. one is calles jungle and the other is called maze. alone they are not very special- just busy pattern going on, but when mixed into other morphs they lighten them up highly. heres a video from terraristika hamm. when stefan broghammer talks to hans jörg winner, he shows him the lesser maze. just look at it and will will notice what i mean.

i hope urs produces the same or maybe even have a cool super form or so. (i hope for u its not another lucy tho...lol)

at 4:00 it starts but the rest of the video is worth to take a look also. i think for u guys they have undertitels available

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFhFX57gAuU

i think its stunning what the maze does to the lesser. and the maze alone looks not so special.

Thanks for all the comments. I am super excited about this project. I am plugging it into the yb, pastel, lesser, maybe a few others. I am really hoping to see what the josie to a yb looks like. I need a female enchi. Anyone who has a nice sized female I would love to buy or just breed. Thanks

Joe Ellis

Wow very nice :gj:

I don't know exactly what you have there but I like it!

Looks like you have a fun project on your hands!

Nice to see your persistence paid off. I am thinking its some kind of fire. Would love to see what the combos and possible super looks like.

I am not sure on the fire thing.... I was almost thinking it was a kinda spot nose but i have no freaking clue where the super light one came from..... just seems to have popped out of nowhere.

Joe Ellis

that's one awesome bright colored ball python. :cool:

Nice looking snakes