Dinker project proves out!!!

I can't believe it still, even after seeing them many times, but here's the story.....the whole story, with plenty of pics old and new.

Back in '04 we picked up a very high gold yearling female here locally for $90 (not sure why I remember the price...). We were told she was CB, and they had her male sibling who also looked very gold. With no interest in adding another normal male to the collection, we passed on him. We named the female Goldfinger.

In the 05/06 season she was bred to our lemon pastel Lemonardo, and we hatched some very nice looking animals. This was our very first clutch of morphs to hatch.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=31185

The "Normal Female" in this pic ended up being male when I double checked sexes later, and we decided to hold him back for our first official dinkin' project. He just stood out from the rest of the normals in the clutch.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f4...e/HPIM0823.jpg

...and a pic of him next to a sib a few months later.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...e/HPIM0980.jpg

We also held back two of the female pastels, and sold the rest of the clutch, some to active members here (you know who you are ;) ).

In the 06/07 season, she was again bred to Lemonardo and again had some good looking babies. She once again produced a nice high gold female that we have held back, and we sold the rest of the clutch. She did however retain an egg last year, and after trying many other options, we dropped the money to have it surgically removed to ensure her health and reproductive future.

She bounced back very quickly after the surgery, and was back up to her breeding weight in just a few months. We felt comfortable breeding her again last season, and with enough morph projects going on, I decided to give her son a go with her. This has always been my little pet project, and although I dreamt of seeing something special hatch, I really only had expectations of getting some nice high gold normals.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...e/DSCN0875.jpg

Well she laid on 3-12

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...ereggs3-08.jpg

I cut the eggs on 5-3. I only made small cuts at first, and let them be. The next day I saw a glimpse of a head as it was pulling back in, and at first I thought I was seeing things......was that......nah it couldn't be. I thought I must be convincing myself that it was more than a normal looking hatchling BP head. Once again I let them be. On 5-5, after getting home from a concert at about midnight, I opened the egg box and saw this staring back at me.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...r/DSCN1162.jpg

I started yelling and jumping around, I just couldn't believe what I was seeing!!! My blood was pumping as if I had just run a mile, and I had to tell some one!!!! I woke my wife up, and she was happy for me, but expectantly somewhat perturbed that it couldn't have waited until morning :oops:. I was all alone in my excitement for the rest of the night, 'cause I sure didn't sleep much. (I spent the next few hours going back down for some sneak peaks to pass the time :D)

Over the next week or so, and after cutting larger windows in the eggs, I took a million pictures as they began to emerge from the egg (with maybe 10 good ones...:oops: ). Every time I opened that incubator, I thought they must have changed back into normals by now somehow, things like this just don't happen to me.......slowly opens tub.....nope! Still awesome!!! We ended up with 1.2 visual homozygous and I couldn't be happier!!!

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...e/DSC_0043.jpg

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...e/DSC_0052.jpg

.....and now they have shed!!!

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...20size/GF5.jpg

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...20size/GF4.jpg

Now, we aren't exactly sure what we are dealing with. I thought there was going to be one obvious high gold post shed, but all the sibs seem really dark to me, darker than her normal offspring usually are. They also seemed very caramel-like right out of the egg, but seem to resemble hypos much more post-shed, though two of them seem much more gold than typical hypos. The head pattern on those two are dramatically reduced as well, and I'm not sure if it is linked to this trait or not. I am however very excited to see these guys in a few months!!!

Technically, we can't even be sure yet that the gold color in the parents has anything to do with this trait, or if it is completely independent. We have some sleuthing to do over the next couple seasons, and that's all part of the fun!!!:banana::D However it is inherited, or whether it is compatible with lines of hypos or caramels or not, we have decided to name the project "Goldfinger" after Mom.

Opinions are welcome :D

-Evan

Awesome luck!! Just a beauty. Congrats to you man, You deserve it :gj:

wow i would have been just as excited after seeing that head, it looked carmel to me as well, i was so stoked for you as i was reading down. They look great, can't believe they came from the same clutch

those are awesome i am soo freaking jealous. lol. good luck in the next few seasons.

They look like caramel fires!! Holy Sheets!:bow:

OMG!:O Congradulations! I mean, holy ****! That is amazing!! I wonder what they are- that is so cool, I am so happy for you! And hey, you need a home for any of those baies, just let meknow and I'mm let you know if they prove out ;) lol, j/p, but seriously that is just awsome!

Gotta love the dinker project:gj:
Congrats, they are special looking, Good Times:D

man you really hit on that one!! Incredable! It looks 1/2 orange ghost 1/2 caramel to me. Need lots more pics!!!

Justin

Congratulations!! :D,

That last post shed picture is just amazing. :O

I can't wait to see how they change as they age.:cool:


dr del

Sweet Congrats :gj: :gj:

simply beautiful congrats with the dinking success.

omg talk about a dream come true!!! BEAUtiful!!! Holy moly, they absolutely just took my breath away well done proving that out :gj:

Those are some beautiful snakes! Congrats on proving out your Goldfingers! Woohoo!
:fest2: :pinkele: :fest: :pinkele: :fest: :pinkele: :fest2:


What a wonderful feeling it must be after dreaming about the possibilities since '04!

OH AWESOME ! ! ! ! !

Congrats! I love seeing a dinker project explode into an exciting ball of amazing. Can't wait to see more pictures.

:banana::gj::banana::gj::bow:

That's simply amazing. Congrats! The excitment must be almost overwhelming.

THOSE ARE SOME HOT BABIES
i honestly cant wait until i have the time, and money to play around like that =]

Dude those things are freakin amazing looking. They even have the connecting Eye Stripe that your lemon pastel has! What color are their eyes?

btw do you have any pictures of the holdback Pastel female that you kept?

Wow, they are super looking snakes!! What are they?~ :rolleyes:
Hypo Caramels? Congrats!!!!!!!!!! :banana:
Awesome patience and perseverance! :D
Major kudos :gj:

awsoommee! thats so exciting! i would have been jumping up and down all night with excitement with ya haha! congrats :gj:

WOW, that is amazing... :O They do look kind of like caramels, but not quite. Then again they do look like hypos, but not quite. What they definitely look like is AWESOME.... Thats the kind of dinking project people dream about. Congratulations.

Mark

Congrats Evan!
I like to see a dinker project pan out like that! :D

Just amazing! It is so cool when projects like this produce such awesome animals.

Evan, they are simply gorgeous. Couldn't happen to a nicer person as far as I'm concerned. Should be interesting to see them grow up and see where this project goes. Congrats!

Wow congratz they are amazing :O:D
And since no one asked...did they shed clear ?
thx

Frank

very niiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!! congratulations!:D:D

what are you going to name it?

absolutely amazing, they are simply one of a kind snakes

ditto to the comment above, what are you going to name these awesome snakes!

they look like really intesified caramels with a hint of hypo/fire kind of look to them

i take it your gonna hold the whole clutch back and see what happens?

WOW! That is soooo awesome! Congratulations! That's so exciting to see a dinker project prove out.

I would be bouncing off the walls and hugging random strangers with excitement!!! :fest::fest::

Wooohooo!!!!!

Seriously Hot! Congrats on a nice sex ratio as well. 1.2 of pure awesomeness!

Wow very cool!! :cool: They all look great, I like that the sibs are darker than normals and the homozygous look like a almost like a hypo something.

That is some MAJOR awesome news!!!! How exciting!!! :D They look like they have some strange pattern as well... Oh I am soo happy for you!

I'm SO thrilled for you, Evan!!! Those babies are simply stunning! And I think GOLDFINGER is a perfect name for them!!! :D

how did i miss this...thats insane i keep looking at the pics trying to figure out what morphs it looks like...still coming up with nothing.

KEEP THEM ALL BACK...

First off, Congratulations Evan. Those are some extrodinary animals, and I love the name. I believe I agree with the general concensus of the posters in that it loks somewhat like a caramel and a hypo, but not quite either. I hope you have some fun with the project over the next few years, and I'm sure you will. I can't wait to see this project blossom and grow, and hope to one day add some Goldfinger to my collection.

Congrats Again,

Congratulations! It's always awesome to see a dinker project that pans out. Thank you for having the patience to see this though and add another amazing animal to the list of BP morphs!:banana:

Evan spilled the beans! Finally! :)

Great News without doubt; score one up for the little guys :)

How awesome!! Congrats! It's so awesome to see a dinker project like that work out....and to work out so well! They are hotties! :P

I am absolutly in love with that bright baby in the top right corner of the pic of the whole clutch....that wanna-be stripe on the first third or so just makes it really stand out. (ah I guess it's the same baby in the next pic too...either way, those are some good looking snakes!)

Congrats again, and I hope they just keep getting better and better for you! ^_^

Congrats! Those are very cool...I'm definitely looking forward to watching this project and what you figure out from your Bond gal!

James "Evan" Bond: Do you expect me to talk?
Ms Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die...of excitement!

(and today is Ianing Fleming's 100th birthday, so doubly appropriate name!)

Evan,

Congrats bro! It definitely couldn't happen to a nicer guy! Smokin babies!!

Jamie

There is no luck in this at all, this was just smart, observant breeding. Congrats man, can't wait to see pics after that first shed.

Awesome! Makes me want to dink around with my original male ball...colorwise he looks like the "normal female" male you've got pictured there. I have to admit, I've kinda wanted to dink with my original ball anyway, since in his youth he got lighter with every shed, and is now a light tan m&m color.

Did he get lighter as he got older, or did he pretty much stay the same?

:OAwesome results Evan! Glad all your hard work has paid off big! That's a smoking clutch!:bow:

Everyone has said it already...but CONGRATS! :gj::D

It must be such a thrill! :banana::banana:

Can't wait to see what they look like older. :snake:

Nicely Done!!! Hard work, loads of patience, and more than a bit of luck.........congratulations on hitting the ball python lottery jackpot!

AWESOME! what a way to start the summer!

of course we need more pics lol.

Super huge congrats and all that junK!!!!

:D

Woow! good project! congratulated! :gj:

CONGRATUKATIONS beautiful animals just georgous

You should enter it in the Picture of the Month!!!

That is a nice dinker bro! Half Ghost, Half caramel, Half fire, Half Awesome. Actually, 100% awesome. Can't wait to see them grow up.

Thats very cool, congrats bud!