The Garcia Family

A while back someone asked for updated pictures of this project and I just finally took some I liked today.

First is the matriarch I found at Reptile Haven in Denver in 2001. She was small adult size and I estimated she might have been hatched in 1997 but really don't know any background on her. She has always eaten well so I didn't think she was a recent import and could perhaps have been hatched a year or two later or even be much older for all I know.

http://snakemorphs.home.comcast.net/...ed_12years.jpg

I stubbornly tried to breed her to a possible het caramel male I owned for a couple of years even though he wasn't a proven breeder at the time. After no eggs I decided it was time to give someone else a shot so loaned her out to Daniel Garcia. After a few more years she finally produced for him in 2007 bred to an odd male which I believe he told me was an import dinker he got from RDR. Four of the eight hatchlings (I think there was a 9th egg that went bad) looked like mom and even the others were dark and not completely normal. I'm very proud of this pick of the litter girl from that clutch:

http://snakemorphs.home.comcast.net/..._med_2year.jpg

I’m not sure how much influence she might have from her dad’s genetics or if she is just a nicer variation of whatever mom is.

It was pointed out that they look something like one of the chocolate lines and they may well be the same or related but since I don't know I've been calling them Garcia after Daniel Garcia who finally got her to produce.

I got her back from Daniel before those 2007 eggs had hatched and since I didn't have any morph males of my own at the time I immediately loaned her out to Marshall Van Thorre. She has a clear belly and I'd hoped she might be a white snake producer so Marshall put her with a Lesser and a Mojave and produced a nice clutch of 14 eggs in 2008. Some of the eggs went bad but of the nine hatchlings there where two girls that looked to be Mojave and Garcia combined (but no white snakes) and here is mine at almost a year:

http://snakemorphs.home.comcast.net/...d_11months.jpg

Mom and the two daughters pictured here all share unusually wide dark areas that tend to have a rich chocolate color and also high iridescence. Unfortunately there where no males at all in the 2007 clutch and only one that really looked much like mom in the 2008. I did keep a 2008 mojave that I hoped might also have Garcia but I have my doubts as he has a much more typical mojave color without the dark chocolate of his sister. I did try breeding him and a couple other males (a pastel het ghost and even a possible het piebald) to her this year and I think she is gravid although not nearly as big as last year before her monster 14 egg clutch.

Very nice :)

very pretty snakes. Hope something nice pops out this year for ya.

Wow! Good luck with this line! I really like that second snake!! :gj:

Very nice looking, I really like the richness of the tones. It's always cool to see something different.

Wow, those snakes are really beautiful!

Wow! That's nice looking. Hopefully you can get it proved further, and make it a forsure morph. I would love to get some of those babies in the market!

I *love* those guys! I can't wait to see what comes of them when you get a boy finally :P Good luck on the clutches this year! *fingers crossed for your Garcia boy!*

Thanks all!

Don't want to count my eggs before they are laid (much less good, much less hatched, much less good odds) but I'm really looking forward to possibly hatching some of these myself this year. So far my only contribution to this project has been having the good sense to risk divorce by buying mom ($125 if I remember) when I stumbled on her at the pet store. If I get a male like mom (and hopefully an extra to send to Daniel) or long shot a super Garcia (or super Garcia Mojave!) that would be icing on the cake.

that's a cool story and nice snakes i relly like the mojave garcia that's cool could we be looking at the first mojave chocalate:O:gj:

Marshall has a very similar sister. If Garcia turns out to be chocolate (I don't know enough about chocolate to be sure, and mom’s clear belly seems to be not the norm for chocolate from what I have read) then they might be the first two. Of course chocolate and mojave have both been around for a little while so maybe it was already done and just not shown.

Randy, Have always loved the pattern and contrast on the Mojave Garcia!!! I think a breeding to hit super would be the way to go -- SUPER REDUCED and melanistic. Good luck on getting a combo boy this season. Nice project for sure.:)

Wow Randy that's an incredible Mojave, I look forward to seeing where your Dinker project goes.

whats up Randy!!
sense your on this subject i thought i would share some updated photos of the guy i got from you, if this helps at all i have had a couple big breeders that know a lot about chocolates say he has a great chance of being one these pictures are ok you really need to see him in person to appreceiate him
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...6/dsc01357.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...6/dsc01363.jpg

Wow!!! I really like the way they look Randy!!! Good luck with them :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SUPERBALLS

whats up Randy!!
sense your on this subject i thought i would share some updated photos of the guy i got from you, if this helps at all i have had a couple big breeders that know a lot about chocolates say he has a great chance of being one these pictures are ok you really need to see him in person to appreceiate him
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...6/dsc01357.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...6/dsc01363.jpg

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I hope you are right about him and thanks for the pictures! I just didn't know enough about the look or I would have hung on to him (Daniel needs a male). Maybe I'll get lucky and the mojave brother of yours that I did use will have that too. There where three distinct types of mojave’s in that clutch; two sisters like the one above, two more typical mojave’s (not that I'm an expert on mojave either) and two males that where a little in between. I sold my male that looked to me to be typical mojave (if I remember right the one like him was a male too) and kept my male from the in-between two (again, I think the other "in-between" was a male too). Probably those four males where just variations in mojave but I've wondered if something else is going on like mom having more than one gene of interest or if some of these could even be Garcia lesser from the other male Marshall tried although that doesn't seem very likely (but who knows, maybe Garcia would darken a lesser to look like a mojave). I'll get a picture of my "mojave" male maybe next week and also maybe bug Marshall too if time permits as I'd love to see how his male that looked pretty solidly Garcia (without Mojave) has turned out over the last year. Also Marshall has been working with mojave for some time so if he kept the brother to the one I’m using maybe by now he can say more about if those I’m calling “in-between” are straight up mojave or not.

Randy sent me the link to this post. Here are a few pictures of the garcia and the mojave garcia. Sorry forr the poor picture quality. I will work on getting some more this week.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0309.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0292.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0305.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0307.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0293.jpg


Marshall

Beautiful animals everyone! Randy the three you posted are amazing, good luck with the project.:gj:

Thanks Marshall! No question about that male being the same as his mom (your mojave Garcia girl has that nice brown too). I can see the similarities now between your male and the one I sold that wasn't quite so obvious. If some can be really stand out and some subtle maybe there is still hope that the mojave I kept has the Garcia gene too after all. I'll try to get some good pictures of him this weekend.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by marshall

Randy sent me the link to this post. Here are a few pictures of the garcia and the mojave garcia. Sorry forr the poor picture quality. I will work on getting some more this week.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0309.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0292.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0305.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0307.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/img_0293.jpg


Marshall

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marshall good to hear from you!!!

Mom Garcia laid today. I didn't do nearly as good of job feeding her this year as Marshall did last year when she laid 14. Looks like 8 good eggs and 3 little duds.

Sorry, no pictures. I had stolen 2 of the rechargeable batteries out of the camera last night to check some older eggs and my wife threw the flashlight away in spring cleaning this morning. I seem to be flashlight cursed. My son has broken every one I've bought in the last 10 years and just when I finally thought he was old enough to buy another now my wife strikes (she thinks anything having to do with my snakes must be junk).

Congrats Randy! I'm excited to see what hatches out from her this year!

Very nice mother and children :) I hope there are even more pretty ones in the eggs for you this year. The chocolate baby is incredible with that pattern and that mojave has some awesome striping going on.

I finally got an updated picture of the Garcia mom's 08 son who is one of the possible fathers of the 09 clutch.

http://homevtour.home.comcast.net/~h...MMVT01_med.jpg

He is probably just a mojave but can't wait for the end of July for a chance to maybe find out.

exciting times Randy! keep me posted on what happens im just as excited as you cause it could mean mines a chocolate too:D

Thanks. I think your's is based on the picture you posted the other day and the feedback you got from chocolate breeders. I dug my flashlight out the other day and my clutch doesn't look so good. Hopefully a few of the eggs will make it and I'll hit on something. If not, there is always next year. Still very disapointing to loose any of the eggs.

I seem to have the worst luck on the most important clutches. In 2003 I had two kinked dead albinos in the two good eggs from a clutch from 66% het albino X 50% het albino. I've got two more clutches from the same odds parents again this year so maybe one of those eggs will be my overdue lucky one.