Snakes and Stones

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Originally Posted by Ascended

Awesome as usual.
But Ok, No Idea what they are. Guess at the snake - anatharistic mojave maybe butter/pastel too? Mineral, you will have to educate me.

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Thanks,

The snake ID is a difficult one. I purchased him at a reptile Expo a decade or so ago from a basement breeder and he was marked as 'Firefly?'. The breeder was selling him because 'he only produces bad eggs'...luckily I have had no issue. With me he is a proven Fire/Pastel, but, none of his offspring match his color. It has not aligned with my project goals to try and prove if he has any additional recessive genes of interest.

The rock is Stone Canyon Jasper (California). The snake pictured has a large head, so the stone is a decent size...due to the 'healing lines' in the rock: it is tough to tumble a larger piece without fractures. :)

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

Photo #75

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...e4dlrw7ky5.jpg

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You really have an amazing artistic eye for picking the right snake/stone combos. This is another of my very faves of yours.

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Originally Posted by nikkubus

You really have an amazing artistic eye for picking the right snake/stone combos. This is another of my very faves of yours.

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Mine too, I just didn't mention it before. ;)

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Originally Posted by nikkubus

You really have an amazing artistic eye for picking the right snake/stone combos. This is another of my very faves of yours.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Mine too, I just didn't mention it before. ;)

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Thank you, Thank you. This photo turned out better than expected--sometimes I get lucky.

My high school art teacher always told me that I get an 'A' for effort and an 'F' for execution. Thankfully I was scored in art based on effort....:oops:

Photo #77

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...p7nxe2jszp.jpg

In the area around my house there is a proliferation of Feldspar (same material as Photo #7), when tumbled I can sort the pieces into: The Greys, Blue-Greys, and Everything Else.
Here are some Grey pieces.
Nothing was included for scale, but, the ball python is a 4 year old female. :)

Photo #78

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...fqkpveg43f.jpg

Here are some Blue-Grey pieces. :)

Photo #79

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...vs2dius5kg.jpg

'Everything Else' feldspars. :)

Photo #80

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...uf0mial4gm.jpg
Green = Chrysocolla (Arizona)
Orangey = Petrified Wood (Arizona)
Brown = Smokey Quartz (India)
Snake = Black Pastel Het Pied

Note: I didn't round out the petrified wood too much because I thought it looked neat-as is. :)

Photo #81

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...e6sj1tkib5.jpg
Topaz from Brazil. Definitely not facet grade material (especially for what I paid for it). The darker pieces of topaz (Photo #104) are often labeled as 'Imperial Topaz'. Due to the clarity of the material it is easy to see imperfections inside the stone...this same clarity and increased scratch resistance makes Topaz perfect for jewelry.

I have so many quartz varieties that sometimes I mix up topaz with other stones. Quartz (Mohs 7 hardness) is unable to scratch Topaz (Mohs 8), but, it is not the best ID method for polished stones because I will scratch the stone if I am wrong. Sometimes the internal fracture pattern is the easiest method to ID without a semi-destructive test. :)

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...cn9rmsk2hp.jpg
Side note: I had originally bought Topaz in bulk from Brazil with the intent to use it as filler in my rotary tumbling barrels (since it is harder than most materials and wears down slower), unfortunately increased hardness comes with increased brittleness and Topaz is prone to shatter while rock tumbling...so I cannot use it for this purpose...

Oh, and as for the snake: Don't let the head stamp fool you, this is a Wild Type ('Normal') from a proof cross, no currently acknowledged morph genes present.

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

Oh, and as for the snake: Don't let the head stamp fool you, this is a Wild Type ('Normal') from a proof cross, no currently acknowledged morph genes present.

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Whatever is going on with him/her is pretty cool. It sounds like you have at least proved it to be heritable if this is the offspring. Reminds me a bit or orange dream or JKR's peach project.

Also, really cool info about quartz and topaz. I didn't know any of that.