Planning for the future

[thejenius77]

So, Monty, the normal that I hid in my room for over a month as a Christmas present for my son, was a hit! He absolutely loved him! I bought him a book about BPs and he is very eager to learn how to care for him. He is 12, so I of course will be Monty's primary caregiver for awhile. I started this adventure being terrified of snakes & now I am hooked and I want one for myself.

I have spent the last few weeks reading about breeding. Last night I was dreaming of the words "homozygous" & "heterozygous", because I read too much yesterday. Lol!

Ultimately, I want a BEL, but I want to make one, not buy one. So I want to get the female that would be required for this, now & raise her up. I know Mojave x Mojave produces BELs, but is there any combo? One that would be better?

I was also looking at Bumblebees. I found a pic of one that I fell madly in love with, but I'm thinking that the flash washed out the yellow of her & she isn't really as white as she looks. Which is what I loved about her. So that got me thinking....is there a way to produce a bright white snake with the black markings of the Bee? I would call it a Zebra... here is the pic I saw



I know I have A LOT to learn yet about breeding & BPs in general, but I figure that at the rate of my research, by the time I get a female up to size, I should have a pretty stable understanding.

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[bigt0006]

Mojave to butter,lesser,mocha,het russo,or mojave all give you a shot at BELs. You have a 1 in 4 shot a producing a BEL with any of the above pairings. I think the combo that makes the nicest BELs is het russo to het russo you get what is called a white diamond which is imo the nicest BEL

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[thejenius77]

Mojave to butter,lesser,mocha,het russo,or mojave all give you a shot at BELs. You have a 1 in 4 shot a producing a BEL with any of the above pairings

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Are any of those combos better, genetically speaking, than another? Does it matter which one is the female and which is the male?

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[bigt0006]

I updated my comment to include what i thinks makes the nicest BELs

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[Royal Hijinx]

I am a fan of Lesser X Mojave BELs. And, no it does not matter which is male or female. You just need 2 snakes in the BEL complex that produce a white animal.

Now, so you know, Lesser X Lesser BELs can be born bug-eyed, so that is why I personally avoid that combo.

Super Mojave BELs have a grey head. Some folks like that and some do not.

What is neat about each of the BEL combos is that they are all slightly different, even for a white or mostly white snake. Then you also have the Potion animals in that complex as well...

I would get to reading up on the BEL complex, and you will get a better idea of what direction to go.

[thejenius77]

Thank you! I am leaning towards Lesser x Mojave. That just opens up so many more doors for other things.

Do you have any insight into the white & black BP I mentioned? Essentially, the look of a Bee, but white, with no yellow. Has this been done? Could it be done?

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[jtipton]

There is a zebra bee (axanthic bumblebee) that from the pics I've seen should be close to what you're looking for.

[thejenius77]

Seeing their prices, I think I'll have to try to make my own.....

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[dgring]

zebra bee: http://www.worldofballpythons.com/mo...ic-bumble-bee/
axanthic bumble bee (snake keeper line): http://www.worldofballpythons.com/mo...e-keeper-line/
Have a flick through the pictures and see what you like (sometimes very pricy)

[Royal Hijinx]

There are a few ways I can think of to get a Black and White Bee

1. Pastel Axanthic Spider or Fire Pastel Axanthic Spider
2. Pastel Desert Ghost Spider (will start out very yellw and become white as it ages)
2. Some VERY high white Pastel Calico Spiders are pretty much only black and white