I have time for this, Jeff . . .
Graham,
Just to be clear...I am not insinuating that you, Don, or KJ have anything at all to hide. Not one bit. (In fact, see below). What my earlier post was attempting to point out is the fact that the situation has not been handled in the smoothest of fashions. You and KJ have tried to do what you can to discuss this morph and Don has chimed in a few times. I'm sure it becomes really annoying when all these members come out of the woodwork just to claim hybrid and then disappear. It is irritating just to read these accusations. However, when the "new" colors have to be posted by someone else and very little is done to field the accusations, it makes the thing a big mess....and that is what I said..."A recipe for problems"
For whom is this a
problem or
big mess?
Sure, there is probably not much that you can do to stop some of these unfounded accusations by members that are really no more than trouble makers. Some of these posters are dead set on what they believe without ever breeding or even seeing one of these in person. How do you defend against that? I'm not sure. What I do know is by putting every card on the table it is hard to not come out on top. Don, KJ, and you are respected members of cornsnakes.com and beyond. The comments the three of you have put forth are more than enough for many of the people in the industry. In fact, they have been plenty for me. And since you have mentioned it....yes, my conversations with you as well as conversations with KJ did in fact cause me to send some very nice animals that direction so I, too, could participate in this morph and am very thankful for the opportunity.
Jeff, for the past four years, SMR has routinely produced 47 corn morphs that have never been advertised. I don't expect you to understand that I'm too busy to post every new morph I produce, and as long as they keep selling by word-of-mouth, that may not change. Those that know me never fail to ask "what's out of the eggs that's not on your site, Don?"
When recently begged, I posted the new colors of Tesseras that hatched last week - over on The Source. When Tara asked if she could mention it over here, I said, "sure". Hatching 100 corns a day keeps me very busy - along with everything else that keeps SMR running. If I haven't had time to brag about the 47 corn morphs I produce annually (or even enough time to put them on my web site), it should be obvious that I'm distracted by the prioritization of the care and management of the snakes (and shipping) - over bragging about our latest morphs. I realize that the two go hand-in-hand (production AND marketing), but in the limited time I have, I tend to put out the fires that are flaming in front of me (hungry snakes). As long as the unadvertised morphs are selling without being advertised, they're not "on fire" so I'll concentrate on feeding and otherwise maintaining the snakes. SMR is not an admirable business model, but so far, it's been working. Being the first in the world to reproduce p/s bloodreds, don't you think I'd have them splashed all over my web site - if I had the time and if they were not selling? They have never been on my web site, but that will soon change with the new web site now under construction. If someone has a question for me or chooses to allude to the fact that my absence from this forum could indicate I have something to hide about the Tesseras, why don't they write to my web site and request an explanation on this forum? I realize you and others are saying "Don, I wasn't doubting you, KJ, and Graham", but anyone reading this thread understands the innuendos. I fully expect people to question new morphs (I wrote the book on Cornsnake Hybrid Conspiracy), but that can be done without making accusations. I recall (and miss) the days when I had so much spare time I could frequent the forums, but those days are not THESE days. I hope to get back into that soon.
For everyone's information, the anery Tessera
IS a hybrid. It's an Ultramel. I have bred Tessera males to many non Tessera females, but only when I pair one with an Ultra-type do I get squirrely markings and other hybrid markers (on mutants and non-mutants alike. Duh - Ultras are hybrids. So, unless alluvasudden Ultras/ultramels are no longer considered corns, I'll continue to breed them into my pure corns. If they are now considered hybrids, hundreds (if not thousands) of corn breeders have some scurrying to do and graves to dig.
Regarding the innuendos that we (Graham, KJ, and Don) have failed to show everyone the non Tessera siblings, those "innuendos" are founded. We have not shown you the non-target byproducts of this mutation. It never occurred to me that Tesseras were suspected of being hybrid, or I would have posted pix of the "normals". That said, how many pix would it take to convince those of you that believe they are not pure corns? Dozens? Hundreds? It seems to me that the two of you are so dubious about them being pure corns that if I posted pix of 80 non-mutant Tessera siblings, you'd say I purposely didn't show you the odd ones. Those that know me don't have to read what I'm about to say. . . I have never misled, exaggerated, or fabricated any facts that would cover up any hybridization of corns. If Tesseras are hybrids, they are hybrids, but since I have produced more than everyone else combined, I can tell you that I have not seen hybrid markers in any of them (other than the Ultra/Tessera compounds) and in speaking to Graham and KJ, they agree. And let me tell you, those Ultramel Tesseras are all over the map in terms of being aberrant (BUT they are the only morphs), so if the majority of the hobby have suddenly decided to recognize that Ultra-types are hybrids, I will respond accordingly, and stop breeding them into "pure" corns. Of course , , , it's too late, isn't it?
When I was alerted today that some folks over here were demanding evidence, I took several hours this afternoon to photograph some of the non-mutant Tessera siblings. I have resized and processed those pix, and will assign URLs to them for your review. I see no reason to clog the arteries of CS with the 27 images I produced today. Again, doubters are difficult to convert, and it is not my intention to try. Something IS what something IS. If Tesseras are hybrids, it is news to me, but I will never stand up and shout that they are NOT hybrids. Since I didn't see the parents of the one Graham gave me (or the grand parents or great grand parents, etc.), I don't know their lineage, but folks - if the red eyes of lavenders, the atypical colors non-caramel by-products exhibit, the squirrely patterns of zig zags/aztecs, the uncornly patterns of motleys and stripes, the head pattern/color/star-gazing/mean temperament of Sunkisseds, or the atypical corn snake appearance of Ashies/Cinders don't make you protest, having seen hundreds of Tesseras and their siblings, I can tell you that this dominant mutation does not demonstrate hybrid markers - compared to some of the ones I just mentioned. In fact, they have more consistent phenotype than motleys, stripes, zagtecs, sunkissed, or bloodreds. If you start weeding out corns that don't look like corns, be prepared to have a very small cornsnake morph inventory. Again, I understand doubts, but if this personal testimony (and the evidence presented) is not sufficient to convince you they are pure corns, I suggest you add Tesseras to the already long list of questionable-looking corn mutations and morphs. From what I have produced so far, there is not one I'd consider more bazaar than the most typical of the non-corn looking morphs I've cited (unless you count the Ultramel/Tessera compounds that Tara posted for me).
Later tonight, I will post the URLs for the 27 photogarphs of non-mutant Tessera siblings.
Don
