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Ultra/Ultramel/Lava???

J

jessmarie

New member
I've been in rounds about this since the babies hatched.
I paired a bright red Motley male with a nicely colored "normal" female. What we got from that floored us...We ended up with 3 that were a lighter color (like ghost) and 9 that were hypo-esque. Upon closer inspection, we realized they were more than that. The "ghost" colored ones have blue/purple irises with red pupils and the "hypo" colored ones have a reddish brown iris with dark ruby pupil.
So, I got to asking and looking around. I spoke with a lot of the well known experts about my babies and got the same response all around. Everyone saw the snakes and declared up and down that I had Ultramel Anerys and Ultramels. Ok, that would make sense by looking at just the babies...but the problem is that I didn't breed an Amel to an Ultra and all the babies look the same. I didn't get any Amels, Snows, and, as far as I can tell, I didn't get Ultras or Ultra Anerys either. The "Ultramels" all look alike and the "Ultramel Anerys" all look alike.
I've gone over and over this in my head and can't answer it with anything other than I really hit the odds.
I did research and everything I could to find a better answer. One possibility was the Lava gene. It made more sense that maybe my bright red Motley was a Lava Motley and that the nice female was a Lava as well. If that were the case, the ratios on the offspring made sense. I mentioned this to most people that I talked to and only a couple even toyed with the idea of Lava being the answer. Everyone still swears that they look Ultramel/Ultramel Anery.
So here I am...I need new eyes to look at the parents and tell me what you see. I can add pictures of the babies as well.
 
Male

This is the father of the clutch in question. He's obviously Motley, but is he a Lava Motley?? An Ultramel Motley?? What do you all see in him?
 

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Female

This is the mother of the clutch. Again, we always just assumed she was a pretty normal. But now we're not sure. Obviously she's not Amel...Is she Ultra? Ultramel? Could she be a Lava instead?
 

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Babies

Here are 2 collages of the two different visual expressions that I got. The one is of the "Ultramel Anerys" and the other is of the "Ultramels"
 

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Two of the red babies were in shed when I made those collages. Also, I have pictures in the sunlight of some of the individuals if that would help.
One of the reasons I'm questioning this is that I just shipped two of the "Ultramels" to someone who works extensively with the Ultra genetic pool. After consulting with someone she knows, they are less than convinced that these are Ultramels...especially considering the ratio I saw with the clutch.
 
I don't really know much about ultra/ultramel, but I will say that the dad's frosted saddles remind me of an ultramel.
 
Hmm. I hadn't ever linked frosted saddles with Ultramel. Is that a common occurrence? I hadn't read/heard of anything like that until now.
The only thing about that is that there are other selectively bred genetics that include the "frosted" saddle look. I even have a Charcoal female that has saddles that are more intensely "frosted" than this.
Thanks for the thought though! I will definitely put that on the list in support of the Ultramel hypothesis.
 
The dad is amazing. I wish I knew enough about morphs to help. Send a photo to Don, Nanci, Steve or Walter.
 
Myca said:
The dad is amazing. I wish I knew enough about morphs to help. Send a photo to Don, Nanci, Steve or Walter.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Everyone sees enamored with him.
I have talked to Don at length about it, as well as Sarah Mohr (since she works with Ultra)...There's been a few other people consulted, but I don't remember who all I've talked to about it anymore. Lol. Like I previously stated, everyone seems to think the same things.
 
jessmarie said:
Hmm. I hadn't ever linked frosted saddles with Ultramel. Is that a common occurrence? I hadn't read/heard of anything like that until now.
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Yes, Ultra can cause frosting in the saddles or background. It also can create high amounts of brighter yellow.

I'm really not very familiar with Lavas, but from what I've seen in pictures your sire also reminds me of a Lava. I'm almost wondering if you have a clutch of Lavas and Ice's (Anerythristic Lava), but DEFINITELY do more research and ask some other experienced breeders! That's just my untrained guess.
 
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