#ultramel ice corn snake

[omg-snakes]

Apollo II is ready for takeoff.

As much as I have enjoyed watching this doof grow from a gangly little weirdo into a limbless Adonis, I just... I don't have the energy to deal with yet another allelic gene and the dude is Ultramel Ice instead of Hypo Ice as I'd hoped. I've had such rotten luck with the Ice morph already anyway that I'm throwing in the towel and focusing my energy in a more productive direction.

I hope that someone will scoop him up and treasure him, because he really is a lovely guy.

[omg-snakes]

The tragedy of these kids. So, so pretty, but they're all unsuitable for future breeding plans due to minor kinks or domed heads.

At least they're great eaters and they'll be beautiful pets.

[omg-snakes]

LA23 has been a very tough clutch. I've been looking forward to pairing Lumi and Apollo II for several years and it seems they may not be compatible despite not being closely related (as far as I know).

Out of 19 eggs, only 5 hatched successfully and of these 5, all are kinked and/or pug-faced.

I'm disappointed, but I'm going to try to get these five thriving. They have sweet little personalities and could be pretty little pets. Two are already eating, so that's a start!

[omg-snakes]

One of the joys of The Hatchening is learning more about my snakes' genetics. Apollo II was sold as an Ice (Anery + Lava), and as a little lad it was very clear that there was something else at play here. This is him as a snuppy (snake puppy):

Looking at him as an adult, he's got lot of yellow tone in his saddles that has increased over time, and his light eye tells me that there's something causing hypomelanism.

I thought it might be Hypo, like in Olaf, but Olaf is pinker where Apollo II is more yellowy.

With the knowledge that Lumi is definitely het Amel and het Hypo, the pink babies I'm seeing in LA23, and Apollo II's breeder admitting that he had Ultra creeping around in his lines, I strongly suspect that Apollo II is an Ultramel Ice. This is his first year successfully breeding, so I think a test pairing is in order next year to confirm.

Ugggghhh I hate keeping track of allelic genes why do I do these thing to myself?