Rosies getting it on...

After a long month of internet troubles, I can finally post photos again. So here are a few pics of some of my rosies getting 'acquainted' with one another.
The first is a het albino Whitewater x albino Whitewater
The next are a pair of hypo Borregos
And last, a pair of Temecula albino's

Awesome, those are beautiful animals. Looks like you are going to have a good year with them.

Thanks!
I should have 7 females give birth this year.
I'm most looking forward to my first litter of ghost rosies. Hypo-pigmented ghosts, not the hypo/anery kind.
I was forced to move my whole collection after breeding season started, so I'm kind of cautiously optimistic about this year. We shall see how it all turns out in September...

Great looking rosys! Those albinos are awsome, do you find them as hardy as your normal rosys (I read a few accounts of some unexpected deaths a few years back)? Also, what distinguishes a hypo borrego form a normal? I have 1.2 borregos I bought as normals and my youngest female looks a lot like yours.

Thanks,
Alice

Two very good questions.
I too have heard about some untimely deaths among the Temecula albinos. Other than an initial regurge or two while acclimating to my set-up, they have both been powerful feeders. I also have another female I got from Randy Limburg last year. She is the smallest of all my '05 animals & hasn't thrived as well as I would expect. It's possible that the albino gene(or those genes that are close to it on the chromosome that carries the flawed gene) can somehow confer a weakness. Or they could need more out-breeding. I just don't know.
As for the hypo borregos, that entire region has snakes that are highly variable in color & pattern. It might be something of a marketing ploy, but doesn't every breeder select for 'better' looking animals? Lighter color & reduced pattern are more marketable. When I got him, my male was super light and has remained so. The picture doesn't do him justice. The female was just as light, but has darkened with age. Her litters usually have both really light snakes & some that are not so light. Personally, I would love to get another really light female too.
Also, as food for thought, what's the definition of hypomelanism? Certain animals within a population with less melanin(possibly reduced pattern as well) that, in the case of most snakes, gets passed on in a co-dominant manner? If it were a simple recessive trait the answer would be simple. With these hypo-borregos, the line of demarcation seems to be rather thin. That's just my opinion. I think I remember a thread about this on the kingsnake forum. I don't have the patience for that site anymore or the patience to go looking for it.
-JC

Thanks for the answer, especially on the hypo borrego question! I was under the impression that it was a simple recessive trait, rather than a selectively bred characteristic; the variation all makes sense now Good luck with your pairs. I paired two of my borregos up this year (my first try at breeding snakes) and the female has just started to swell up, my fingers are crossed, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high so that I'm not too disappointed if I don't get babies.

-Alice