Profile: Harley

[mxracer4life]

Harley is a 2010 Harlequin purchased from Bill Bratton. He is growing on the slow side but it doesn't bother me. I had changed directions and almost sold him, but have since decided to keep him. I will get more pictures as he grows. I love this little guy!

 

[Firebill]

I have to admit that's a nice looking snake

 

[mxracer4life]

I have to admit that's a nice looking snake

Thanks Bill!

 

[Snakesitter]

Another very nice one -- I think you were right to keep him!

 

[AbsoluteApril]

gorgeous little one! but you know I <3 harlequins

 

[mxracer4life]

gorgeous little one! but you know I <3 harlequins

I know! I have some cool plans I am going to work him into in another year or 2.

 

[Firebill]

I just had another litter of these, same father who produced Jeremy's, but different mother. Once my wife gets back with our camera i will post some pictures of them. The majority of them has a totally different look to them then this previous clutch.

 

[Matt2979]

I always forget how "clean" the Harleys are. Very pretty animal!!

 

[mxracer4life]

Was up late last night. Figured it was a good time for some close ups.

 

[mxracer4life]

A few more.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

lookin good! I always like how harlis can show such nice coloration between the tail saddles

 

[mxracer4life]

lookin good! I always like how harlis can show such nice coloration between the tail saddles

Thanks! I love it too. His colors looked awesome last night. Had to get some new ones. By the pictures you can't tell how squirmy he was. It was a pain getting those pics!

 

[Stryker414]

what are harlequins?

 

[mxracer4life]

what are harlequins?

Harlequins from what I understand are a line bred colombian boa, basically a form of pastel. Used a lot to "clean" up coloring and patterns when breeding.

April, mind to chime in here for specifics?

 

[AbsoluteApril]

but of course!

The whole trait isn't really understood yet. Tim (the originator) says it appears to be an incomplete dominant trait. It really refers to a specific bloodline.

This is the explaination I have used before:
The Harlequin line was started by Tim Magee and refined by himself and his brother Brendan however I don't know what happened to either of them and both of their websites are down (harlequinboa.net and bcibydesign.com). So I'm going from memory here... Tim bred two average or normal colombians and half the litter came out with pattern aberrancies and intense color. He bred F2 and outcrossed and these traits kept passing on and showing up, getting more and more crazy so he named the line Harlequin.

Harlequins in general grow to have intense pinks and orange color as well as known for having aberrant patterns (stripe tails and conneted/chainlink saddles are the most common). They are similar to jungles in a way except there's no super form. There's been a lot of back and forth arguing about the genes involved because it's not nailed down and I don't want to get into the whole debate. Some people feel it is a co-dom morph others feel it is line-bred. What is true is that the closer the animals are to the original founding line or the more 'harli' blood that is in the mix the better the animals look and the more they express the trait. You can also get some really crazy looking babies from 'average' looking harli parents.



here are some previous links where this is discussed with photos:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218831&highlight=harlequin

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177778&highlight=harlequin

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117286&highlight=harlequin

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174204&highlight=harlequin

 

[Stryker414]

Thanks Jeremy and "but of course" April. I did think that harlequins resembled jungles.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

lookin good! I always like how harlis can show such nice coloration between the tail saddles

Is this an indicator to the trait? Meaning something they all possess?

Nice looking critter Jeremy. Can't believe you thought of selling him. He'd make a good mate for any female IMO.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

Is this an indicator to the trait? Meaning something they all possess?

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's an indicator but it's something I've noticed that seems to be common in the line, I'm far from an expert though (even if I try to sound like one sometimes)

 

[jrbannister0726]

I had a nice litter of hypo harleys and normal harleys back in april. I think it is a co-dom trait. the mom has a nice clean pattern, but nothing special in the color department. However out of 29 live, 2 still, and five slugs every baby was high colored like the dad and the vast majority 60-75% were abberently patterned. Only 8 non-hypos and 4 were cblt like the mother. i have photos posted on fauna somewhere of the dad, mom, and babies, but if you cant find them i can post some. Bill has two of the hypos from the litter. the dad is from brendan's 08 double does litter and this fall im going to breed him to his double dose poss. super sister and see what happens.

 

[mxracer4life]

I had a nice litter of hypo harleys and normal harleys back in april. I think it is a co-dom trait. the mom has a nice clean pattern, but nothing special in the color department. However out of 29 live, 2 still, and five slugs every baby was high colored like the dad and the vast majority 60-75% were abberently patterned. Only 8 non-hypos and 4 were cblt like the mother. i have photos posted on fauna somewhere of the dad, mom, and babies, but if you cant find them i can post some. Bill has two of the hypos from the litter. the dad is from brendan's 08 double does litter and this fall im going to breed him to his double dose poss. super sister and see what happens.

Lets add some Harley photos!