I am good friends with Clark, I am also friends with Jonathan. Do I agree with the way this is being handled on either end, NO. I personally wish for both parties sake that this tread was never started. So here are some of the facts that I am aware of:
Clark did acquire the original animal from Amir, however Amir did not produce the animal Clark received as partial payment. The whole story about Amir owing PHR is true. (Clark and his family were visiting me and my family at our place in the Keys when this was going down, so I did hear parts of the conversations)
Clark picked up that animal from Amir on his way back from the Keys to my house. I saw the animal and said: That thing is worth how much? I can honestly say- It was a very poor example of a regular pastel calico. (This animal did not show any signs of the whiteout! The snake was straight out of the egg weighing about 50 grams. Clark had later told me that he had a hard time getting the animal started.
In 2010 Clark bred that Pastel Calico and made a couple really nice clutches where more then half of each clutch came out very tweaked and washed out. (Pastels, Super Pastels and Pastel Calicos or Supers)
Mike Bell, also a friend of mine also produced IMO the only other animals that looked very similar to the ones Clark produced a month or so earlier, Very washed out Pastel Calicos or Supers and Super Pastels) All looking the same as the ones Clark had recently produced.
Also, Amir purchased one of the snakes Mike Bell produced to display at the 2010 Tinley Park show as his white out Gene and sold the animal for nearly three times what he had paid mike for it.
I always wondered why Amir would have needed to purchase that animal from Mike? Is he not the originator of the Whiteout? Doesn't he have a huge breeding facility? Wouldn't most people think that he would have made dozens of those animals that looked just like the ones Clark and Mike produced with all his stock?
Here is my take, and I have been trying to figure it out much longer then most of you reading this. The Gene in which Clark Tucker and Mike Bell have at their facilities is completely different from the Citrus Whiteout gene that Amir has. It does different things when crossed with different mutations.
Some of you may like the Citrus Pastels and Citrus Pastel Whiteouts, I do! I think the example Joe Ellis had in his add was remarkable.
Some of you may have seen the Pictures Clark Tucker and Mike Bell posted last year of their washed out pastel or super pastel calicos and said: Wow, I want one of those or atleast the gene to make one of those, I know I did.
Bottom line: If you like the Citrus Pastels and Citrus Pastel Crosses go out and buy them, they are great looking animals.
If you want the washed out patterns that Clark and Mike have consistently produced then go out and buy stock from either of them.
I strongly believe that these are two completely different lines of animals, they are not the same. I think the confusion was that they were both initially called the (Whiteout) which made people believe that they were the same mutation.
I hope for both parties involved, that this whole thing gets cleared up and they can both go back to running their operations, both are very nice individuals to do business with.
Clark Tucker is soley a "snake breeder" he only markets and sells what he produces (It is not mandatory that you Quarantine animals that you receive from Clark, He has had a closed collection ever since he started running PHR).
Jonathan is rather new to breeding snakes, Yes he produced a few nice clutches this year and made some spectors and stripes as well as some others. However, most of the animals that Jonathan advertises and sells, come from other breeders, Amir, Marc Baily, Suffork Selects, Joe Ellis, Myself and others willing to do a decent trade with him.
I am not saying anything is wrong with either practice, I am trying to give some history behind both parties involved in this thread- (Someone stated in this thread that Jonathan was a huge snake breeder and Clark was a small breeder. (That was not accurate information).
Again, Both mutations are really nice animals and create nice crosses but IMO they are very, very different so purchase the ones you like best folks!
Very good points. I am curious as well.
