Anthrax - aka He who HATES having his pic taken!!!

[KLG]

This retic is next to impossible to photograph, which is why most of our pics of him SUCK! :013:

Kev caught him sitting still for a brief moment today & managed to snap some decent photos.

http://newenglandreptile.com/forumpics/26feb05anthrax3.jpg
http://newenglandreptile.com/forumpics/26feb05anthrax2.jpg
http://newenglandreptile.com/forumpics/26feb05anthrax4.jpg
http://newenglandreptile.com/forumpics/26feb05anthrax1.jpg

[The Cleaner]

That guy looks almost as intense as Kev on a bad day! :roll:

[Tony Bocanegra]

Now that is a black retic. I saw an ad for a black retic and was expecting to see a pic similar to anthrax. But that retic wasn't even black. Anthrax is definately in a league of his own.

[Jim]

Dark and foreboding - good traits in a reticulated!

[PadraigC]

hey anthrax is a star now in the retic world you think he wants to have his pic taken every second. Pretty bad when a hard working snake needs to dodge the paparazziii :lol:

[Andy]

i thought axanthic was the lack of yellow pigment?

Whats your point?

[vstroh]

One of his offspring is on the top of my "Buy" list. It's good to see some more pics of this amazing Retic.

[Kitt]

He is so awesome...

I think "Anthrax" should definitely remain the name for that morph. Even if it turns out to be anerythristic, or whatever, Retics that look like him should forever be called Anthrax morphs. Because only that conveys a sufficient amount of awesome. :biggrin2:

OK, now imagine him and Flame and the grown-up version of the new "white" Retics right next to each other...

[Nett]

WOW........ What a beauty :clap:

[Amelia]

Love that retic, maybe he thinks your trying to steal his soul away with your camera?

[KLG]

i thought he was an axanthic retic, but he clearly has yellow pigmentation on his sides so he cant be.

The above was up before i went and had a nosey on the site. I thought axanthism was a lack of yellow and not a reduced amount of yellow pigmentation - hence the confusion, so ignore my inane waffling.

No worries...I personally think he's melanistic...Kev & I go round & round on this one. ;)

So we'll just call him Anthrax in the mean time...as well as "get in there and breed, dammit!"

K~

[Ryan77]

Simply beautiful! I'm very proud to have a few of his offspring! :biggrin2: 8)

[Anonymous]

I have questioned the genetics in anthrax a few times but no-one has ever taken any time to answer any of my questions about him, whats my chances on getting some answers now?

Obviously there is some serious belief that anthrax is something different from other retics out there (barring this other WC one) but why is it you guys think he is anything but calico? It is common for one type of WC calico to go very dark, could he not be a male form of this type of calico? I know the other "black" retic that belonged to Bob Clark was a calico so why is this not believed to be the case with anthrax?
He has been billed as a possible route to white retics but as he does contain yellow pigmentation i cant help but wonder if he is actually alot simpler than he looks.

I have held off buying any of his offspring due to my uncertainties about the genetics and my paranoid belief that you guys are holding back info about him (don't know what?!?!?). Obviously though my time is running out before his offspring show as axanthic/melanistic (or not) hence my questions.
Any help here REALLY would be appreciated.

[KLG]

Dan...drop the paranoia. We're not holding back any information about Anthrax - you've made that all of that up in your own mind. Please don't be a drama queen. :roll: :roll:

As far as we know, this is a simple recessive trait that tends to cause some of the heterozygous offspring to have an odd look from them. Anthrax X Poison Ivy = granite backs. Anthrax X Tiger = some really weird looking tigers!

Have you really compared Bob's retic to Anthrax (the one pic on his site)? They look nothing alike outside of being retics & being dark. Anthrax has very distinct markings on the top of his head, as well as odd postocular stripes. We've seen some of the head markings passed on in the granite backs. And the "new WC" snake shares the same markings. Go look at the head shot of Bob's snake - apples & oranges compared to Anthrax...there's a muddy postocular stripe but that's about it.

Besides, if he's "nothing but a calico" we likely would have seen a lot more snakes similar to him, considering how many calicos there are floating around out there.

There you go - guess we'll know the rest when his kids start hatching!

:biggrin2:

K~

[Anonymous]

Dan...drop the paranoia. We're not holding back any information about Anthrax - you've made that all of that up in your own mind. Please don't be a drama queen.

AWWWWWWWW, spoilsport - LMAO


As far as we know, this is a simple recessive trait that tends to cause some of the heterozygous offspring to have an odd look from them. Anthrax X Poison Ivy = granite backs. Anthrax X Tiger = some really weird looking tigers!

I have seen that odd look before in offspring from calico's aswell. If PeteF would post some pics of his yearlings they show something very similar. This is by no means to the extent of being granite backs but that small circle pattern is consistent.


Have you really compared Bob's retic to Anthrax (the one pic on his site)? They look nothing alike outside of being retics & being dark

I have looked at that photo many times, but i come to different conclusions. As it is only one photo, and one to look good not for information, it is hard to make any real conclusions at all about it. There are a few things you can pick out though, ie it had a limited pattern atleast under the darkness (like anthrax), the eyes are dark (like anthrax) and it has a seriously faint postocular stripe (nowhere near as defined as the post or preocular stripe on anthrax).
Of course the differences could come down to locality forced changes - ie the same trait expressed differently through the different markings as they are from different localities. This last bit is me working blind though. You have the upper hand in that you have the pictures of this other WC anthrax type morph - which presumably is from a different locality again. I would be very interested to see this animal - as would everyone else i imagine - to see what differences locality has on the expression of this trait. I could make educated guesses but at the end of the day thats all they would be.


Besides, if he's "nothing but a calico" we likely would have seen a lot more snakes similar to him, considering how many calicos there are floating around out there.

Not neccesarily, we know that the expression of calicoism in WC males is rare, perhaps it is just that the males express the trait in a different manner?


There you go

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. Sorry if you see it as pestering - it just fascinates me something cronic

[KLG]

No problem Dan. You keep guessing, and we'll keep hatching cool retics.

Thanks!

K~

[Andy]

Actually the wc calicos that I know about look nothing like anthrax, just a typical calico.

Kevin has produced hundreds of calico offspring. We are familar with what calico offspring look like. Anthrax babies do look different depending on what female they are breed to, BUT even when we produced babies from a tiger to anthrax they still look like "granite backs" and other anthrax offspring. We have had 4 clutches from anthrax and had ample oppurtunity to compare his babies. They are easily identifiable if you have seen enough of them.

And if the gene interests you Dan, your missing out on your oppurtunity to get them. Once we make little baby black retics the price of hets WILL SKY ROCKET :angel:

[Kitt]

OK...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the calico trait is sex-linked, as in cats, would this not mean that a male expressing the trait would be sterile? (Due to having an extra X chromosome?) And Anthrax has already sired babies -- wouldn't that prove that he isn't a calico?

Just my thought... Although I guess we don't know for sure that the calico trait is sex-linked...

[Anonymous]

Actually the wc calicos that I know about look nothing like anthrax, just a typical calico.

Do you have any pics of other WC male calicos? :-)
I think this is from when i said about certain calico's going dark? There is plenty of evidence out there to show that it happens a lot, my thought was that with this snake it happened to a greater extent


Kevin has produced hundreds of calico offspring. We are familar with what calico offspring look like.

I know he has and i know you know what calico offspring look like - from all those you have already. My point is that he may have his own set of rules but still play the same game, ie he does things differently but still has the same results as a calico.


And if the gene interests you Dan, your missing out on your oppurtunity to get them. Once we make little baby black retics the price of hets WILL SKY ROCKET

DON'T I KNOW IT !!!!! lol. This is why i want to try to make up my mind before it happens. My problem is that while i want to think your right i can't help wonder if your wrong. There would be no harm in me buying into the project either way as i have a calico already so if it turned out to be a calico issue then it just bulks up my project and if not i have a new project to look forward to.

[KLG]

I think this is from when i said about certain calico's going dark? There is plenty of evidence out there to show that it happens a lot, my thought was that with this snake it happened to a greater extent


Kevin got Anthrax as a skinny, subadult animal, and the only changing he's done in that time has been to grow & put on weight. His coloration has remained the same the entire time - no lightening or darkening.

More food for thought.

K~

[RRusso70]

Wow really cool he is dark looks great !