Jaguar carpet python

[trickedoutz31]

ok after a long serch i have come to the decision i want one of these... can anyone help me find one??? here is a pic

 

[trickedoutz31]

ok just found out about the jaguar pythons

Here is the history
Text of Jan Eric Engell Norway (the founder of JaguarPython)

"After several years of breeding Coastal Carpet Pythons, Morelia s.
mcdowelli, (former Morelia s. variegatae) I suddenly produced a most
unusual looking specimen one day in 1994.

It looked completely different compared to all other mcdowelli hatchlings
as far as pattern and color was concerned. It was almost patternless along
its back except for a few markings on its neck. The background color was
of a light pinkish tan with light brown blotches bordered with a black
edging along the sides of the entire body.

Between the age of two and three the background color of this animal
turned more and more yellow. As an adult this male still takes my breath
away even though he has begun shading to very beautiful orange color. No
signs of fading or black tipping of the background color has occurred in
this animal, as is often the case with Jungle Carpets as they age.

In 1997 I named this exceptional specimen the Jaguar Carpet, which I found
to be most appropriate due to its color and pattern.

Thus the Jaguar name was introduced to the herp scene for the very first
time.

It was now time to find out if this spontaneous mutation was of a dominant
or recessive trait. In 1998 I bred him with an unrelated Coastal female.
Unfortunately this resulted in only four good eggs. However, one of the
babies turned out to be a true Jaguar Carpet. Now there was no doubt that
this was a genetic trait. The background color of this specimen turned
completely yellow during its second year and with an unbelievable head
pattern.

Using the same breeding pair in 1999 I produced twelve babies. Four were
normals and eight were true Jaguars. All of these went to the United
States.

The following year I managed to produce approximately 50% normals and 50%
Jaguars from two unrelated mcdowelli females. This suggests that the
Jaguar gene is of a co-dominant trait.
One female (#2 on the Coastal page) laid 49 eggs, whereas 4 were
non-viable. 22 Jaguars and 23 normal sibs was the result from this clutch.
Perhaps not so astonishing since the female at the time was 11 feet long
and weighing close to 22 pounds, but still a pretty impressive sized
clutch.
Thanks to the founder Jaguar male.

Finally, something even more spectacular appeared among the 22 Jags that
year, namely the patternless Banana Jaguar Carpet with only a small blotch
between her eyes. She was one of a kind, but unfortunately she died in
2002 before she reached the age of two. I have been hoping to produce some
new ones ever since, but the large female Coastal has not produced a
clutch since.

She was imported to Norway in 1976 when she was only about 4 feet long and
today she is a huge monster at close to 13 feet with a weight of over 30
pounds. Her head is as big as my rather large fist and she has a really
bad temper to go along with it. I am still hoping every year that she will
lay a new clutch, but I am afraid she might have passed her retirement
age.

The second female (#1 on my Coastal page) started the Hypo and Red Hypo
Jaguar project that year. She was bred to the son of the founder, who I
simply call “Junior” and who made his sexual debut quite early. Even
though their clutch was small compared to the other one, this breeding
pair managed to produce a few Hypo Jaguars including the first Red Hypo
Jaguar pair.

The two Red Hypos not only lacked black tipping on the background scales,
but also showed no signs of developing black tipping within the blotches.
They simply looked amazing…

The background color of the Hypo Jaguar juveniles should slowly start to
turn yellow by one year and continue to intensify as they age.

Despite the fact that the founder male did not turn bright yellow until
the age of three, it seems like most of the offspring from the hypo
bloodline develop the yellow coloration much earlier. The background color
of the Red Hypos on the other hand turn into a more white coloration with
age, extending from ivory white to cream to a soft yellowish white. As
adults they can almost be called white hypos.

Regular Jaguars develop black tipping either on their background scales or
within their blotches or both. As you can clearly see on the Regular
Jaguar page. This development can start right after their first shed as a
juvenile or take up to their second year to develop. Hypo and Red Hypo
Jaguars do not develop black tipping and that is why I call them hypos,
namely due to the fact that these specimens have a reduction in black
pigmentation. Even H. Bernard Bechtel, who wrote the book “Reptile and
Amphibian Variants”, agrees with me on this point.

It was not until 2003 I did my first Jaguar to Jaguar breeding and from
that point on I have had some pretty amazing results as well as producing
a few new Jaguar morphs. The following breedings and results have taken
place here at my facility since 2003 and up until today.

HYPO JAGUAR x HYPO JAGUAR (3 clutches) = mostly Hypo Jaguars and a few Red
Hypos together with normal sibs and some dead Leucists. I also produced
the very first Super Hypo from my high yellow Hypo pair in 2003.

The Hypo Jaguars from such a clutch are really high contrast in pattern
and color even at birth, especially the ones produced by the breeder pair
already mentioned.

The Red Hypos are also unique from this breeding since the background
color of the 2003 specimens have turned bright yellow instead of the usual
white. A Hypo Tiger Jaguar was produced in 2004. No Regular Jaguars were
produced. Since I have only produced small clutches from such breedings
due to the fact that close to half of the eggs have gone bad during
incubation I do need a perfect clutch in order to iron out the exact % of
each morph from such a breeding.

There might also be other hidden morphs.......
I do have such a perfect clutch in the incubator ready to hatch any day
now. The results will be updated later.

RED HYPO JAGUAR X RED HYPO JAGUAR (4 clutches) = mostly Red Hypos
(including blue tongued and a few red tongued specimens), a few Hypos and
sibs, Super Red Hypos and some dead leucists. Two of these leucists stayed
alive for a while. No Regular Jaguars were produced.

One of the two clutches I produced this year from such a breeding was
finally a perfect 100% clutch (no slugs!) consisting of 21 eggs with the
following results:

4 Leucists (dead!)
4 Super Reds (including twins!)
3 Leopard Jaguars - red burgandy phase
1 Leopard Jaguar - super red phase
4 Red Hypos
2 Hypos
4 Normal Sibs


So there you are, a new Jaguar morph can appear if you produce a perfect
clutch. The Leopard Jaguar will be updated with pics later. More
importantly, what is the actual SUPER morph in the Jaguar trait?
I have never believed it to be the Leucistic Jaguar. Seems to me that the
leucist gene is one of many within the Jaguar project, something the
results of the breeding above should clearly indicate.

As with “Supers” from other co-dominant mutation breedings the Super
usually resembles the original morph, but is a much better looking animal
with brighter colors and less pattern. Or with a unique new pattern
altogether even though it is easy to see where it came from.

An example of many being the Tiger Retic and the Super Tiger Retic or the
Pastel Balls and the Super Pastels. An even better example is the Platty
Ball python project. Here you have combinations of Lesser Platty balls
producing not only two leucistic forms, but also the Super Lessers.
The Platty obviously has several hidden genes, much like that of the
Jaguar Carpet.
With the Leopard Jaguar suddenly appearing I am getting even more confused
concerning the Jaguar trait, but for now I am sticking to what I have
called the Supers on my website, at least until the opposite has been
proven.

More perfect clutches have to be produced before the Jaguar puzzle is in
place.

HYPO JAGUAR X RED HYPO JAGUAR (1 clutch 2004) =
2 Red Hypo Jaguars, 3 Super Red Hypo Jaguars, 1 Hypo Jaguar and 2 dead
Leucists.
No normal sibs or Regular Jaguars were produced. There were several slugs
in this clutch so the result speaks for itself. More clutches needed in
order to iron out the possibilities from such a breeding.

REGULAR JAGUAR X REGULAR JAGUAR =
Such a breeding has not taken place at my facility, simply because I have
not kept any Regular females. I have concentrated on Hypos due to lack of
space.
However, Are Hogner at Oslo Reptile Park has done so and produced the
first Tiger Jaguar in 2003. Otherwise I do not have his exact results so
this is something I will have to come back to.
Other Jaguar breedings that have taken place since my last update are as
follows.


HYPO JAGUAR X UNRELATED COASTAL FEMALES =
During the past three seasons I have bred my high yellow Hypo Jaguar male
with 3 different unrelated Coastal females. Approximately 50% Jaguars and
50% Normal Sibs was the result, not so strange considering the Jaguar
trait is of a co-dominant trait. The hatchlings all looked like Hypos or
Red Hypos when they were born, but a few started to develop this scale
tipping already after their first shed. While others have taken up to two
years to develop such tipping. Even though the amount of black tipping
varies from specimen to specimen they do seem to develop this scale
tipping with age, either on the background scales or within the blotches
or both. Exactly like the Regular Jaguars do.

However, the bright colors of these “intermedia” Jaguars develop at a much
earlier stage (usually during their first and second year), much like that
of the true Hypo Jaguars. They simply have a much cleaner and high
contrast appearance despite of the black tipping. I therefore prefer to
call them high contrast Jaguars so they do not get confused with Regular
or Hypo Jaguars.

RED HYPO JAGUAR X UNRELATED COASTAL FEMALES =
This has not been done at my facility. However, I expect the same results
as when breeding a Hypo Jaguar with unrelated Coastal females.

Unless you are lucky enough to own a normal, unrelated Coastal with a
hidden hypo gene. Something a US breeder is supposed to have. Just like
the normal Coastal female I am fortunate to own without knowing about her
“little secret” until she started the Hypo and Red Hypo Jaguar project.
New hypo bloodlines are good to find within the Carpet Python world.

I have found that the only way to produce Hypo and Red Hypo Jaguars is by
breeding Hypo x Hypo, Red Hypo x Red Hypo, Red Hypo x Hypo or Hypo x
Normal Sib (from the Hypo/Red Hypo line) and Red Hypo x Normal Sib (from
the Hypo/Red Hypo line).

Otherwise, as already mentioned a Coastal with a hidden hypo gene is
needed. Someone out there might very well own such a specimen without
knowing, even though it is rare.

REGULAR JAGUAR X UNRELATED COASTALS =
As with all Jaguar morphs when bred to a unrelated Coastal you do produce
approximately 50% Regular Jaguars and 50% Normal Sibs. However, so far I
have been fortunate enough to produce the Banana Jaguar among the Regular
Jaguars in the year 2000 and almost another one (with two blotches) the
year before, except this specimen managed to drown inside the egg before
it was supposed to hatch.

Secondly, the Hypo and Red Hypo project from another unrelated Coastal
female the same year. And finally in 2004 the Axanthic Jaguar (3 more
Axanthics this year!) from a third unrelated Coastal female.

These three breedings have been a result of breeding 3 separate Regular
Jaguar males with 3 normal, unrelated Coastal females (also unrelated to
each other). So what is going on? The Jaguar Carpet obviously has multiple
hidden genes and depending on what genetic material lies within an
unrelated Coastal counterpart you might very well be facing a totally new
Jaguar morph.
I guess you could say I have been blessed 3 times already! The fact that
it has happened to me does not mean it cannot happen to others also. The
next new morph can just as well appear at some other Jaguar owner’s
facility.
NORMAL SIB (Hypo/Red Hypo Jaguar line) X HYPO JAGUAR (1 clutch) =
I produced exactly 12 Sibs, 9 Hypo Jaguars and 3 Red Hypo Jaguars from
such a clutch.
The Hypo and Red Hypo Jaguars from such a breeding all look fantastic with
no black tipping.

I will be producing more such clutches in order to find out more.


NORMAL SIB X NORMAL SIB (Both from Hypo/Red Hypo Jaguar line) =
My findings are from two clutches. Only Normal Sibs were produced even
though they had various patterns and colors. I now consider the normal
sibs from the Hypo/Red Hypo Jaguar line to be most useful since when bred
to a Hypo or Red Hypo Jaguar they are in fact capable of producing both of
the Hypo Jaguar morphs.

The Leucistic Jaguars are obviously a weak link within the Jaguar trait.
So far I have produced a total of 26 dead leucists from the 8 Jaguar x
Jaguar clutches mentioned earlier on this page.

One of these leucists hatched by itself and stayed alive for a couple of
hours while another one stayed alive for three days within its egg. Are
Hogner of Oslo Reptile Park has produced 8 leucists so far from his
Regular Jaguar pair. One of these stayed alive for about 26 hours after
hatching while another one stayed alive inside the egg for over two days
before it died. He has taken video footage of this Leucistic Jaguar while
it was alive. You may view this footage on the "Jaguar Photos" page.

From a total of 34 Leucistic Jaguars produced here in Norway (from two
different sources) only three have shown any signs of external body
abnormalities (kinks etc.). The rest have looked perfect.

So why does the few that hatch by themselves die shortly after? Could it
be that their lungs are simply disfunctional during the transition to
atmospheric breathing? Or could it be caused by some other internal
disorder? I believe the only way to produce a healthy leucistic specimen
is to dilute the Jaguar bloodline by several generations and then breed
two completely unrelated Jaguars to each other.

On another genetic note. It seems to me that if you breed a Jaguar male
with several normal, unrelated Coastal females this might most likely
result in an unequal distribution of the different morphs, according to
the variations in the genetic material of the various normal Coastal
females.

An example might be that I have only produced 3 banded Jaguar specimens
(from 3 separate Jaguar morphs) during the course of three years while a
US breeder in 2004 produced a clutch from his Red Hypo
Jaguar male to a normal, unrelated female Coastal, whereas most of the
hatchlings were banded.

The above statements reflects only on my findings at my facility so far.
Breedings will vary of course. There is still a lot to be learnt, but I am
slowly learning more each year as far as the Jaguar trait is concerned.
I do not have all the answers. More breeding and perfect clutches are
required in order to iron out the possibilities. It seems like an endless
quest since it looks like a new Jaguar morph appears almost annually. I am
not complaining though.
The Jaguar project is without a doubt the most interesting Carpet Python
project around and probably for years to come.

There has been a lot of discussions on Carpet forums whether my Jaguars
are actual Coastals or not.
During the 1960’ies and 1970’ies the only Carpet Pythons you could get
your hands on here in Europe were Coastals. All of the Carpets I collected
at the time were the Brisbane variety.

Their lenghts speak for themselves. Simply the fact that my Coastals have
reached lenghts on average of 10-11 feet, with the exceptions of a few 13
footers should be proof enough. My “Big Mamma“ as I call my oldest normal
Coastal is now 13 feet. Two of my largest Jaguars are now approximately 10
and 11 feet long.
Do Jungles or Irians reach such sizes?


I had not even heard about Jungle or Irian Carpets when the new reptile
law went into effect on January 1st. 1977, making it illegal to import
reptiles to Norway. From this date on it was also illegal to own reptiles
unless you obtained a dispensation from the Ministry of Agriculture. I do
possess such a permit on all my snakes.

My facility is inspected a few times each year by the Norwegian Veterinary
authorities. Not only are the python eggs inspected and counted, but also
the babies after they hatch. Everything is accounted for and if as much as
one animal should die during the year I have to put it in the freezer and
report it to the authorities. I also have to keep the empty eggs frozen
until the inspector arrives. All the frozen eggs as well as potential dead
animals are then handed over to the vet. inspector. These are used in
educational purposes or properly disposed of by the authorities.
THAT IS HOW STRICT IT IS HERE IN NORWAY. Be glad you herpers do not live
here!

In other words keeping illegal animals at my facility is not worth the
risk of having my collection confiscated. The only Carpet Python I have a
permit for is the Coastal Carpet (former variegatae, now mcdowelli) and
that is the only Carpet specie I intend to keep here in Norway. End of
story!

And if you wonder why it was called variegatae back then it was simply
because the Morelia “Carpet” group was devided into variegatae (all the
Carpets), bredli (Centralians) and spilota (Diamonds). They were not
separated into subspecies back then.

So there won’t be any further misunderstandings to the following warning.
Two Europeans and one Las Vegas petstore manager tried to pass off their
Irian Jaya Carpets as true Jaguars during 2001/2002. I have kept all the
correspondence as evidence, just in case I ever needed proof.
NOTE!

Be aware that there are a few Irian Jaya Carpets out there that can be
mistaken for true Jaguar Coastals. At least as far as pattern is
concerned, but the comparison ends there. Most importantly, the color is
totally different.

True Jaguars develop with age a bright yellow/orange background color.
Furthermore, the true Jaguar bloodline is capable of producing several
unique Jaguar morphs.
I would therefore simply call these Irian Jayas for so-called "false"
Jaguars at best, since they lack the possibilities of true Jaguars. Even
though Irian Jaya Carpets are beautiful animals I would not want people to
get ripped off, expecting or hoping these to be from my Jaguar bloodline.
I just wanted to clear this up once and for all"