Revisiting the 2011 Holdbacks

[Snakesitter]

Back in September 2011, Living Gems choose several holdbacks from its 2014B litter -- our only one of that year.

Three years later, it is time to revisit those four snakes to determine who stays.

This will be a two-step process.

For the males, we will decide relatively quickly, with the winner joining the LGR lineup as breeder stock, and the runner-up either being promoted to “show snake” or retired to a pet owner, there to live out his days in serpent luxury.

For the females, after taking input from our customers, both will be bred once to see who produces the better babies as a final decision factor. After taking all of the data into account, the winner will join the LGR lineup as breeder stock, and the runner-up either be promoted to “show snake” or retired to a pet owner.

On the male side, here were our holdbacks at six months’ old:

Everest


Kilimanjaro


On the female side, again at six months’ old:

Heliodor


Morganite


A whopping 39 months, 99 meals, and 1750 grams later, here is what those same holdbacks look like....

[continued below...darn picture count limits!]

[Snakesitter]

[continued from above]

A whopping 39 months, 99 meals, and 1750 grams later, here is what those same holdbacks look like. For each animal, the first picture is at age two and a half, and the second one is at age three (looking at the shots now, it seems the camera settings were different between the two sets, so I’ve included both for comparison):

Everest



Kilimanjaro



Heliodor



Morganite



On the males I’m torn. For looks, the two are roughly equal; for personality, Everest is friendlier, but Kilimanjaro has a bit of an “attitude” that might make him an excellent breeder.

On the females, I think Morganite lived up to her potential better. Heliodor is a beautiful animal, and friendly to a fault…but seems to be a slightly less pretty adult. However, she was the more stunning baby, and when crossed with the right male may produce killer kids.

So…looking at the pictures and notes, what do our customers say?

Thank you, as always, for reading.

[Minkness]

Not to sound rude, I just don't have the eye to tell the difference. They are all AMAZING critters though! When I am ready to offer a luxury home to a BRB I know who I'm buying from o.o

Daaaaang those are pretty.....

[Snakesitter]

Thanks Minkness! It *is* a tough choice! And we will be here whenever you are ready -- if you've not liked our Facebook Page, it is a good way to keep tabs on our babies!

[SnoopySnake]

I really like Morganite and Kilimanjaro!

[millertime89]

Originally Posted by SnoopySnake

I really like Morganite and Kilimanjaro!

I second this. I think they turned out the best.

[shaunyboy]

all turned out to be great looking snakes mate...

for me Morganite stands out from the others,she's my favorite...

Helidor is a close 2nd

cheers shaun

[Snakesitter]

Thanks Shaun -- always great to have top females, so no complaints there lol!

[Snakesitter]

Thank you, Kyle!

[Snakesitter]

Thank you, Snoopy!

[kwhitlock]

Personally I love Kilimanjaro, his dorsal patterns and his side patterns look incredibly clean and he has to me just the right amount of shine to him! Morganite is a stunner as well.

[sharthun]

Wow Cliff! beautiful!!!

[Snakesitter]

Thank you, Steve!

[Snakesitter]

Thank you, Kevin!

[Snakesitter]

Interesting how the votes so far have been consistently for K&M. :-)