| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Coal |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 15:08:48
Hi all, so it was mentioned to me a little while ago that my yearling amel corn might be a possible sunglow, so naturally off I toddled to do some research. I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong) that sunglow is a selectively-bred variation of amelanistic rather than an easily genetically-defined trait, and involves the removal of the white saddle-borders and the general brightening of the background colour of a regular amel.
This kinda' suggests to me that there must be a sort of sliding scale between ordinary amel and sunglow, so my question is, what's the cut-off? As in, at what point does it start counting as a sunglow? Does the snake have to have no white at all or are small flecks 'allowed'?
I'm just curious more than anything; I'd like to know Lovey's exact morphs for interests snake so being able to work out whether or not he counts as sunglow would be nice :)
In case anyone can just tell me straight off, here's a couple pics (I've put this up elsewhere but for the sake of convenience, I'll put them here too:)
Close-up:
Somewhat more zoomed out:
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| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Coal |
Posted - 09/08/2013 : 11:01:57
Oakly - thanks for the information, these selectively bred morphs sound really interesting - if I ever do decide to start a little breeding project (no immediate plans as just don't have the space at the mo') I might consider going for them :)
mj - Funnily enough, I wasn't a big fan of amels at first either - I preferred the anerys, but when it came to actually getting a snake I fell in love with Lovecraft's personality; he's just so gentle and calm whereas the anery female that was my other option was more nervous and apparently prone to nipping. Now of course I think my boy's absolutely gorgeous, and the sunglow and motley above are really beautiful <3 And I will be happy to oblige with more pics as he grows; I'm curious to see how/if his colour changes as he gets older :) |
| mjpeters |
Posted - 09/08/2013 : 10:43:09
I'm right there with Oakly and SBB-so very much is open to interpretation with all selectively bred snakeys-and one of the reasons I love the 'pattern'morph's is the way they alter the amount of white/belly pattern 
Amels are growing on me-sneaking up like! they are all so different and your's is a real Firey little cracker-more pics please as he grows  |
| oakleyman18 |
Posted - 09/08/2013 : 09:52:15
Moppet was spot on with that. Motley removes most of the saddle borders as part of the gene, so I guess you could say all/most amel motleys are sunglows, but that's being cheeky :P
As Gmac mentioned also, it's very difficult to determine what makes a selectively bred morph. I think you've hit the nail on the head with the "sliding scale" (no puns!) idea, because it's very much that. And you're 100% correct to say it's not a genetic trait in its own right.
If I had to put a penny on this sliding scale, with 1 being an Amel and 10 being the most awesome Sunglow I've ever seen, I'd go with about a 6 for your snake. There's definitely some of the elements which make a sunglow a sunglow - such as bright colouration and reduced white/yellow patterning, but I can still see some white, and for it to be a true sunglow, I'd say it needs to be 100% reduced.
Don't let it put you off though :) Selectively bred traits are really difficult to prove out, identify and breed out again. But at the end of the day- lovely little snake!! |
| Moppet |
Posted - 09/08/2013 : 09:03:12
mj - your snake is beautiful but I think it becomes so much harder to determine whether a motley is a sunglow or an amel because the gene motley removes a lot of the white on its own 
You're welcome Coal and thanks |
| Coal |
Posted - 09/08/2013 : 08:52:45
Ah, thanks for the lovely pics mj and Moppet, I can definitely see the difference now; there is next to no white at all on these snakes where as Lovey still has a fair bit in comparison :)
Thanks for helping out, and those two snakes are just beautiful :) |
| mjpeters |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 23:22:58
I think this is a Sunglow too?
Sides and underneath,
bit different as this is a motley,but you get the idea  |
| Moppet |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 21:25:34
As Gmac said. Too much white for a sunglow and there doesn't seem to be a set standard for them. They're just a selectively bred amel which has been bred to have less (preferably none) white and brighter colouring
There's a lot of variety in the Amel corns, part of the reason I love them so much
To give you an idea of a sunglow kind of colouring, many people would agree that my snake, Aurora is a sunglow (although she actually wasn't selectively bred to produce one which is why I tend to call her an Amel.)
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| mjpeters |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 18:46:16
Still a completely GORGEOUS snakey-and I don't normally go much for the red/orange ones
Be nice to see how much brighter it gets,my Amel Fluffy is now a'WAKE UP'shade of orange/red!! |
| gmac |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 17:59:14
quote:
Originally posted by Coal
^^ Cools, thanks for the info both :)
Could I just ask how you can tell that he's an amel, not a sunglow
And gmac, I guessed it would be subjective, just wondered whether there was a sort of generally accepted cut-off
Too much white, doesn't seem it but too much for sunglow.
Cut off again is subjective dont think there is an actual cut off. |
| ScaryVonHayleystine |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 17:26:43
I would have thought more amel to sun glow :) |
| Coal |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 16:16:19
^^ Cools, thanks for the info both :)
Could I just ask how you can tell that he's an amel, not a sunglow (not that I don't believe you, I'm just genuinely interested)? I've been scouring Ian's viv and, being the newb that I am, can't really tell the difference between the two except that sunglows just look sorta' brighter :P
And gmac, I guessed it would be subjective, just wondered whether there was a sort of generally accepted cut-off |
| Moppet |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 16:14:11
Looks like an amel to me, rather than sunglow. |
| gmac |
Posted - 08/08/2013 : 16:03:05
this corn is an amel, not a sunglow.
As for the defining line between sunglow and amel its subjective im afraid and each have their own levels. |
