Super Tessera's

[MysticExotics]

I would like to know who has done Tessera X Tessera pairings.

How many held the whole clutch of Tessera's back to test breed?
If so, how many eggs in the clutch, how many went full term?

How many found out the had a Super Tessera by accident?
In talking with Don S. he mentioned that he (and others) had done Tessera X Tessera, and a couple babies he sent over seas ended up being Supers.
He said he held back some babies, but I don't know if he, or other breeders that he referenced held back entire clutches of Tessera's, or if they selected the ones they thought would be Super to hold back.

I'm sure there are Super Tessera's out there that are in pet homes, and we'll never know that they are Supers.

I currently have a Miami Tessera X Miami Tessera clutch that I am holding back all of the Tessera's to test breed and see which ones are Supers.
Out of 19 eggs (all of which hatched), 16 of those are Tessera's, and three are normal Miami's.
Murphy was kind to me, but at the same time, that is 16 babies to grow up and test breed. LOL

I believe that there are markers that indicate Supers, but they are subtle, and often missed. I hope to figure out what marker that is.

If you have any information on Super Tessera's, please post it here!
I am eager to learn more about them, and I hope to help contribute to proving out some otherwise unknown facts about Super Tesseras.

Thanks for your time!

 

[fyrefocks]

In 2013 I bred together 2 sibling tesseras produced by Don. Both normals ph motley, amel, and caramel. I think neither proved amel, but both proved het motley and caramel.

I can't remember how many eggs she produced, maybe 12. I no longer own her, so I don't have that info on hand. I think half the clutch crashed during incubation, but 7 babies hatched. There were 2 classically colored and pattered tesseras, and one caramel tess that looked different, either motley or maybe a super or maybe just touched in the head. Well, Don thought the caramel thing might be a super, so I kept it. But since this was a breeding loan, the other two tess went to the owner of the male. The other babies were normals and motleys.

Well, I haven't yet bred my holdback, but Lars sold his babies and lo and behold, one of them was Tavia's super. So my keeper is probably a motley. Oh well.

 

[gelshark]

Well, I haven't yet bred my holdback, but Lars sold his babies and lo and behold, one of them was Tavia's super. So my keeper is probably a motley. Oh well.

Could be both super and motley.

 

[fyrefocks]

Could be both super and motley.

Them odds, though.

 

[MysticExotics]

I did see Tavia's thread (thank you Lars).

I think the Supers are out there, I think that breeders have held back the ones they thought would be, and ended up selling the real Supers (as in your case).

I'll have to do the test breeding in groups, since I don't have the space or the non Tessera's to pair them all as soon as they're ready.

I'm glad to see that Tessera is not a lethal gene, like with Jags. It seems to work the same way Caramel does in Carpet Pythons. Very subtle markers that indicate Supers.

Now we just have to pinpoint what those markers are.
Thanks to Tavia, I will be watching head patterns, one possible indicator.
I'm watching everything: dorsal stripes, belly pattern, side pattern, etc.

 

[Tavia]

I was going to post on your progression thread but didn't want to detract from the progression of your clutch, so this thread is great! Here are the face patterns I was talking about, though the pictures are lacking something of the quality of the more striking but very subtle differences I can see in person.

This is a yearling shot of Max, my probable Super.

And a more recent picture of Max.

This is Persephone, currently my only other Tess from a Tess-Tess pairing. Getting a picture of her that clearly shows that area like it looks in person is hard!

Then Badger, who is from a Tess to non Tess pairing.

Next I'll post my comparison shots of neck/dorsal difference I've noted. Would be so much more helpful if someone who owned one of the proven Supers would also post, so we'd know a bit more whether any of this actually matters!

 

[MysticExotics]

Thank you Tavia! This is great!

It will be a long process to get closeups of all of the babies, but I will post those in my progression thread.

 

[MysticExotics]

It's funny, because with the Super Caramel gene in the Carpet Pythons, I think the marker is in the same area.

 

[Tavia]

Now this dorsal pattern seems to be rarer in Tessera corns and I've noted it in Tessera corns from Tess to Tess pairings but also a few from Tess to non Tess pairings. Unfortunately most of the pictures of Tessera I've found so far, don't include that info one way or another. So if this is a marker for a potential Super, it is not exclusively a Super trait. But might be useful in determining babies with a greater chance of being Supers?

Here is a baby pic of Max.

Adult pic of Max.

Persephone, unproven from a Tess-Tess pairing.

Badger, from Tess to non Tess pairing.

Then all 11 of Max's offspring from his pairing to a non Tess female. These are older pictures.

Continued ...

 

[Tavia]

The rest of Max's offspring.

 

[hypnoctopus]

Tavia, I would love if you could also give a description of what you're seeing with the pictures. In the second set, with the dorsal pattern, the tess to non tess pairings have a break in the pattern and the suspected supers do not - is that the difference you're trying to point out?

I'm having a hard time seeing the difference in the cheek patterns. Is it that the outline is either spotty or solid?

 

[DuxorW]

With the cheek pattern, what I am seeing is that the line connecting the side stripe to the head pattern is thinner and more irregular in the super tessera compare to the babies from the tess to non tess breeding, right?

 

[hypnoctopus]

With the cheek pattern, what I am seeing is that the line connecting the side stripe to the head pattern is thinner and more irregular in the super tessera compare to the babies from the tess to non tess breeding, right?

That's what I am seeing too, but it's really subtle, so I wasn't sure.

 

[Tavia]

Yes, that's the more obvious, hah! part of it but the color clarity, contrast or depth to the scales is different in that cheek area too. I suck at words, so sorry I can't describe it any better. It is very, very subtle and might just be my imagination, who knows? Very hard to catch it on camera!

 

[Tavia]

With a bit different head/neck pattern, this is my newest Tess, an Amel het Cinder. He is from a Tess to non Tess pairing. Notice that it is completely connected and flows right into the head pattern? I'd say this is probably the second most common head/neck pattern I've seen. Still a little different from Max's and Persephone's though.

Picture courtesy of Nanci, as he has not been shipped to me yet.

 

[MysticExotics]

Thanks! Every little bit helps!

You do realize that you have contributed a huge amount of info towards figuring out Super Tessera's, don't you??
I will merely help confirm your findings, and maybe add other minor details.

 

[hypnoctopus]

Well I just looked at some pictures of my two tesseras (siblings from a tess to non-tess pairing) and they both have the broken dorsal pattern. And they also have the more bold cheek outlining.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the added explanation, Tavia.

 

[MysticExotics]

I snapped a few headshots of the babies in my Miami Tessera X Miami Tessera clutch.

Jet (KAI-05F)

Malachite (KAI-07M)

Ametrite (KAI-13F)

Citrine (KAI-18F)

Lazurite (KAI-01M)

 

[MysticExotics]

A couple of the babies have head stripes that do not match.

The first two are of Citrine, the other two are of Lazurite.

Am I looking at the correct markings for potential markers?

 

[Tavia]

I think so.
I'm really thinking that Citrine is a Super, not as sure with the others.