The Skittles Project
The “Skittles Project” is one of the most unique lines of Rosy Boas currently available. This project, founded by Randy Limburg, began with a Limburg Albino Coastal crossed into a very exceptional Ortiz Boa. In an attempt to get deeper bolder orange boas, the F1 offspring bred back together produced what could only be described as a bag of skittles! Not only were there exceptional looking albinos in the litter, but also many other color variations amongst the litter. This project has been known to throw some wild stuff and just when we think we have it figured out, it seems like there is something new! There is the obvious albino coastal gene, an anery gene and a melanistic type gene. Now we are unsure if the anery is from the original albino female (which is what we suspect) or if it came from the Ortiz male, as he was a very unique looking Ortiz that was very dark. The assumption is the melanistic gene is from the Ortiz and I am currently doing test breedings to prove if it is in fact from the Ortiz. There are the classic black Ortiz and the yellow Ortiz. To my knowledge these have not been crossed together. I am predicitng that the breeding will produce all yellow phases that are “Het Melanistic”. I believe to have isolated all three genes and currently doing more test breedings to further solidify my claims.
With all that said we are still learning the project and every breeding seems to throw out slightly different offspring. There are even some phases we have called “zippers” due to the zipper-like pattern down the back of the boa. As of now no other bloodline has been crossed into this project and now that these are at the F4 phase, it is time they get outcrossed to bring new blood into the project.
These are a completely separate project than the stunning “Picasso” Rosy Boas. These have only two founding stock animals and are completely unrelated to that project, although some slight similarities, the skittles project is able to be traced back to the founding stock and no other animals were brought into the project. Although I am curious to see what else can be done by crossing in already established Rosy Morphs! I have done my best to piece this puzzle together as I have a new profound passion for rosy boas. By releasing some this year with the knowledge of the project so far, I cannot wait to see what can be added to it!
The first few original pairings of F1 and F2 offspring were not recorded, as the project was for fun and was not expected to be marketed. However the founding stock, F1s, F2s & F3s are all confirmed, just not which exact animals were paired with each other. Only the F1 group was bred with other F1s, F2 group was bred with other F2s, and F3 group was bred with other F3s. No crossing was ever done between the generational groups. The stock I purchased a few years ago is from the F3 stock, so my animals listed are all F4s. After my breedings this year, I decided to really try to solve this puzzle, but I also can’t keep each and every baby.
For now, to be safe, I am only labeling the animals I have as what I can visually see. Although there is a very very high probability of them being “het” for one of, if not all, the three genes, I will only label them as what is visual. For example, the albinos from this line are very likely to be het anery and/or het melanistic. And chances are if you bred an albino to a “normal” from this project you would likely produce all kinds of different phases. But again I will only sell them as what I can see. I am still having trouble being able to identify what the 3 banger looks like. I believe to have produced some this year, need to do a few more test pairings to confirm though.
This is a very fun and unique project that still has so much potential! Now as person who enjoys both locale boas and crosses I think it is important to know what is being crossed into your “morph boas” to better predict what will be made with future breedings. For those that just want these as pets or those that would like to invest in this project I am excited to see what you all can do with this. With all of the knowledge of how genetics work, it will be very interesting to see all the other types of morphs that can be crossed into the project! Imagine adding Anery from the Magdalena Boas or a super nice line bred Red Bay of LA!
There have been a few of these guys that are floating around over the years, and some have labeled them as lavender albinos. This caused some confusion as to whether or not the Lavender Ajo boa was crossed into this project. The answer is NO. The lavender Ajo is a completely separate single recessive gene. The “lavender albinos” from this project are actually a combo of two or three separate genes. The biggest indicator is the eyes. THE EYES DON'T LIE! A pure Lavender Ajo Boa has a blue iris. Where the crosses have a red iris. Photos shown below of the differences.
Here are some photos of the different mutations as a result of this project. There is variability amongst the morphs themselves, but I have pictured the best examples of each mutations so far!
NORMAL PHASE
These are the photos of a Normal Phase Boa out of the Skittles Project. They have brown dorsal stipe that is much cleaner than a normal Coastal, but not as clean as an Ortiz. These are the baseline that have been used to determine all other genes that have been confirmed in this project. Most of the normals that come out of this project are likely het for one of the 3 confirmed genes. (Melanistic, Albino & Anery). They also have the chance to throw out some very unique looking animals besides those 3 simple recessive morphs such as the Zipper Phase.
“BLUE” ANERY GENE
It is believed that this Anery gene is the same strain as the Coastal Anery. With that being said there is no telling exactly where it came from. Obviously it is either the Ortiz or the Albino Coastal, the founding stock. My belief is it came from the Coastal. As stated in the description of the project, The founding stock was a Black Ortiz male and a Coastal Albino female. I believe that female albino was het Anery. Also Anery has been confirmed in Coastal and not in the Ortiz locality. Nonetheless, this gene is very beautiful and does not look like a normal Coastal Anery gene. With that said neither does the albino in this project and that is confirmed to be from a 100% pure Coastal. The blue is very hard to capture on camera and is just absolutely stunning! This “Blue” Anery gene is not related to the other Blue Anery genes on the market. I believe this “Blue” color is a result of how the Anery gene interacts with a normal phase of the Skittles Project. A Normal Phase from this project looks much different than a Normal Coastal or a Normal Ortiz. Thus the single gene Anery in the Skittles Project looks much different than it does in a Normal Coastal.
ALBINO GENE
“MANGO ALBINO”
The Albino Gene in the Skittles Project is the same albino gene as the Coastal. Because it was crossed into the Ortiz it looks much different than the traditional Albino Coastal. The striping is much cleaner and bolder. There is no speckled pattern like a normal Albino Coastal. The stripe on an Albino Skittles is much wider than an Albino Coastal. Also the Albino Skittles orange coloration is much more vibrant than a normal Albino Coastal. Due to their being so many different Albinos floating around amongst different locales, we are calling albinos from the Skittles Project Mango Albinos. These are bright just like a mango and it would only being fitting as it is called the Skittles Project!
MELANISTIC GENE
Now the “Melanistic” gene is from the Ortiz. There are two confirmed phases of the Ortiz. The “Black Phase” and “Yellow Phase”. Randy Limburg’s original stock was a classic black wide striped Ortiz. Now some time later he received some other Ortiz from an individual whom had stock that was brought over, legally of course, but these were Yellow Ortiz boas. Because they were so different he never thought to cross the two together. After using an exceptional Black Ortiz male as the founding male of the Skittles Project, there have been some revelations about the Black Phase Ortiz Boas. I believe the Black Phase Ortiz is a natural occurring mutation, similar to Black Dragon Asian Water Monitors, and the Yellow Phase Ortiz are actually a “Normal Phase”. Because I own both phases I will be doing test breedings to 100% confirm this. One big indicator that this is a simple recessive gene is that all of the F1 stock looks completely normal. All are brown with no black at all. Nonetheless, it definitely has been breeding true in the Skittles Project and makes for an unexpected surprise in the project! For now this is the only other gene that has bred true, making this the 3rd gene in the project!
ZIPPER PHASE
I’m calling the Zipper a phase and not a gene because this does not breed true like a simple recessive or an incomplete dominant gene. These started popping up in the F2s and actually popped up in the Albinos at first. Later through many litters born in this project there have been Zippers that popped up in the Melanistics, Anerys, Normals, Albinos and Melanistic Anerys. We are yet to see them in the Albinos, Snows, Black Snows, etc… The Zippers just add to the uniqueness of this project and really make it like you are opening a bag of Skittles when you have a litter! This one pictured is a melanistic zipper!
COMBINATIONS
ANERY MELANISTIC PHASE
This is the combination of both the melanistic gene and anery gene! You can see the black topside with the blue iris. You can tell the presence of the melanistic gene by the obvious black coloration. The best way to the presence of Anery is the blue colored iris, but also the silver blueish color present on the body and underside! This is one of my favorite combos out of this project!
ALBINO MELANISTIC PHASE “STRAWBERRY ALBINO”
The melanistic albinos are very beautiful and almost are bumble gum pink! So far I have only seen a solid pink stripe down the back. No Zipper Phases yet! These are such impressive snakes in person and they are even more pink in person! These are distinctly different from the “Snow or Strawberry Snow” Phases.
ALBINO ANERY aka “SNOW” PHASE
Now this has been the most difficult part of this project. Determining the difference between an Albino Anery and an Albino Anery Melanistic. I believe the phase pictured above is just an Albino Anery. Now you may be thinking if it is an Albino Anery wouldn’t that just be an all white Snow Boa. Well not necessarily, there are a few reasons for this. One, this may not even be the same Anery as the Coastal Anery. I believe it is, but again we will never really know for certain. Two, the normal phases from the skittles project are a completely different shade of brown than the normal Coastal Boa. When dealing with genes that affect the pigmentation your results are going to be different when your “base coat” is different. The normal coloration or “base coat” of a Coastal Boa is much different the a Rosy Boa out of the Skittles Project. Therefore, those same two genes will react much differently with each. When put in a Coastal Rosy Boa, you get an all white snake. When put into the Skittles Project you get an almost lilac colored snake with beautiful yellow stripes running down the back and bright Ruby Red eyes!
ALBINO ANERY MELANISTIC “STRAWBERRY SNOW”
I believe this to be the 3 banger combo. The reason I believe this to be the case is how faded and washed out the color is. The camera has trouble picking it up, but in person it is a bit more pronounced. To be 100% certain there will need to be more test breedings done. This could just be variation amongst the Snows combos. It’s so hard to say. This project is already over 10 years old and I do not want to wait another 10 years to try and fully figure it out as that’s how much time it would likely take. Although genetically superior and the pinnacle of the project, many including myself find some of the other combos more imopressive.
Albino Melanistic Anery“Strawberry Snow” Skittles Eye
Albino Anery “Snow” Skittles Eye
Albino Melanistic “Strawberry Albino” Skittles Eye
Lavender Albino Ajo Eye