Hi Jan!
Nice first beads! You go girl!
For the most part I have not noticed much difference between moretti and boro as far as how long you can keep a bead out of the flame before it cracks. Boro gets stiffer quicker though
You asked why are your beads different colors but from the same rod?
It could be two reasons haze and how the bead was worked (time and temperature) and flame chemistry.
Also, when you put clear on a bead it causes the heat to take longer to get to the color. If you want to develop the color to a deeper color strike it a bit longer. This is the one part of boro that makes it so interesting. You can use one rod and get so many different colors by applying clear!