While it is true very young vanillas are darker than older animals, you can usually spot them easily anyway. I say usually because there are poor quality examples out there that can be mistaken for a normal at first. A good quality vanilla will have a very distinct headstamp, even as a hatchling. Here is one of my hatchling Vanillas so you can see what I mean:
That headstamp tells you for sure that is no normal. At least, no normal I've ever seen.
Here is another picture of him, you can see how going off his color alone you might be fooled.
It is a shame your friend ended up with just a normal. But before you send him on his way, make sure it is a he. If that's a female, even as a normal she's light and lovely, and bred to the right males could make some very nice babies.
Gale
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