Ive been working with pastel balls for the last few years. I love the potential for the bright yellows in high quality pastels and I think they are beautiful animals. The one thing that totally turns me off about the pastels is the brown that comes in along the back as they age.

Now I've heard that the fire gene really cleans up the pastels and I've seen young fireflies they look great and extremely clean, but do they stay clean as they age? I want to invest into really cleaning up the look of adult pastels and I think the fire gene may be the best way.

I would like to hear any thoughts on this subject. Do you think the fire gene does more for pastels than if pastel was crossed with say a mojave or lesser?

One thing that does turn me away from the fire gene is the ability to identify it. I know it may be easy for keepers that work with fires, though I feel it may be easily mistaken for a light normal. Are there any ways to characterize and identify this gene such as head or belly markers?