Pastels as they age

[whispersinmyhead]

I bought a female pastel (7months old) and I am curious if the colors change as they age? She looked nice and bright after shed but not sure what happens when they grow into adulthood. I know some animals look different as adults and read conflicting info on the pastel morph.

[dragonboy4578]

It all depends on the pastel. Some brown out more than others.

[Royal Hijinx]

It seems most pastels get some level of browning as they age. This is variable and can be controlled to an extent through selective breeding or adding another highlighter gene such as Fire.

Any brown or tan you see along the back as a baby will tend to get bigger and darker as they age.

[whispersinmyhead]

Cool so that means they may look more like a lighter normal?

[Skittles1101]

Oranges turn brown, yellows stay yellow to a degree. Brighter yellows, will stay a bright yellow, darker yellows will darken.

[meowmeowkazoo]

Most pastels don't look like normals even when they brown out.

[Valentine Pirate]

Sometimes you can get a better idea of how they'll look if you're able to see the parents. It varies from animal to animal, some keep their yellows amazingly while others brown out a lot more. Leah has a good rule of thumb with the hatchling color transitions. They're all on a gradient though. Here's some photos of my pastel girl I got in August of 2010





August 2011



October 2011



And my most current photo of her, really really terrible lighting in the bathroom so she looks browner than she is (gives me an excuse to do a photoshoot ) but you can see where the dark scales got darker

[Highline Reptiles South]

there is a tremendous gradient for pastel quality. Some will brown out and almost look like normals - really high quality examples will stay bright yellow. You pay for quality in the pastel market...

[MrLang]

I had a related question earlier so I figure I'll post it here.

When they get dark and dirty during shed, is that any indicator of how hard they will brown out long term?

[Royal Hijinx]

I had a related question earlier so I figure I'll post it here.

When they get dark and dirty during shed, is that any indicator of how hard they will brown out long term?

I would say no.